Local residents created these allotments on disused land in the late 1970s, using funds from the Greater London Council (GLC) and Islington Council’s Operation Clean Up. The plots are terraced along a freight railway line, with access to the lower level only possible by ladders. The members have recently erected impressive gabion structures to ensure allotment sustainability. The land also features a small mixed woodland and woodland shelter. There are strong community ties to the network of streets around it, and the site is historically important as it was created by GLC funding and has always been independently managed and self-funded.
Visitor Information
Open
Saturday 10:00–16:00
Activities
Members of the allotment will be on hand to talk to visitors and answer questions about their development. There will also be homemade elderflower cordial on sale.
Entrance
On Arvon Road, opposite Drayton Park Primary School. Nearest postcode: N5 1PJ
Garden not fully accessible to wheelchair users.
The top tier of plots - flat area with paving along the side - will be open to the public and has access for wheelchairs. Access to the wood is via a woodland path unsuitable for wheelchairs. Paths between allotments are narrow and unevenly surfaced.
Community garden located on a former railway embankment. Features include a lawn, herbaceous borders, extensive woodland, an orchard, wildflower meadow, a wildlife pond, fruit and vegetable growing, and a greenhouse.
A silver medal winner at the Chelsea Flower Show 2024, the garden was relocated to Freedom from Torture's London Therapy Centre, where it is being used for horticultural and other therapies for survivors of torture. Guides available. Refreshments.
The nature gardens were set up at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic on semi-derelict locked spaces on the Highbury Quadrant Estate, with the aim of establishing three new thriving community gardens; the Meadow, the Woodland Garden and the Orchard.
