Formerly Acacia Walk was transformed into Maple Leaf Walk, in 2007, thanks to the Friends of Battersea Park and the people of Canada.
When the Friends learned that the old acacia trees lining the avenue which runs between the Cricket Pavilion and the Bandstand were going to have to be taken down, they approached the High Commission of Canada to see if anyone would be interested in donating some maple trees to replace them.
The High Commission quickly found two Candian business leaders happy to do their part to bring a little bit of Canada to the Park: Victor Dahdaleh, Chairman of the Dadco Group; and Robert Dorrance, Chairman of TD Securities.
The maples are Acer Rubrum, which the Pacific Northwest online planting guide, Rainyside Gardeners, says is “considered one of the best of all the red maples, especially for its bright red fall colors…. Highly adaptable, it grows relatively fast and has a smooth silver-gray trunk and round-shaped canopy.”
Acer Rubrum is also a long lived variety of maple, so Park visitors can expect to be walking beneath its distinctive canopy of leaves for many decades to come.
Prior to the replanting this section had an attractive stand of trees, unfortunately at the end of their lives!