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Elfin Oak

Fairies in artGrade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaIndividual oak treesIndividual trees in EnglandKensington Gardens
Parks and open spaces in the City of WestminsterParks and open spaces in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
KensingtonGardens ElfinOak
KensingtonGardens ElfinOak

The Elfin Oak is the stump of a 900-year-old oak tree located in Kensington Gardens, London, carved and painted to look as though elves, gnomes, fairies and small animals are living in its bark. The hollow log, donated by Lady Fortescue, originally came from Richmond Park, and was moved to Kensington Gardens in 1928 as part of George Lansbury's scheme of public improvements in London. Over the next two years the illustrator Ivor Innes carved the figures of the "Little People" into it. These included Wookey the witch, with her three jars of health, wealth and happiness, Huckleberry the gnome, carrying a bag of berries up the Gnomes' Stairway to the banquet within Bark Hall, and Grumples and Groodles the Elves, being awakened by Brownie, Dinkie, Rumplelocks and Hereandthere stealing eggs from the crows' nest.Innes also illustrated a 1930 children's book written by his wife Elsie and based on the Elfin Oak. In it, Elsie wrote: for centuries now it has been the home of fairies, gnomes, elves, imps, and pixies. In the nooks and crannies they lurk, or peer out of holes and crevices, their natural windows and doorways. It is their hiding-place by day, their revelry place by night, and when the great moon tops the bare branchless tree the Elfin Clans come out to play and frolic in the moonlight. The inside cover of Pink Floyd's 1969 album Ummagumma features a picture of David Gilmour in front of the Elfin Oak.The comedian Spike Milligan was a lifelong fan of the tree, and in 1996 he led a successful campaign to have it restored. Much of the work he did himself, leading a small team on Saturday mornings. In December 1997 Heritage Minister Tony Banks declared it a Grade II listed structure.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Elfin Oak (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Elfin Oak
The Broad Walk, City of Westminster Bayswater

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N 51.508666666667 ° E -0.18793611111111 °
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The Elfin Oak

The Broad Walk
W2 4RJ City of Westminster, Bayswater
England, United Kingdom
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Lansdowne College

Lansdowne College was a mixed independent school, mainly specialising in sixth form courses. It was situated in Bayswater in the City of Westminster, England. Lansdowne was registered with the DfE and, since joining the ISA in July 2014, was inspected by ISI. Their last inspection was in 2014 and the report declared that "[Students'] learning skills and their attitudes to work are excellent throughout the college. They are single-minded and purposeful and focus clearly on the specific academic goals they have set themselves. Students from many cultural backgrounds support each other strongly, and an atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect pervades the college."It had been located in the centre of London opposite Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens after having moved from the original premises in a majestic building on the south side of the Gardens at 9 Palace Gate near the top of Gloucester Road and well-known for offering a highly successful LLB law London University External, now International program course. Lansdowne provided one and two-year A level and GCSE courses for students aged 14 to 19 and a one-year NCUK International Foundation Year for students aged 17 to 19. The primary aim of the college's students was to progress to Higher Education (HE) with destinations including Imperial College, UCL, and the universities of Bristol, Birmingham, Warwick, Leeds, Manchester and Queen Mary . The school most recently had 230 students enrolled with two thirds being British students and the remaining one third from more than twenty different countries. The school offerered nearly 30 A-Level subjects and twelve GCSE subjects. The last college principal was Mark Love. Lansdowne College closed in 2017.