Heir in the square

Arlingtonia was graced by another royal visit in November, when HRH The Prince of Wales dropped by to learn about our community gardening achievements and meet some of our volunteers.

Prince Charles was on a tour of the neighbourhood which included a visit to the Packington Estate, Union Square and the Arc Centre, where he was briefed about the regeneration of the estate. Then he walked through the drizzle to Arlington Square, where around 30 Arlington Association volunteer gardeners were completing this autumn’s bulb planting. His Royal Highness spent 20 minutes in the square chatting to many of the volunteers. Our lead gardener Paul Thompson pointed out some of the special plants we have introduced and the AA’s chair Gordon McArthur explained to HRH how community gardening had been the catalyst for building a stronger community spirit.

The prince declared how impressed he was by the level of community participation, by the variety of the planting and by the positive impact the work of the Arlington Association was making to the neighbourhood.

‘Prince Charles clearly enjoyed his visit,’ says Gordon. ‘I think what we have achieved in our neighbourhood reinforced his own strong beliefs in the benefits of community volunteering. It was good to see the hard work of our volunteers recognised and I am glad so many of them got to chat to HRH.’

Charles’s younger brother Prince Edward visited the square in July in his role as Patron of the London Gardens Society. Two royal visits in less than six months is a very unusual occurrence – especially for a public square – and testifies to our achievements as a community in improving our neighbourhood.