Post
by mdja » Sat 01 Aug, 2015 10:42 pm
Am I the only one who actually went to the opening event while it was happening? I was welcomed at Thieves Lane car park by some enthusiastic volunteers, guided to the car parking area (with the special 'privilege' of driving up the dirt track) where I met more volunteers, headed around to the Great Oak (great) and the Orangery, where I had a free cup of coffee and cupcake. I would have had a free ice cream too, but it was a bit chilly. All very pleasant and well organised. The lack of signage may have been a problem after they shut down, but it wasn't that hard to go to the opening event while it was actually happening. And even without clear signs, there aren't many places you can go other than the route, unless you walk into a lake, river or gravel pit. Whatever people say it is a great improvement to what one day will be a truly impressive park. 30 years or more late, but still truly impressive.
More importantly, on the day they were canvassing opinion on how better to fund the park going forward, and some of the options included turning bits of the park into residential estate. Now there's something worth being concerned about.