Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Jubilee Gardens - London

Jubilee Gardens next to London Eye

This photo of the view of Jubilee Gardens in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

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Jubilee Gardens is a new open space in London next to the London Eye, overlooking the Thames in the London Borough of Lambeth. The gardens were created in 1977 to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and were opened by the Queen on 9 June of the same year. As such, the gardens form part of the Jubilee Walk, which takes in various locations around London.

As mentioned, Jubilee Gardens are close to the London Eye, one of the most popular tourist attractions in London, and also close to the London Aquarium (free entrance with the London Pass), the Salvador Dali Exhibition and a short distance from where the steps from Westminster Bridge descend to the South Bank. Hungerford Bridge also crosses the Thames next to the park providing aceess to Embankent and Charring Cross. In the summer it is a great place to relax and watch the crowds bustle past along the South Bank while the London Eye continues it’s slow and graceful rotations.

At present, Jubilee Gardens is a grassed area surrounded by trees and overseen by local community groups and businesses. Following local consultation in December 2004 it was decided to turn the area into a park and the Jubilee Gardens Steering Group was formed to oversee the project. Four designs were short listed from a competition of ideas for the space and were presented to the public in May of 2005. In June 2005 it was announced that West8 have been selected to take their concept forward.

West8 sees Jubilee Gardens as ‘an holistically-designed, organic, lush and green park’, and plan an undulating area set with curved paths and raised lookout points. It will be planted with a variety of trees and flowers providing blooms throughout the year. Based on a ‘metaphor of Green Trafalgar’, it will transform Jubilee Gardens from a plain flat area into a dynamic and varied open space. More information can be found on the Jubilee Gardens website. In May 2006 Lambeth Council granted planning permission for the project to proceed, but as yet there is no date set for the commencement of the works which will probably see Jubilee Gardens close for several months.

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The nearest Tube stations to Jubilee Gardens include Waterloo, Westminster and Embankment

The full panoramic image taken of the Jubilee Gardens can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for Jubilee Gardens on Tagzania.

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