Park Life

Soaking up the British summer

By Yura Brengauz of the BBC Russian Service

I was brought up in Moscow and it takes someone from Moscow to appreciate London parks. In New York, in Manhattan, you find one big central park and that's it. A concrete jungle otherwise. Moscow is the only place I know which could compete with London in its abundance of public parks.

Of course, Hyde Park is the most famous of London parks. Together with adjoining Kensington Gardens, it provides the largest public open space in the heart of London.

It is actually possible to walk across the whole of central London from park to park, which I used to do almost every day on my way to Bush House when I started working for the BBC many years ago.

From Kensington Gardens to Hyde Park, from Hyde Park to Green Park, from Green Park to St James's Park. Somebody called parks, "The lungs of a big city". London has more than two thousand of those lungs. Royal parks, commons and key gardens - small, fenced parks which only people live nearby can visit.

Deck chairs for hire

It's a pleasure to observe how Londoners stroll and jog in the parks, eat their sandwiches, talk, kiss, sunbathe, read books, walk their dogs and children and enjoy music.

Bandstands can often be seen in London parks and a great variety of music can be heard here. Some of them, such as Kenwood in Hampstead are famous for summer concerts that are often accompanied by fireworks.

I have always been surprised that one rarely finds notices like "Do not Walk on the Grass" in London parks. In other countries, you would not dare to step on a well-cultivated lawn. London is different.

There is an old joke: An English gardener is asked, "How come people walk and sit on the grass but it seems to look even greener and nicer?" It's very simple, answers the gardener, you must just water the grass and mow the lawn for some 600 years or so.

I like the benches of London parks. Most of them are old-fashioned, Victorian-style, solid and respectable, made of cast iron and English oak. Some of them have dedications: the relatives or friends of someone who has died, pay for the installation of a particular bench, with a dedication, let's say, "In Memory of John Smith who loved to walk in this park so much." Londoners are very passionate about their parks.