New cafe.

London Road Gardens were created in the late 1800's when the new suburb of 'Hillside' was built. The gardens were for the amusement of the residents rather than for public use. The local properties were charge appropriately in their rates and each household had the right to a key to the gardens.

The gardens were professionally maintained and the officially employed gardner was given a nice cottage that went with the job.

When the war came the railings were sacrificed to the war effort, though rumour says that iron was too poor quality to be of any use and the effort was wasted. The result was that the gardens effectively became public but the gardner still lived in the little cottage.

Eventually the upkeep of the gardens was centralised and mechanised and when the gardner retired and moved out he was not replaced. The little cottage was effectively used as a garden shed.

Now someone has taken it over and is turning it into a cafe. Let's hope their venture is successful.