Boston Flora

Tag: royal Parks

  • Wednesday, May 21, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – Gardens on Film: Filming in Royal Parks, Online

    Historic parks and gardens play a frequent – and frequently tantalizing – role in films and on TV. Where is the 18th century landscape that forms the background to scenes in Bridgerton? Which English country estate serves as Paris for both James Bond and Sherlock Holmes? Is that really a world heritage site being flooded for a scene in The Secret Garden?

    Join The Gardens Trust on Wednesdays in May for behind-the-scenes at some of the locations used in costume dramas, children’s adventures, murder mysteries and much else. We’ll hear from a location manager on choosing the right gardens for shoots and from a garden historian on films in her own county, as well as the experience of three major players who regularly manage film crews in their historic landscapes – the National Trust, the Royal Parks and English Heritage. This ticket costs £35 for the full series of five talks or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. To sign up, visit Eventbrite UK HERE. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk.

    The third talk in the series takes place May 21. The Royal Parks offer filming opportunities in eight of London’s largest open public spaces, including St James’s Park, Regent’s Park and Kensington Gardens, allowing film-makers to recreate almost any historical period. Recent shoots have included the fight scene between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and the music video for Late Night Talking with Harry Styles flying down The Mall in a giant bed!

    Flo van Heck is Senior Filming & Events Manager at The Royal Parks.

  • Wednesday, April 24, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern – People’s Parks: London’s Royal Parks

    The People’s Parks are one of the finest legacies of the Victorian age. Designed and bequeathed to the masses as part of a movement encouraging green spaces and recreation, the public park came to symbolize one of the greatest contributions of the era.

    Opened in increasing numbers in the industrious nineteenth century, by the end of the twentieth century many of our parks had become sadly neglected. But today they remain outdoor places for everyone to enjoy, acting as children’s play areas, sports grounds and even concert venues and have grown in popularity since the global pandemic. But what do we really know about them? The Gardens Trust is sponsoring a series of six weekly online lectures with Paul Rabbits on Wednesdays from April 17 – May 22.

    Buy a ticket is for the entire course of 6 sessions. or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £8. [Gardens Trust members may purchase tickets at £31.50 for the series or £6 each talk]. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peoples-parks-tickets-852833737667

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week.

    Week two takes place April 24. London’s royal parks are among its most beautiful and beloved spaces: just as much as the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace or St Pancras Station, the mere mention of Hyde or Regent’s Park is enough to evoke the capital in all its glory for residents and tourists alike. They have a grand history – some were royally owned as far back as the Norman conquest, others were acquired by Henry VIII during the Reformation – and since being opened to the public during the eighteenth century, they have hosted some of London’s great events, including the Great Exhibition and innumerable jubilees and celebrations. This talk tells the story of all eight of the parks from the point when they were acquired by the monarchy until the present day, including the major historic moments and events with which they are associated.

  • Monday, January 16, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – Gardens of Peace: Brookwood and the Railway Cemeteries, Online

    In this second in the Gardens Trust series of talks by Sheldon K. Goodman of the Cemetery Club, we will learn about Brookwood and the Railway Cemeteries.

    Brookwood Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the western hemisphere. From the walled-off mini-cemeteries of City Churches to leaf-littered prairies containing the anonymous dead: Brookwood is the closest thing we have today to a Victorian cemetery as it was meant to be.

    Landscaped by pedigree men, including a gardener who would go on to implement designs in Sandringham and of whom Edward VII would describe as “a gentleman not to be described as inexpensive”, Brookwood’s beauty achieved what many of the suburban cemeteries could not – it could maintain its park like elegance against the threat of urban sprawl but still be close enough to London via its deathly railway service from London Waterloo.

    In this talk Sheldon will explore the founding men and the garden designs that influenced the aesthetic of the cemetery and how these influence the ongoing restoration of the cemetery today, from the creation of a wetland area and returning long forgotten parts of the cemetery back into public use, as well as other cemeteries with railway links and their own landscaping

    Sheldon K Goodman is a public historian, tour guide, heritage professional and founder of Cemetery Club, which seeks to show cemeteries as ‘Museums of People’ that are full of social history rather than as morbid, mournful spaces to be avoided. As a heritage communicator, he has worked with museums and other heritage spaces, including co-developing the first event to celebrate queer history in a historic cemetery (the first in the U.K) entitled ‘Queerly Departed’ for the Royal Parks, with successful sequels for Arnos Vale and Birmingham Jewellery Quarters Cemeteries Trust. He has also worked with the Brunel Museum, created visual content for Schools Out UK and has given talks at the National Archives and at the BBC. Sheldon is also a qualified City of Westminster guide and regularly leads walks around the British Museum and London’s pubs. £5, through Eventbrite. Register HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

  • Thursday, November 17, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm – Landscape Architecture, Blenheim and Elsewhere, Online

    Hal Moggridge, OBE, gives an illustrated talk on November 17 for the Oxfordshire Gardens Trust about his work in landscape architecture including his role with Ralph Cobham in restoration planting for the Capability Brown masterpiece at Blenheim, his later work for the historic Royal Parks in London, the creation, helped by Tony Jellard, of the National Botanic Garden of Wales in 1995–2000 and, in 1979, the garden for Stevens Close for Jesus College in Oxford.


    Hal Moggridge is a Consultant at Colvin & Moggridge, the landscape architecture practice established when Brenda Colvin invited him to join her as her partner in 1969. She was in her 70s and he only 33. The success of the public enquiries that often preceded consent for the large industrial landscape projects for which the practice was renowned can, in part, be attributed to Hal’s encyclopaedic knowledge of each and every site. In the 1980s Hal played a key role in restoring the Capability Brown masterpiece at Blenheim, thus reviving the national interest in Brown and the Georgian natural landscape garden. Hal has never lost his feeling for the importance of views that his rediscovery of Brown inspired, and more recently, his pioneering work defining the spatial character of important urban views in Edinburgh and London has won him international acclaim. Like Brenda before him, Hal was honoured for his unique thinking and work in landscape architecture. £5.00. Register HERE.