By Harry Mottram: The Friends of Alexandra Park are seeking new people to help organise events such as Picnic in the Park, Poppy Planting and Seeding Day.
Collin Carr (pictured – with two ‘L’s please note) of the group said the Friends needed new people and new ideas as the pause for the Covid shutdowns had caused a lapse in events.
“When I was thinking about retirement the Friends had only just been set up,” he said, “Julian Davis was the first chair having done it for while, and wanted someone to put their hands up to help and so I thought I’d give it a go.
“Now we have the same situation again as we need new people to join us – I’ve fronted five Picnic in the Parks – and we had a fantastic model with bands playing for free. We paid for the loos and the gazebos with a programme, a raffle and sales of drinks.”
The Friends were ably assisted by Andrew Lawrence who had contacts with the music scene and found bands who would play – plus Sue Evans as the secretary who helped to run the group.
Anyone interested in joining the Friends should email enquiries@alexandraparkbath.org and see the website for more details.
More on the park
Look to the south from Bath city centre and you will see a wooded hillside rising from just beyond the river. On the summit is Alexandra Park, a wonderful, tranquil green space with mature trees and magnificent views over the city. Whether it’s to stroll, get a bird’s eye view of Bath, walk the dog, picnic, play boules or take advantage of the children’s playground, the park offers something for everyone. It is owned and maintained by Bath & North East Somerset council. The main gate is situated at the top of Shakespeare Avenue, BA2 4RQ.
Alexandra Park was named in honour of Queen Alexandra and opened in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII.
The project to open a park on the top of Beechen Cliff started in 1896 when a proposal to acquire the land was first discussed at the Council’s Pleasure Grounds Committee. About that time the owners of Holloway Farm were considering developing the land for housing. Nothing however was done until 1898 when it was agreed to investigate the cost of buying the land and building a public park or cliff drive or both. In August of that year the Council agreed to purchase a field of 11 acres on the highest part of the cliff together with a right of way over the new road (now known as Shakespeare Avenue) then being constructed from Wellsway. The cost of the land was £2750 with a further £1250 set aside for laying out the park and building the road around it.
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