Wow! The 3rd eaglesfield neighbourhood watch fête was absolutely fantastic. The main park users catered for were the children but i’m sure the dogs didn’t mind. A possible 3rd user group was being sounded out yesterday with the beginning of a council consultation regarding funds allocated for new fitness facilities in the park. There are currently 3 main options:
- trim trail (monkey bars etc dotted around the park)
- one gym area (possibly in the south east corner, almost certainly not the top by the lily pond)
- neither
It would be great to get some more park users (improved access and signs are also coming), although there are several issues to be sorted out at the grass roots level including environmental effects, materials to be used, colours, maintenance etc. For those interested in finding out more, the councillors/friends of eaglesfield park can provide more information. At first i thought that a trim trail might blend in more (require less levelling), but on further reflection i think it could actually be more intrusive as it would involve spreading these potentially unattractive structures over a much larger area, it didn’t take long to find an blog rant on the subject, with a main complaint being that people don’t actually use them – it’s not certain whether people would use an outdoor gym any more or less either.
Moves to make a permanent feature of ww1 gun base are coming along. It was probably installed to help defend against zepellins flying towards london, and is highly significant as it remains a unique find.
The reinstatement of the lily pond is looking promising too.