Forbidden places

...are open once a year. It was Open Garden day in London, where 170 green spaces open to the public. It's incredibly good value (£7.50 for the weekend) if you plan in advance. However, F and I don't like to plan too much - we like to let things happen. We'd had a lazy morning in the garden, followed by a walk in the cemetery, then through Brockwell Park to Brixton. A train took us to Victoria and the day was getting on a bit - the gardens closed at 5 and it was already 4. We had no idea which green spaces would be open, or indeed where the green spaces were. Victoria is placed in a well-to-do part of London called Belgravia and there are a lot of green squares amongst grand white-terraced buildings. Usually the gardens are open only to the residents of the squares.

We stumbled upon Eaton Square gardens, which had a great steel band playing acid jazz numbers, a wonderful tea shop, and some lovely sculptures, such as this one called 'The Letter' by Judith Holmes Drewry. I'm the one who's not a statue.

Notable residents of Eaton Square include: Roger Moore, Roman Abramovich, Nigella Lawson, Neville Chamberlain, Charles Saatchi, José Mourinho, Sean Connery (two Bonds in one square!!)

Some facts about the garden itself:
- laid out in the 1820s, and replanted in the 1950s
- an air-raid shelter in the garden received a direct hit that resulted in 6 fatalities, including the Lord Mayor of Westminster