20th February 2010

Last week I was lucky enough to get an invite to go and have a look as to how the work was progressing in my park. How could I refuse . So on Thursday off I went , feeling like a child in a sweet shop..... excitement buzzing off me.

I've tried to find before and after pictures to show you.

Before : The entrance to the park, the tree stump you can see second on the right is the only stump left.



After : It is now being carved into a giant totem pole.



Before : None of this is there any longer,



After : It is where the new toilet block / changing rooms are being built.



Before : One of the paths down to the duck pond with the bridge just at the bottom.



After : All the paths have been dug up , fences have gone as has most of the shrubs and greenery and a load of big rocks have been placed.



Before : The bridge



After : Where the bridge used to be.



Before : Looking across to the steps , with two benches , on the right hand side of the pond .



Looking up the right hand side of the duck pond with the backs of the two benches and the big green blob of Weeping Willow is the island in the middle of the pond.



After : You can still see the steps on the right but all the shrubs , rose bushes and trees have gone and the big green blob has drastically reduced in size.



Before : Looking up the left hand side of the pond.



After : The trees on the right hand side have been thinned out a lot , you can just say see the island minus the weeping willows in the middle of the picture and the bare bank on the right.



We didn't get to see any further than this but there are more pictures of what is going to be the Woodland Park and the Sensory Garden on my other Blog or you can click on the picture on the right .

I could see that Milo's funny tree ( or Weeping Cedar as I found out it was called ) is still there and will be staying although all the trees behind it have gone.



And this lovely specimen of Giant Redwood is staying also ,



From what I saw some bits are definately an improvement like the Sensory Garden which has been built where there used to be old overgrown tennis courts. Some other bits though I will have to reserve judgement until I see more. Apparantly all the building work has not affected the wildlife , the squirrels , jays and woodpeckers are still there as are the family of sparrowhawks which I am very pleased about . The guy who showed us around summed it up quite nicely when he said " with all the wildlife that is here you would have never have thought you were in a suburban park, it's more like being in the countryside". Fingers crossed it still will be when they have finished.