Every square foot of potential building space around here has the potential to earn developers a fortune and yet what was once a derelict railway site has been preserved as open space and is flourishing as a sanctuary for local people.
It is a magical place where you can sit amongst the trees or walk about in the garden where herbs and vegetables grow.
With its bee friendly planting, this community garden has been carefully designed to encourage nature. Local people come here to escape from the city and help to grow food in raised beds.
On sunny, warm days the garden is full of families with young children and even in cold weather, it is a popular place to relax.
Local young professionals sit with their laptops and coffees under the canopy or meet up to have a beer in the evenings when the garden lights up.
Visit any time of the year – this sheltered space is the perfect retreat even in winter.
Living in the city, with its perpetual heat and light, helps us to become almost oblivious to the changing seasons. But escaping into this magical garden helps us to once again become more aware of the stark beauty that nature can provide in winter, the promise of warmth and sunshine in spring, the carefree days of summer and the misty, mysterious days of autumn.
Bus from Abney Park Cemetery or walk from Dalston Station or Kingsland Station