Hillside Gardens Park
Hillside Gardens Park is a small but popular park situated between Streatham Hill and Tulse Hill, and provides an important space for play, sport, exercise and relaxation.
The park has refurbished tennis and games courts, and a new playground funded by a partnership between the Friends of Hillside Gardens Park and Lambeth Parks and Greenspaces, who raised £130,000 from sources including landfill tax and the Lottery Fund. The new playground was launched in October 2005, on the 50th Anniversary of the park's opening.
Hillside Gardens Park is one of Lambeth's nine Green Flag Award winning open spaces, having secured this prestigious award for the first time in 2010.
Hillside Gardens Park has flower gardens and a dog free children's area, along with a popular One O'Clock Club for toddlers, their parents and carers, as well as a small but exciting community gardening and wildlife scheme in the old Parks Depot.
Address: Hillside Road, SW2 3HL
Tube: Brixton (Victoria Line), 1.5 miles (3km)
Rail: Streatham Hill, 1 mile (2km); Tulse Hill, 1 mile (2km)
Buses: 2, 59, 68, 133, 137, 159, 196, 33, 417, 432, 468, P13 (to/from Brixton, Clapham, Croydon, Elephant and Castle, Norwood Junction, Streatham, Vauxhall and Victoria).
See location map of Hillside Gardens
Facilities
Opening times
The park opens by 7.30am each morning and is closed approximately 15 minutes before sunset. See opening and closing times
History
Hillside Gardens Park is a relatively new park; prior to the 1950s the site was occupied by old tennis courts adjacent to land allocated for new housing. In 1953 the housing development enabled the old tennis courts to be acquired and converted into a new public open space. The new park was called 'Hillside Gardens Park' and opened in 1955 with tennis and netball courts, playground and landscaped areas.
New developments
The Friends of Hillside Gardens Park have been instrumental in securing funding not only for a new children's playground, but also for a small community allotment and wildlife gardening project. This is located within the grounds of the old Parks Depot, and offer local people with a place to grown food plants in comfort and safety. Further plans are under way to extend the garden, including a new community orchard based on trees producing fruit like apples, pears and plums, as well as a new wildlife area.
Friends of Hillside Gardens Park
The Friends of Hillside Gardens Park represent those who live around and use the park, playing an important role in its management and development for present and future generations. The Friends organise regular meetings, events and activities within the park and proved instrumental in securing additional funding for play, gardening and wildlife.
To join or find out more, please see the Friends of Hillside Gardens Park website.
Help us look after Hillside Gardens Park
Hillside Gardens Park is managed by Lambeth Parks and Green Spaces and is within the Lambeth South Parks Area. It comes under an area patrolled by Streatham Hill Safer Neighbourhoods Team of Lambeth Borough Police, who work in partnership with Lambeth Council and the Friends of Hillside Gardens Park to ensure it provides a safe and welcoming environment for all.
Hillside Gardens Park welcomes responsible dog walkers, but there are specific dog free areas, such as the children's play area, sports facilities and picnic area. This is for the comfort and safety of children and their carers, and also helps to protect local wildlife. The park has an area allocated for exercising dogs off the lead.
For more information on Hillside Gardens Park and how to help us keep it clean, green and safe please contact us on 0207 926 9000 or email us at parks@lambeth.gov.uk.
Further information