Social Media…Does It Come With Benefits?
People often crack on about social media and how it's destroying the art of conversation, mutterings of dire warnings about its use for any manner of nefarious reasons. Well, I for one love it, not least because you can have interaction with literally hundreds of people that you might never come across in 'real life.' Such was the case this week. Enjoying A general online natter with someone on one of our Facebook pages and up popped an old photo of the Radipole gardens playing fields! (Many thanks to Alan Appleby who gave me permission to post it on here.) To say that I've been searching for something like...
Beat Winter Blues…Bring Back Brass Bands!
With the Beast from the East looming ever closer, maybe it's time to warm ourselves up with memories of far warmer weather and vivid green parks. The Friends committee are geared up to holding an event every month of the year and this years are almost in the bag. Just a few are remaining bits and pieces to firm up on, minor details and final dates. (Check out our our event calendar here https://radipoleparkandgardensfriends.wordpress.com/events-2018-2/) In the past, one thing that many parks were renown for was music. It's where the public went to immerse themselves in the cheerful melodies of the local town band or toe tapping to the...
The Creation; Four Men and a Floating Tin Shack
Four Men and a Floating Tin Shack Now you might well wonder what on earth the grainy old photo of four men and a floating tin shack has to do with our beautiful park and gardens. Let me explain....
The Ground Beneath your Very Feet…
As a continuation of the history of Radipole park and gardens, here's a couple more photos from the 1930's showing their construction. Pictured below is the partly infilled, swampy land, and the original, very much shorter, Alexander Bridge, with Hanover Road running off into the distance and Lyndhurst Terrace facing the the tracks. Most of the garden's were formed with the dredging of Weymouth's estuary floor, redeposited via pump to infill the ground. Only problem was, it wasn’t filling it quite quick enough. The solution? It also became the town’s tip. Unfortunately, those frequent dumpings of debris brought with them a certain noxious aroma! Definitely not one that local residents...
Panic When it Comes to Pruning Your Pears? Fear Not. Join us on Tuesday 13th February 10-12 am.
Most people know about the beautiful Radipole gardens with their weeping willows and stunning flower beds...
Radipole Park under Construction…1920’s-1930’s.
Radipole park and gardens is probably one of the 'newer' recreational areas in Weymouth. It was constructed between the two World Wars, at a time when when the country was suffering from economic depression and the accompanying high unemployment. The government of the day had set out loans to those councils that wanted to avail themselves of them to complete public works at very favourable rates. Weymouth grasped this opportunity with both hands and set to expanding it's land. A problem that had thwarted the town for centuries, because Weymouth, or Melcombe Regis of old, was basically built out on a sand spit. Surrounded by the sea on one...
Powerful words…Powerful Memories; Holocaust Day 2018
Our local parks and gardens, besides being somewhere that gives us great pleasure, they can also provide us with a wealth of memories. Some are happy, some may be sad, but some hold very powerful messages for those who visit. So it is for Radipole Gardens who will be holding their annual Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday January 26th. In our gardens, standing tall and straight is a Holocaust Memorial Tree, donated by local resident, Tony Hamm. Each year people from all walks of life and faiths gather together around it to remember not only those lives lost or affected affected by such atrocious acts of barbarism under...
Childhood memories of Radipole playpark
To many people of a certain age this insignificant low wall will bring back many happy and fun-filled memories. For those NOT of a certain age you may wonder what the dickens I'm on about. Let me explain...
Radipole Lake before Radipole Park
I love this old image in so many ways. It is a snapshot of where I grew up in Hanover Road, living virtually next to the original Alexander Bridge shown here. But more importantly, it shows just how extensive Radipole Lake ( the Backwater) was until Radipole Park Drive was built in the 1920's and the land between the new road and railway lines was infilled for Radipole park and gardens in the 1930's. You can't see it in the top image, but on the lake side of the railways lines stood the Western esplanade, created for Victorian nannies to walk their delicate charges along when the...
Nostalgia; Radipole Park Remembering American Soldiers of WWII
Why are Radipole Park remembering American soldiers of WWII? In the summer of 2017, Weymouth's Mayor arrived to open our Teddy Bear's Picnic via jeep complete with out riders. Radipole gardens was invaded by American troops....