Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens
| Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Public park |
| Location |
Hayes, Hillingdon, Greater London |
| Created | 1993 |
| Operated by | London Borough of Hillingdon |
| Status | Open year round |
The Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens in Hayes is one of Hillingdon Borough's designated gardens of excellence. In September 2010, the Gardens earned a gold award for Best London Small Park in the London in Bloom competition.
The Gardens, which covers 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres), is situated about 200 metres (220 yd) south of the Uxbridge Road, at its junction with Grange Road.
There are four entrances to the Gardens. The main one is situated at the southern end of the site in Wood End, and gives access into the main part of the Gardens.
The Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens was originally a private residence with a large ornamental garden surrounding the house. A walled vegetable and fruit garden was attached to the Gardens on the west side of the site. In the early 1900s the house and grounds became a private nursing home. When the home closed, the house and grounds were given to Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council, which became part of the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1965.
The site was used as the headquarters of the Parks Department until 1960, when the building was condemned as unsafe. The building was demolished in 1961 and the site was developed into the Hayes Botanic Gardens. The walled vegetable and fruit garden became the Council's tree and shrub nursery; it was lost to the site in 1975 as part of a road improvement scheme.
In 1993, Hayes Botanic Gardens was renamed the Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens in memory of a late Assistant Director of Parks who had done much over a period of years to develop the Gardens.
The gardens are laid out in formal style, with a wide range of trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and bulbs, providing colour and interest throughout the year.
Areas important for wildlife are the bog and ditch, bed ponds, garden pond, shrubs and woodland areas. The ponds accommodate amphibians and insect larvae. Hillingdon Borough Council report sightings of a rare damselfly in a pond in the surrounding open space of St Marys', Wood End, of which the Gardens are a part. The Council claims, too, the first sightings ever of small red-eyed damselflies in Hillingdon at the ornamental pond of the Beck Theatre.
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