Potent Poisons and Perfection; The Radipole Friends off to Devon on their Annual Jolly.
The day of our annual Friends of Radipole Park and Gardens coach trip started with wall to wall sunshine. An excited group waited patiently for our coach to arrive, we were off to sunny Devon to visit two very different gardens. Once all were counted safely aboard off we set, our friendly coach driver, Alan introduced himself and did the usual safety talk that now seems obligatory on any means of transport. Time for just a quick comfort stop at Exeter services, chance of a cuppa and dash to the loos before heading back to the coach and onwards to our first destination, Torre Abbey Gardens. Here we...
Nurture Nature Reaps Benefits in Radipole Gardens
Keen to know what's happening in my surrounding area, I have to confess that I follow a lot of local Facebook groups. On one particular page there was an ongoing, somewhat heated, debate about why hadn't the council got out and cut the grass in community areas. As it so happened, a few days previous I had been sat opposite the lady who is in charge of the Weymouth parks and she was on the phone to someone who was also questioning why the grass cutters weren't out and about. She was patiently trying to explain that due to the prolonged spell of wet weather we had...
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...
Parks Have Many Roles to Play
Have you ever thought about why you use your local park? Is it purely because it's the prettiest route on your way to and from some destination? To let the boisterous children run off some steam maybe, to walk the pooch or just to keep yourself active. Some people view it a hallowed space, where they retreat to when they need quiet time...