Abbots Langley Gardening Society
Martin Brooks
October 20th 2011
Our meeting was really well attended for the talk on
The Park is split pretty much equally to the north
and south of
On the North side was The Leavesden
Asylum, of which only two of the original buildings remain. It was opened in
1870 and eventually housed 2400 people made up of 1900 patients and 500 hundred
staff of all types. They had to allot 42 acres just to grow enough fruit and
vegetables and rear farm animals to feed such a large number of people. I
wonder how many gardeners there were, though some of the patients were employed
to help. They were even able to grow lemons, and details in the extensive
records show that in 1898, 9lbs of sugar was purchased to use them to make
lemonade for everyone as a Christmas treat.
To the South side was the St Pancras Orphanage and
the
We are all very fortunate to have such a wonderful area in the Village but I wonder how many of us know what the local council has made available to us with the help of local people and schools too. Apart from two childrens play areas, three football pitches, an adult outdoor gym and a BMX track, there are 249 meters of walking paths and over 20 acres of woodland area. So there is no reason why we can’t all take some time to ourselves and enjoy what we have on our doorstep. With the wonderful weather we have been having you could even take a picnic.
Pam Cotton