When the lockdown began, we posted a video of a woman talking to us from a flat in Barcelona. She was in lockdown, reminding Londoners how lucky we are. We’ve still got the chance to go for a walk in the park, she says, but she can’t go out: We don’t appreciate what we’ve got until we lose it.
I’ve never questioned my freedom to stroll in this city’s outstanding free parks. But this privilege has been on the brink of being snatched away.
And then what would we be left with?
Loads of Londoners don’t have a garden. There’s nothing households can do together apart from daily exercise in their local park. Even a trip to the supermarket is tricky for families who want to get away from screens – my local supermarket admits only a handful of people at once.
So we welcomed the announcement from Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick, who said that parks must remain open.
Maybe this is the time to step back and consider why the Royal Parks’ 5000 acres of historic green spaces are a lifeline for Londoners.
Check our history.
Our city has seen tough times before, but we’ve got through it and the parks have always existed to boost Londoners’ wellbeing.
In 1665, the year of the Great Plague, citizens fled the City to camp on Hyde Park and get away from the disease. In Victorian London, thanks in no small part to the squalor of sewage in The Thames and smoke churning from factory chimneys, living conditions were grim, but the Royal Parks provided fresh air. The parks provided respite during the Spanish flu of 1918.
And the parks are here for Londoners now, thankfully, because I believe locking the gates would hit our health.
People are scared, tense and worried, facing unimaginable difficulties and distress during this crisis. Exercising outdoors in nature keeps us resilient, helping us cope. Children can let off steam and stay healthy. People are lonely but they can stay connected with society, albeit safely at a distance. A blast of morning bird song sets us up for the day.
So I want to say thank you to everyone for protecting the NHS by using our parks safely and responsibly. We’ve not been forced to shut, and now it looks like this threat has gone. Yet we’re still a long way off the finish line. The lock down continues. Sunny weather’s on its way. It’s no fun being cooped up indoors.
But please, everyone: don’t blow it now.
Please keep on protecting the NHS by staying at least two metres away from others and exercising alone or with others from your household.
Please follow The Royal Parks code: Stay Safe, Stay Local, Stay Active and Be Kind.
In the words of our new hero Captain Tom, tomorrow will be a good day. And when that day comes, don’t forget how lucky we are to have our parks in the good days and the bad.
Look after them, and they’ll look after you.
Jason Taylor, manager of Hyde Park. Hyde Park is one of London’s eight historic Royal Parks and is managed by The Royal Parks charity
Editor's reply
Dear Jason
Parklife can give us a sense of enormous wellbeing and keep us happy for the rest of the day.
We are all looking forward to the moment we can, as the song by Blur says, go hand in hand through our parklife — but for now it is enough to have the parks open. So thank you for all your work. Remember at the start of lockdown when Victoria Park had to close? No one wants that again. Far better to follow the code for a little while longer so that we can all enjoy what London’s wonderful parks have to offer.
Susannah Butter, Comment Editor
