So many people! 500 perhaps, so difficult to count. We had three sites: the garden, the street and Durning Hall, with events going on in all the places. We teamed up with Forest Gayte Pride, which might have bemused the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, very identifiable in their whites, but they seemed in party mood too.
We had eight blue gazebos in the street. The street took the pressure off the garden which could only take so many. Luckily for us, the day was pleasantly warm, rather than those blazing heatwave days we have been having.
The garden opened at the end of June in 2016. I came to the opening. There were lots there but not a quarter of what we had today. That’s when I became a volunteer, having missed the hard work over the previous year of clearing the garden of buddleia, trees and rubbish, building raised beds and putting in the pond, as well as lots of planting. My own 10 years in the garden has been enjoyable. I have planted flowers, wheat and quinoa, and watched them grow, made friends and been part of the garden’s community growth.
Last year we got a 10 year lease from the Council, and with crowds like today we know we are popular. Two of the three Green councillors, for Forest Gate South, came today, and the Mayor too.
I spent much of my time looking after the musicians in Durning Hall. So good to see it becoming part of the community again. Forest Gate is short of community spaces, so we certainly need it. I did hear the Ukestra in the garden, and am impressed how they have progressed. With Misty, some have been playing the ukulele for two years now. People were singing along to country, blues and folk songs. But that was all my early time in the garden as I went off to Durning Hall, where I was MCing the music there.
The first up were The Swing Patrol who taught swing steps to willing volunteers, music of the 30s and 40s, often associated with the big bands of that era.
Then came Rob DeRoche, who panicked me, as I was wondering where he was as the last act was finishing. But he only lives up the road, on Earlham Grove, and turned up, on time with his keyboard in a wheelbarrow. Rob is a singer songwriter, doing some covers but also some of his own songs. One I recall, apt for today, was Kissing Boys in the Street, about his father’s early horror at Rob’s antics, but he came to accept that Rob was never going to go straight. Rob was a founder of Forest Gayte Pride which celebrates its 10th birthday next year.
Then followed Samba 4 Fun. They are a drumming band, and boy do they hammer! They blasted the roof off of Durning Hall. I was at the back of the hall as far back as I could get, but there were plenty there who like their music a lot louder than I do. They meet Saturday mornings at what is now called The Source (used to be called Stratford Circus) next to the Theatre Royal, and encourage anyone to come along. They have huge drums, tiny ones and tambourines. Join them if you want a good workout, but I recommend earplugs.
Finally we had Jazanne in Durning Hall, two women who sang songs of the 50s, 60s and 70s, and invited us to join in. We have had them before. They gave us Abba, Bob Marley, and Singing in the Rain with twirling umbrellas.
The Durning Hall acts finished, my duty done there, I ventured out into the bright sunlight of the street. Lovely with no traffic. It is so good to walk down the middle of the road in utter safety. We really have given up too much to the motor car. I went into the garden and couldn’t believe the crowd. The garden was chock-a-block. The only other time I have seen it so crowded was when we hosted the Benjamin Zephaniah memorial two years ago. The Singwell Choir were finishing their set, and had a packed house. Events like this bring people together, make the Gate more neighbourly.
I stayed to help with the clear up, where we had lots of willing helpers. Bunting had to be taken down in the street, gazebos dismantled and taken into the garden, chairs stacked, some tables returned to Durning Hall, rubbish cleared, the food table cleared. Mostly done in about 90 minutes, though the inside of our container certainly needs some sorting out. Time for that in the week.
We got over a £1000 in donations, and so much goodwill. In our 10 years of life, our intention has been to be more than a garden. Of course we have plants and a pond, but we are also a community resource, running regular events. We want things to happen here. And today, they certainly have.