More Than Just A Walk in the Park
There’s park life aplenty to discover in Lancaster and Morecambe.
From the wonderful Williamson Park with its majestic Ashton Memorial to the seaside parks of Morecambe, these outdoor spaces offer free family fun in a natural environment. In enjoying our parks, we are following in the footsteps of generations past for whom urban parks were a welcome respite from the smog of industrial towns and cities.
And it was two of Lancaster’s most important industrialists – both called James Williamson – whose money helped transform a quarry and moorland into a park named after them, given to the city in 1881. James Jnr also who paid for its most distinguishing feature – the Ashton Memorial, described by architectural historian, Nicholas Pesvner, as ‘the grandest monument in England’.
Visitors to Williamson Park can enjoy panoramic views of the entire district across to the Lakeland fells, woodland walks, picnics and take in the wonders of the Butterfly House and mini zoo (currently closed for essential works and improvements). During the summer, the park hosts events including the UK’s biggest promenade theatre season by Lancaster’s very own Dukes theatre, and it’s a popular venue for weddings too.
The view from Williamson Park also takes in one of the city’s other green spaces – Ryelands Park - which has connections with James Williamson (Jnr) too as it was once the garden to his home! Now this sprawling open space is open to the public and features football pitches, an outdoor play area and gym. And there are plans to breathe new life into the historic Ryelands House after North Lancashire Community Land Trust took over the lease.
Community is very much at the heart of Lancaster’s third park – Greaves Park – passed by thousands of motorists every day thanks to its location on the A6 southern approach to the city. Just like Ryelands, Greaves Park began life as the grounds and gardens of grand Victorian houses but now features a children’s play park, a pub restaurant and winding paths through woodland.
In contrast to the city’s other parks, Dallas Road Gardens is a park area almost hidden from view yet close to the city centre with two schools as neighbours. It provides a quiet oasis with plenty of seating and two examples of public art.
The Winning Words sculpture was installed there in 2012 to mark the year of the London Olympics and is in the form of an Olympic podium. Carved by Lancaster-based sculptor, Alan Ward, it features a poem by a Lancaster schoolgirl, the local heat winner of a national competition.
Dallas Road Gardens also feature a Peace Pole with the inscription “May peace prevail on earth”, in different languages. It was suggested by Lancaster Quakers and joins Peace Poles in 180 countries worldwide.
When it comes to local parks, Morecambe was ahead of the game in the late 19th Century and some elements of its Summer Gardens still remain in what is now Regent Park in the West End.
When the Summer Gardens opened in 1877, they were Morecambe’s first major tourist attraction and covered an area almost five times the size of the present Regent Park. Among its features were a concert pavilion, boating lake, ornamental walks, a sports field and an area for open air dancing. Even the tightrope walker, Blondin, once made an appearance there. The Summer Gardens closed around 1900 when the Park Hotel, currently being converted into flats, replaced the entrance to the attraction. Part of the grounds were sold off and remained derelict until the 1920s when the local corporation bought the site which re-opened as Regent Park in 1926.
Today, Regent Park includes children’s play areas, a bowling green, a pavilion café and bar, a basketball court and mini football pitch.
The mid Twenties was a boom time for parks in Morecambe not least because it saw the opening of Happy Mount Park which has welcomed generations of families ever since.
Originally laid out as a Victorian-style garden, its facilities have expanded over the past century yet still remain traditional. Among the attractions now are the Japanese Garden, miniature railway, adventure play areas, a café, adventure golf, swing boats, trampolines and one of its most popular features, the Splash Park. New for this year is the technicoloured makeover of the basketball, netball and football court by international artist, Lakwena Maciver.
Happy Mount Park has outlived a rival attraction which opened around the same time – Heysham Head. It gave puppets Pinky and Perky their debut appearance in 1956 and the go-kart track there was also used by a young Nigel Mansell who went on to win the Formula One Drivers World Championship. Heysham Heritage Centre (check website for opening times) currently has an exhibition about Heysham Head between 1966 and 1983.
