The rich variety of puddles in the much-loved Thames-side park of Victoria Tower Gardens in the heart of London…
As many of you will know, if you follow me on Twitter-X or elsewhere, I enjoy photographing puddles, so if you scroll through the pictures below you will find puddles from all seasons reflecting Victoria Tower Gardens and some of its features and visitors. Also, as many will have noticed, we have had a lot of rain recently, which has given more photo-ops than usual.
Sometimes it’s good to escape for a while from all the violence and uncertainty in the world, out of our control. I hope that looking through these pictures has been a distraction. And I hope, as it was enshrined in Law by an Act of Parliament in 1901, that there will always be free and unimpeded access to Victoria Tower Gardens for all.
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Victoria Tower Gardens, under the care of The Royal Parks, was created by an Act of Parliament (Section 8 of the London County Council Improvements Act). Though the Act passed in 1900 required the gardens to be “laid out and maintained […] for use as a garden open to the public”, therefore prohibiting any construction, this much-loved, peaceful central London riverside park is under threat as the Government is now in the process of repealing the 1900 Act.
For further information on the threat to Victoria Tower Gardens see:
Save Victoria Tower Gardens: The Campaign
London Parks and Gardens: Victoria Tower Gardens
Two articles by Richard Morrison of The Times:
The Bungling of London’s Holocaust Memorial, February 3,2023
The Gaza war should make us rethink the Holocaust Memorial, March 21, 2024 Article: Victoria Tower Gardens, September 5, 2021