Gill Brason

The Ungreen Park - The Diary of a Keeper

Bodley Head, 1978.

Entering the park makes me gasp with pleasure. Everywhere is so green and time has blissfully stood still. Tourists are strolling around sedately and there is an air of calm about everyone's movements. My pace slows, all my anger and aggression gone.

Escaping briefly from her office job to find some solitude in Regent's Park, the author is inspired to seek work 'close to nature'. This leads to a job with Islington Council, in much scruffier surroundings than these, and we hear no more of 'the pink and red roses'.