The East London Garden Society is planning another boat trip this year for those interested in the nature and history of east London.
We are also involved in producing an app for you to use that covers the history and nature within east London. Once released we will appreciate as much feedback as possible.
In the meantime, we continue to protect our environment.
If you value having someone campaign on your behalf to protect the environment and having access to useful articles about gardening and local environmental matters, please make a donation to help us with the cost of maintaining The East London Garden Society.
The Camden Highline team has announced that work on the project is pausing with immediate effect. This is due to rising costs and a challenging fundraising environment, which has impacted many charities, community organisations and public bodies.
Over the last 10 years, the project has already created long-lasting value in developing a bold design vision and creating a community support network that brought together residents, businesses, volunteers, funders, landowners, and designers. This has helped many people look again at a piece of Camden that was hidden in plain sight.
Through Tracking the Heritage, local young people have helped uncover and share Camden’s industrial past, creating walking tours, school workshops, and a physical heritage trail for Camden Town.
The team was built around the ambition to transform a disused railway viaduct into a new local park, garden walk, and wildlife corridor. However, over the last five years, the UK has experienced a series of sustained economic shocks, with construction costs in particular rising well above general inflation. Until now, these pressures have been factored into the project’s modelling, but the emerging 2026 energy shock represents a further step change.
These same shocks have also affected the wider funding environment. Rising living costs, higher operating costs and increased pressure on charities, public bodies and other partners have reduced the capacity available for discretionary capital projects, as support is increasingly focused on essential and statutory services. Taken together, rising costs and reduced funding capacity mean the project is not currently viable in the present economic climate.
Simon Pitkeathley, Chief Executive of the Camden Highline, said:
“To the thousands of people who joined our walking tours, the hundreds who supported our planning application, the 1,200 donors, the 530 schoolchildren who took part in our workshops, and the many members of our team and volunteer squad over the past decade, we are truly grateful and deeply sorry.
Despite your support, and the outstanding advice and commitment of experts across many fields, this extraordinarily ambitious challenge has, for now, proved a stretch too far.
Green infrastructure in cities matters. Finding space for it is rare. And battling through the treacle to make projects like this happen is difficult, lengthy, and expensive. Which is why today’s announcement is so painful to make.”
Richard Terry, Chair of the Camden Highline Trustees, said:
“The work is not lost. The planning, creativity and imagination that brought the Camden Highline this far will be carefully preserved by the trustees, so that whether it is us or others who one day pick up the mantle again, the project’s achievements can be carried forward for the future.
It is, in that sense, a time capsule: a record of what has been imagined, designed and built in partnership with the community, waiting to be reawakened when the time and conditions are right once more.”
Cats and foxes rule the streets after dark, and while it can be charming to watch them slink about, it becomes considerably less enjoyable when they begin frequenting your garden. Many gardeners have a soft spot for cats and foxes, yet these creatures can prove an absolute menace in spring as they enjoy digging up freshly turned soil, frequently uprooting bulbs and wreaking havoc on flowerbeds.
Both animals are also fiercely territorial and routinely use gardens as lavatories to mark their patch, which is not only unpleasant but also contaminates crops such as tomatoes, rendering them unsafe for consumption.
Alessandro Vitale, organic gardener and founder of Spicy Moustache, has been tackling cats and foxes in London for many years and has experimented with a wide variety of remedies to protect his plants. He has found that the most effective method to repel foxes and cats is to concoct a homemade herbal solution that will send them running in the opposite direction.
After the years or so that he has been dealing with foxes, he learned a few tips to avoid issues in his garden. He found that plants with a strong smell are ideal to keep foxes away from your garden.
Deterring cats and foxes can prove particularly challenging, as they are accustomed to human presence and are therefore rarely startled by loud noises. Consequently, most conventional animal repellent devices are likely to prove ineffective against them.
However, cats and foxes are hardwired to utilise their noses to detect danger, and are more inclined to be deterred by unfamiliar odours, as these indicate to them that a location is potentially hazardous
These creatures also possess incredibly sensitive noses, and the compounds found in herbs or pungent vegetables such as garlic can frequently overwhelm them.
Herbs will genuinely irritate their nasal passages and cause their eyes to water and can disorient them. Their natural response will be to avoid the scent instead of investigating it.
Applying a herb remedy throughout a garden also disguises the scents that attract foxes and cats. The spray increases the likelihood they will swiftly depart to search out alternative smells.
Creating a herb solution is remarkably straightforward and requires minimal effort while also being a humane method to protect your plants from troublesome foxes and cats.
The East London Garden Society is in the process of having an app designed for The Great Eastern Parks Route showing the history and nature of east London. There will be guided tours which will also be suitable for disabled visitors. Or, you can use the app to explore for yourself and explore what interests you most.
East London is becoming a haven for nature, its history going back to the Roman period. It can also been viewed by boat along some of the rivers within the area. The app will be free to download, for all to use as they wish.
As we become aware of our urban environment it is important to understand how to protect it to maintain its existence. We are planning on launching the App in September 2026 and hope that all garden communities in east London will be involved, and enjoy learning about its history and nature.
To begin, place the water in a pan over low-medium heat until it simmers and almost boils.
Chop up the basil, geranium and sage leaves, then add them to the water. You will need herb leaves from a plant, as they will be more potent than dried-up leaves.
Next, chop up four cloves of garlic and add them to the water. You can also chop up an onion and add it to the solution but it will work fine without it.
Once all the ingredients are in the pan, turn the heat to low, put a lid on top of it and let it simmer for about 30 minutes so everything infuses in the water. Once the time is up, remove from the heat and allow the solution to cool completely. Next, strain the liquid to separate the solid ingredients from the water.
Pour the liquid into an empty spray bottle and apply it to the areas of the garden you wish to safeguard. Place the solid ingredients on top of fences, around gates, or wherever you suspect cats and foxes are gaining access to your property.
Apply the solution once a week or after rainfall, and foxes and cats should cease venturing into your garden.
