One of our members was part of the last group of garden apprenctices for the now defucted GLC (Greater London Council). The GLC at the time managed all the parks and green spaces in London under one contract.
Below is a clip from the London Screen Archives filmed in 1954 showing the outcome of the 1944 'Abercrombie Plan' which was prepared by Patrick Abercrombie in 1943 as a County Plan for London with remedies for the five defects of the captial at the time.
The defects included three that are referenced and redressed here: traffic congestion, the inadequacy and misdistribution of open spaces and the sprawl of London. The same author's 'Greater London Plan' of 1944 advised on the protection of a green belt about London inhibiting urban sprawl into the countryside.
Green belts were a campaign aim of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, which Abercrombie was a founding member of. The concept of 'green islands' also follows his call for 'standards of open space' recommending that there should be at least four acres of open space available for every one thousand inhabitants of a city.
Click on the link below to view the film.
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