Art in the Park visit to the Conservatory, Broomfield Park 

18 November 2025

 

We were offered a treat this month. The Victorian Conservatory in Broomfield Park was opened just for us by Louise Howard, the Treasurer of Islington Art Society and a volunteer in the Conservatory. Many thanks Louise.

There were few leaves left on the trees as we walked through the park. It was a chilly but bright day after an early morning frost: the edge of autumn turning to winter. The Conservatory was lush and warm and there was the sound of trickling water accompanying our work.

Eighteen artists gathered to draw and paint, scattered throughout the space.

Lunch was excellent. Room was found for all of us at 90 on the Green, Alderman’s Hill.

 

Sue Loder	Louise Howard
Diane Umemoto
Diane Umemoto	Gill Steiner
Sue Lees
Sue Lees
Priscilla Worley
Peter Colley
Janet Perkins	Janet Payne
Tricia Sharpe	Betty Wang
Ruijan Hu
Diana Marshall	David Gilbert
Diana Butement	David Gilbert
Steve Betts
GaFung Wong	Avis Dennis

Tuesday 18 November: Visit to The Conservatory, Broomfield Park, London N13 4HE

 On Tuesday 18 November we have kindly been invited to come and paint in the Conservatory in Broomfield Park in Palmers Green by a member of the Conservatory Committee who is also the Treasurer of the Islington Art Society, Louise Howard.  

The Conservatory will be open just for us. It is a lovely space: in the middle tall yukas, flowers of paradise that are in flower, rocks etc and a small pond with fish; and plants on staging round the edges that are grouped - cactus, begonias etc and currently exotic bromeliads that are starting to flower in vibrant colours.   More details here:   The Conservatory is somewhere in the middle of the park between the tennis courts and the ponds.

Photos by Tricia:

 Louise is kindly going to organise some chairs for us, but we suggest you bring your sketching stools as there may not be enough chairs or in exactly the place you want. 

There is a loo in the park, and the small outdoor cafe in the park opens at 11.00 and you can get coffee and cakes.   For lunch, we have been recommended 90 On the Green, which is at 90 Alderman's Hill just outside the park.     

Getting to Palmers Green ..... 

Palmers Green station is about 2 mins from the park. Trains are only every 30 mins though so check Great Northern for times. Trains start at Moorgate, and you need the trains going to Stevenage via Hertford North. Trains to Welwyn use the same line up to Ally Pally so don't get on the wrong train! You can change from the Victoria line at Highbury (easy) or the Piccadilly line at Finsbury Park (very many stairs!).Out of PG station, turn right. 

Tube - best bet is Southgate on the Piccadilly line. Buses are at the back of the station. Get either the W6 or 121 and they travel along Aldermans Hill. Get off when you see the shops on the left. the park is opposite. About 10 mins. 

Or tube/bus to Turnpike Lane or Wood Green and get the 121 to Enfield Island Village. Also 329 to Enfield but get off at Palmers Green Triangle and walk up Aldermans Hill.  About 20 - 25 mins depending on traffic.    

Sue's telephone number for the day will be:  07975 864142. 

 

 

 

 

Visit to St Dunstan in the East on Tuesday 21 October

We were incredibly lucky with the weather on our visit to the roofless remnants of St Dunstan in the East, it rained heavily on both the day before and the day after!   Around a dozen artists arrived at this hidden gem of a church garden in the City, in fact this gem is apparently not so hidden nowadays as there was a constant flow of other visitors with cameras and various tour parties.  Some of the visitors were incorporated into our artwork.   We had hoped to get stunning autumn colours from the climbers on the church walls, but mostly the leaves were still dark green; there was some yellow, but the virginia creeper which should have been red had lost most of its leaves.  One of our artists was particularly charmed by the coloured leaves on the ground as you will see.  Most people concentrated on the interior arches, but one intrepid soul sat outside and captured the City contrasts of the old and the new rubbing shoulders together.  St Dunstan's is very beautiful and evocative, and we had a good time sketching it, but probably is best seen, in the absence of autumn colour on the walls, in the summer when the sun is high enough to produce shadows on the walls.

We had a very nice lunch in Indra's, round the corner in the Light Centre Monument.

Our next sketch date will be on Tuesday 18 November, when we have a kind invitation to sketch inside the Broomfield Park Conservatory, which will be opened especially for Art in the Park.  Full details to follow.

Meanwhile, please enjoy our images below.

Image above by Gafung Wong

 

Image above by Avis Dennis

 

 

Image above by Janet Payne

 

 

Image above by Diane Umemoto

 

 

 

Image above by Diana Marshall

 

 

 

Two images above by Ann Funston

 

 

Image above by Gill Steiner (done on our previous visit and unaccountably not posted)

 

 

Image above by Janet Perkins 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image above by Peter Colley

 

 

Image above by Priscilla Worley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image above by Betty Wang

Image above by Sue Lees

Tuesday 21 October: St Dunstan in the East, 20 St Dunstan’s Hill, Billingsgate, London EC3R 5DD

On Tuesday 21 October we will revisit the ruins of St Dunstan in the East, last visited sometime before Covid.   Regulars will remember this fabulous Church down near the Tower of London.   Most of the walls are standing, along with the arched window apertures, but no significant roof following the bombing in the War.   The interior of the Church is now a garden, and the walls are covered with creepers.   Hopefully our visit will catch the autumn colours on the climbers.   Our previous visit was when the climbers were green, and you can view our images here:  (Please scroll down the page to find the St Dunstan images.)

We will meet at 11 o'clock in St Dunstan's. 

There is no rain cover, except possibly in the tower, though depending on the direction of the rain, it may be possible to sketch from the shelter of the walls and under an umbrella.   No loos either!   The nearest cafe is Indra's net cafe (which has excellent reviews), which is in the Light Centre Monument, accessible via St Mary At Hill street close by.   There may be others not showing up on a google map search.

The nearest tube stations are Monument and Bank,  and there is an eight to ten minute walk from them.

 

  

In the event of heavy rain, we could go to All Hallows by the Tower, which is a five minute walk away.  

Please bring your sketching stools (though there are benches) and umbrellas, as appropriate.

Sue's telephone number for the day is 07975 864 142. 

 

 

 

 

 

Art in the Park: Liverpool Street Station, September 2025

Thirteen of us gathered on a chilly morning under the canopy of the Liverpool Street entrance to the station.

There were plenty of challenges: the structures of the entrance with the two towers, different surfaces – brick, glass and Victorian ironwork, and the reflections that distorted views into the station. One artist tackled the ambitious sculpture by Yosai Kusama nearby. And two chose inside scenes of people lounging in Wetherspoons.

It was cloudy by the time we adjourned to Pret for lunch. 

GaFung Wong
Diane Marshall	Diane Umemoto
Gill Steiner
Vanessa Whinney	Priscilla Worley
Janet Payne	Tricia Sharpe
Janet Perkins
Peter Colley	Sue Loder   Sue Loder
Steve Betts
Sue Lees