Opportunity for catering concessions in parks

Tower Hamlets has many beautiful parks and open spaces used by both residents and visitors to the borough.

We have a great opportunity for local businesses to trade in our parks for the summer season in 2024.

We are seeking to license:

- catering vans
- catering operators at fixed pitches
- healthy street food trucks

We have opportunities in parks across the borough for vendors who have Public Liability Insurance and Food Hygiene Certificate.

If you are interested in applying, please email parks@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

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Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and Ackroyd Drive GreenLink Nature Reserve

TH Cemetery Park angel

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, is today recognised as one of London's 'Magnificent Seven' Victorian-era cemeteries and opened to burials in 1841.

Burials ceased in 1966 when the site was closed as a Cemetery by Act of Parliament and re-declared as a public Park. The park was owned and managed by the Greater London Council (GLC) until 1986. 

With the abolition of the GLC, its ownership passed to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

In 1990, the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park were formed. Since then, they have, under a Service Level Agreement with LBTH Parks, maintained and developed the site's unique conservation, heritage and community value.

This includes managing the site and its unique habitats and biodiversity, much of which is unique within the borough or London.

The work has made the site a Local Nature Reserve and a Metropolitan Site for the Importance of Nature Conservation.

The site has also retained a Green Flag Award since 2012. 

The Friends are a charity. Their goal is to preserve, protect and promote the Cemetery Park as a unique, celebrated space for conservation, heritage and community.

The Friends have raised funds through their charity work. They set up a volunteer programme to care for nature and heritage, including some at-risk listed monuments. They also developed and supported a series of public events, led by the Friends and various community groups and charities.

In 1993, the Soanes Field Centre opened in the Cemetery Park. The Friends have used it since to pursue their charitable goals. 

Since 1997, SetPoint London East has used the Soanes Field Centre to run STEM workshops for local schools. These workshops, focused on the national curriculum and help thousands of children each year. They discovered the Cemetery Park's habitats.

During the mid 1990s, additions were made to the Cemetery Park footprint, all located along the southern boundary. One was Scrapyard Meadows, whose name indicates its former use and now a flower rich meadow. The other is Ackroyd Drive Greenlink opposite the Leopold Estate. This acts a vital green corridor between the Cemetery Park and Mile End Park.

Conservation

The Park is within a conservation area, contains several English Heritage Grade 2 listed monuments. It is a site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. In 2001 the Park and Ackroyd Drive together became recognised as Tower Hamlets’ first Local Nature Reserve. The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park patron, conservationist David Bellamy, was present at the declaration ceremony.

The site has a varied network of paths that take visitors on a tour around wonderful woodlands taking in unique and special wildflower meadows. It is likely that visitors will see many birds, butterflies and plants uncommonly seen in London.

Local history, including family research is important given the cemetery park’s legacy as a space for remembrance and reflection. The Friends actively support grave research enquiries and other research projects.

Cemetery Park activities

The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park run many events for all ages, including arts and crafts workshops and guided walks.

Find out more about the current programme.

The Friends also support a number of projects around conservation and community cohesion throughout the borough, including works within

  • St George’s Park
  • Fairfoot Woods
  • Shandy Park
  • Swedenborg Gardens. 

Visit and Contact Cemetery Park

The main entrance to the cemetery park is off Southern Grove, E3 - 5 minutes walk from Mile End underground station. The Soanes Centre is close to the entrance.

The park is open from dawn till dusk and it is free to visit.

There is street parking nearby at weekends only. Otherwise limited parking within the Cemetery Park may be arranged with advanced agreement only.

The Cemetery Park (including Ackroyd Drive Greenlink) is 12.55 hectares in area size and falls under LAP area 5.

For more information, contact

Kenneth Greenway - Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park Manager
Tel: 020 3982 8670
Mob: 079 0418 6981 
Email: kenneth.greenway@fothcp.org 

Parks & Open Spaces Service at parks@towerhamlets.gov.uk

You can also visit the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park website or social media contacts to discover more about their activities.