Chair’s update, March 2026
Tom Walker
Read the full newsletter here.
I suspect spring is many people's favourite season in Abney as the greenery returns. This year we are seeing the fruits of some of the Council's investment in ecology projects and the work of the collective volunteers. As many visitors know Abney Park was Hackney's first Local Nature Reserve and needs to be nurtured with the care that such precious habitats require.
Our events programme is ramping up for the year ahead. In January, Alan Gartrell gave a brilliant tour focussed on the story behind the murders of PC William Tyler and Ralph Joscelyne, and on 5th March we held another screening of the Hackney Society Women in Abney film (appropriately) in the Harriet Delph Room, as part of our annual commitment to celebrating International Women's Day.
The full programme of events is being planned but in addition to ticketed events a regular feature this year is the Trust’s free 'open house' in the Chapel on the first Sunday of each month: a chance to see inside and hear something about the history of Abney. As part of this programme, we’ve given talks about Nelly Power, Henry Richard and Betsi Cadwaladr. And in coming months we’ll be looking at the life of Rebecca Jarrett and the writing of Eric Walrond. We’re also planning to be part of the Hackney History Festival in May. The regular history tour will be in the afternoon for those who want to find out more about this amazing space. Please look out for details on our website.
I recently gave a lecture at the London Parks and Garden Trust as part of their series of winter talks. They do important work celebrating and promoting London's green spaces and you can find out more about them and their programme of events here. For forward planning their important and celebrated London Open Gardens is 6th and 7th June 2026.
Over the winter we have been getting on with recruiting new Trustees. We have had good interest which means we can strengthen the Board, increase the Trust's reach into the community and bring in new skills. It takes time to do this but hopefully we will able to confirm new Trustees for the start of the next financial year at the start of April.
We have also had our website fully refreshed to make it more accessible and up to date. We need to refresh some of the content, but hopefully the public and users will find this a much better experience and we thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the funding to do this as part of the Restoration Project and web designer Miko Coffey at Using My Head. The website also includes our first foray into the world of ecommerce. Although lightly stocked we hope to expand this service after a trial period - and we’re excited to say that quite soon we’re going to be stocking a brand-new book about Abney, by Alan Gartrell - so watch this space!