Sunday 4 July 2021
REVIEW. Sunday 4 July started cloudy and raining – but by the time 2pm rolled around the sun had decided to come out. In plenty of time for the grand opening of our new, permanent, exhibition celebrating the life and work of Dr John Fothergill, which can be found in the Rose Garden. We have called this exhibition the Kew Gardens of the East as the plant collection it contained was only rivalled by Kew. Some of Dr Fothergill’s extensive gardens are now West Ham Park – it’s thought some of the greenhouses are on the site of the ones belonging to Dr Fothergill. The exhibition was opened by actor Alison Steadman, a keen environmentalist, who was accompanied by her partner Michael Elwyn. Alison is a friend of local actor Marlene Sidaway, and they are both frequent visitors to the park.
A crowd of about 60 people turned up to watch Alison untie the ribbon and open the exhibition, after which local boy Aaron presented her with a bunch of flowers picked from the gardens. Also in attendance were Councillor Winston Vaughan, Chair of Newham Council and First Citizen of the Borough, and Caroline Haines and Martin Rodman from the City of London Corporation.
The exhibition has been developed by the Friends of West Ham Park with the help and support of, amongst others, The City of London Corporation, Dr John Edmondson, Kew Gardens, The Friends Library (the Quakers), British Library, Australian National Maritime Museum and Fitzpatrick Woolmer.
At the same time a small craft event took place, where children were asked to design a new flower for Dr Fothergill to discover – there were some great designs including the much loved One-Eyed Flower and the fantastical Lite Trapper!
Pictured top: Alison Steadman is presented with a bouquet by Aaron; some of the fantastical newly discovered flowers; quite a crowd turned up to the event.
EVENT PREVIEW
Celebrating the Kew Gardens of the East, Sunday 4 July 2021 – 2-3.30pm
We are delighted to officially open our new, permanent, exhibition celebrating the Kew Gardens of the East, and Doctor Fothergill who initiated the gardens with his vast collection of plants, some of his garden has now become West Ham Park. The exhibition can be found in the Rose Garden. The ribbon will be cut by Alison Steadman at 2pm.
And whilst you are here, why not Design your own Flower for Dr Fothergill – we’ll supply the coloured paper if you can bring your imagination! The craft stall will be open 2-3.30pm.
As always there is no need to book and it’s FREE to join in.
Social distancing rules will still apply so we can only have 6 people taking part at a time, please bear with us if you need to wait for a while.