Summer arrived - fleetingly - on Tuesday 17th July in the morning. Taking advantage of the sun which appeared from behind the clouds for a few minutes at a time before retreating back again, we took some photographs of the Jewel in the Crown of the London Borough of Redbridge - an honour that Valentines Mansion shares with Fairlop Waters. Of special interest is the new Dry Garden, opened by Her Majesty The Queen on Thursday 29th March 2012. The idea behind the garden is that it contains plants and shrubs that require very little water, which makes them ideal for our British climate - for places where there is a lack of water and a hosepipe ban. However, the rainfall in June exceeded anything seen that month since records began and the dry garden is now almost waterlogged, but looks great none the less. Congratulations to Simon Litt, the Park Manager, and his team for the sterling work they have done in keeping the gardens at Valentines Mansion looking just great.