The Royal Parks in photos - January
We look back at January through some of our favourite photos, past and present.
Frosty mornings
January 2025 saw some stunning frosty mornings around the Royal Parks, with Richmond Park in particular providing postcard-like scenes for anyone enthusiastic enough to be there for sunrise.
Around the parks
At Pen Ponds in Richmond Park you can see the progress of a project to enhance and extend the reedbed, improving the priority wetland habitat for birds, invertebrates and other wildlife. The island in Pen Ponds was enlarged back in 2022, creating new gravel habitats for ground nesting birds.
At the bog garden in the Isabella Plantation, the first phase of work has seen silt removed from the five pools, banks stablised and log waterfalls replaced. The pools had become clogged, with the more dominant plants and wildflowers taking over. Replanting later in spring will see a more diverse range of plants featured in the garden.
At the nursery in Hyde Park, which grows around half a million plants a year, the geraniums for the flower beds outside Buckingham Palace are growing well.
A look back in time
In January 1912 a group of women ice skate and sledge on the frozen Pen Ponds in Richmond Park. In 1940, the coldest January since 1895 saw Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake frozen over, allowing for this photo of ice skaters putting on a show.
This image shows a horse and cart moving part of a damaged tree through Kensington Gardens back in 1930. Almost 100 years later, Shire horses are still used to carry out work around the Royal Parks.
Back in January 1967 the Rolling Stones posed for a series of photos in Hyde Park. Two years later they would perform in the same park for an estimated audience between 250,000 and 500,000 people.
Diana, Princess of Wales Playground renewal
We announced a £3 million renewal of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, including a number of new features, more accessible play, and pollinator-friendly planting.
January saw the launch of ecommerce for The Royal Parks. The new online shop offers hundreds of products for all occasions, with every purchase going directly towards our charity’s work to protect the parks for generations to come.
Finally, we waved farewell to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland for another year.
Do you have a photo of one of the Royal Parks that you’d like to include next month? Or an old family snap from decades past? Please get in touch on digitalcomms@royalparks.org.uk, we’d love to hear from you.
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