The concrete space underneath the Westway, an elevated dual carriageway that cuts across the Victorian terraces of west London, is not a hospitable place for plants – nor for people, some would say. But it is nevertheless at the heart of the community that calls itself North Kensington. Between the Westway’s shadow and another dominant structure, the shrouded Grenfell Tower, sits a narrow slice of a garden.
Lanterns hang from a tree, halfway down a path of bark chips leading to a welcoming bench. With planting that is green and tall, the little haven is so immersing that even the loud hum of overhead traffic is easily forgotten. The community green space owes its existence to Tayshan Hayden-Smith, a 19-year-old at the time of the Grenfell fire, who in its aftermath was gripped by an impulse to start planting things. He found a piece of wasteland and with no prior experience began to explore the two-way nurturing process of gardening. A promising footballer of mixed race, he was acutely embarrassed at the idea of being seen with a plant; he would duck out of sight when friends went past. “I felt so at home in the garden, but so out of place,” he says.
