Canary Wharf village.

Mudchute Park and Farm is a large urban park and farm just south of Canary Wharf in Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.

The name of the site is a testament to the engineering overspill when Millwall Dock was being constructed in the 1860s. Spoil from the excavation of the Dock, and silt from its channels and waterways were dumped on nearby land, using a conveyor system.

October 2018, Mudchute Farm, Isle of Dogs, London, UK

October 2018, Mudchute Farm, Isle of Dogs, London, UK

Some History

The Millwall Dock Company owned a huge swathe of land across the Isle of Dogs as it intended to extend the docks to meet the Thames in the east one day, when there was enough business to justify it. Until then, the company kept the land undeveloped, mostly leasing it out for pasture. This was also the case of the later Mudchute (or ‘Mud Shoot’ as it was originally spelled in official documents).

The name “Mudchute” derives from it being the former dumping ground for mud dredged from the Millwall Docks, which had to be regularly dredged to prevent silting up. A novel, pneumatic device was employed which pumped the liquefied mud through a pipe over East Ferry Rd (close to the George pub), dumping it on the other side. This system was designed by dock engineer Frederic Eliot Duckham (father of Alexander Duckham who later founded his eponymous lubricating oil company in Millwall).

The mud stank terribly, and Poplar Borough Council continually complained to the dock company that it was causing disease (including diphtheria) among locals, attempting unsuccessfully to have the mud dumping stopped. (Later Mudchute allotment holders who built wells to provide water to their plants complained at its condition, but it was some decades before the council pumped clean water to the Mudchute allotments.)

By 1890, the Millwall Dock Company had not yet dumped mud on the northern edge of its land east of East Ferry Rd, which meant the ground was flat and solid. Landlord of the nearby George pub, William Clark, leased a 400 ft by 420 ft plot on the flat land, planning to develop an athletics stadium for football, cricket and tennis, with running and cycling tracks. The stadium was opened in June 1890 and became the home of Millwall Athletic football team. An Asda supermarket was later built on the site. The smell remained, though, as Corinthians player and England International Fred Pelly later declaring that he did not mind playing on the ground, but he objected falling down on it because “the smell wouldn’t come off for weeks”.

In 1901, the dock company decided that it wanted its land back, in order to use it for timber storage. It had plans to install a large timber transporter, which would carry off-loaded timber from the docks to warehouses on the ground where the stadium was located, which would become known as the Transporter Yard. Millwall Athletic football club was forced to find its fourth ground on the Island (they moved to an area of land that would later be known as Millwall Park).

During World War II the Transporter Yard served as an RAF embarkation point, and a section of the higher land was the site for four Ack Ack Anti-aircraft guns. The 154 Battery of the 52 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was stationed at the Mudchute until 26 March 1941. Then the 119 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment manned the site until 1945. The guns were fired by remote control using Radar to track the enemy aeroplanes. The Blitz started on 7 September 1940, and on 8 September the Guardroom, canteen and stores was destroyed by landmines, but there were no casualties. During the Blitz 430 people were killed on the Isle of Dogs.

When, in the early 1970s, the PLA realized the Millwall Docks would close in the foreseeable future, they negotiated with the GLC (Greater London Council) to transfer the Mudchute land to them for housing purposes. However, the Association of Island Communities launched a successful campaign to make sure the land became a public, open space. A newly formed Mudchute Association leased the land (except for that land leased to Asda for one of their supermarkets). from Tower Hamlets Borough Council, and a farm and garden was established in 1977.

Autumn in Anin

October 2018, Anin, Warsaw, Poland

October 2018, Anin, Warsaw, Poland

The Institute of Cardiology is the main Polish clinical center of cardiology and cardiosurgery with the highest reference score and ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management System) certificate. Being a dynamically developing academic and research center, it plays an important role in postgraduate training and education in cardiology.

During the 35 years of its existence as a research centre, the Institute has contributed to the development of Polish cardiology and cardiosurgery by initiating and propagating numerous new methods of treatment and also by educating and training specialists in cardiology.
Of particular importance is the role played by the Institute as the country pioneer in introducing and propagating new methods of cardiac diagnosis and treatment. All main innovative interventional methods of non-surgical cardiac therapy now used in Poland have been introduced by the Institute of Cardiology specialists. The Institute has a long record of clinical trials conducted by this institution.

The Institute of Cardiology is the dominating cardiology center in the region providing 24 hour/7 days a week readiness to treat emergency patients in the region who need either cardiac or cardio surgical interventions. The yearly activity of the Institute looks as follows:

– over 15900 patients hospitalized,
– over 2100 surgeries,
– over 62300 out-patients,
– over 7200 procedures performed by the hemodynamic lab,
– over 29200 imaging examinations done by the Radiology Department,
– over 2200 procedures performed by the Clinical Electrophysiology Lab.

Diagnostic facilities of the Institute offer a wide spectrum of examinations:

1. Full set of biochemical analysis, also peptide hormones assays. Modern methods of drug serum consternation analysis with chromatography tests HPLC and immunochemical assays EMIT, MEIA, FPIA.
2. Modern devices for medical imaging with 384-multislice CT-scanner, Magnetic Resonance (MRI), Nuclear Medicine Imaging and ultrasound diagnostics devices.
3. All contemporary ECG analysis methods including intracardiac electrophysiological examinations, stress tests or tilt
tests.

In the Institute of Cardiology there are two intensive care units fully equipped to perform immediate resuscitation as well as extracorporeal life support. There are also interdisciplinary units like Department of Medical Biology or Department of Cardio-Oncology co-founded with the Institute of Oncology.

Institute of Cardiology is a pioneer institution on the field of Telemedicine, actively using and contributing to further development of the remote patients control in the home conditions.

Deers in Knole

Knole Park is a 383.4-hectare (947-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Sevenoaks in Kent. About 43 acres of the park belongs to the National Trust as does Knole House that sits within it. The remaining parkland is privately owned. It is in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The park has acidic woodland, parkland, woods and ponds. It has the best ancient woodland invertebrates in the county, including the nationally rare beetle Platypus cylindrus and several nationally scarce species, and it also has a rich fungus flora.

The park is open to the public.

The park was the location for the Beatles‘ “Strawberry Fields Forever” promotional video.