Folkestone Gardens

The park is overlooked and completely surrounded by railway lines of the South Eastern Railway and the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The Grand Surrey Canal used to run past the northern end of the site from Camberwell to the Surrey Docks but closed in 1971, and filled in the following year, its location recalled by Surrey Canal Road. At this time, in the early 1970s, Folkestone Gardens was laid out on the site of the war-damaged housing, and named after one of the demolished streets. On undulating ground, the park has grass, woodland areas, a belt of Lombardy poplars along the edge, and a group of sycamores in the centre. In the north-west is a large pond with an island with weeping willow. When it was restored in 1994, some of the pond-side plants were taken from the surplus at Hare and Billet Pond on Blackheath. The pond (2024) is practically invisible due to the density of plants, its location only evident by presence of Canada geese. The park supports a surprising diversity of plants and animals considering its size and location.

In October 2015 work commenced on a new Deptford Skatepark in Folkestone Gardens, replacing the original metal quarter pipe and a driveway installed in 2003 and 2005. The new concrete plaza-style skatepark opened in February 2016; managed by Lewisham Council, it was built by Freestyle Skateparks at a cost of around £240k.

DeptfordFolk was established in 2015 as a parks group for Deptford Park (q.v.) and Folkestone Gardens, to improve the two parks and the routes to them. Since then they have planted trees, introduced new bins and benches, restored the paths in Deptford Park and put on numerous events. Funding from Deptford Challenge Trust in 2016/17 enabled them to survey park users to identify priorities. In 2017 the group teamed up with Lewisham Council and Sustrans to apply for the Mayor of London's Liveable Neighbourhood scheme. In honour of John Evelyn, a project to plant 200 trees throughout the Evelyn Ward was completed in April 2019 with the planting of the 200th tree in Pepys Park (q.v.).

A cafe / restaurant called 'Festa sul Prato' opened in late 2016/early 2017 in what were once the park's public toilets and attracted critical acclaim, with Jay Rayner's review in the Observer Magazine describing the cafe and restaurant as ‘utterly cheery and fun and good-hearted'. By 2020 it had become 'park cafe honle', but it has now re-opened as 'Sylva', named after John Evelyn's eponymous book, and provides seasonal food inspired by Mediterranean and Middle Eastern home cooking for breakfast and lunch. Coincidentally, a plaque to John Evelyn and Sylva has been erected by the path near the cafe, as part of the Deptford Park Art Trail 2021. Initiated in 2021 as part of the Deptford Parks Liveable Neighbourhood Project, the trail of 19 artworks was created for Lewisham by artist Tom Berry and Sustrans with support of Transport for London, and runs along a green walking and bicycle-friendly route between Folkstone Gardens and Fordham Park (q.v.), connecting the Evelyn and New Cross wards. Each plaque and illustration, mounted on a signpost along the route, commemorates an aspect of the local neighbourhood, from its early history, such as Evelyn's connections to the area, to more recent events, such as the devastating New Cross Fire on 18 January 1981, as well as its maritime, social and industrial history. Ideas were collected as a result of meetings, workshops and research at Lewisham's Local History and Archives Centre. Woodpecker Road, the landscaped route of the path between the two parks is itself historic, and existed as Woolfacre or Woolpicker Lane, before housing was built in the area.