In a hollow near the Ashmore Road entrance to the park we are creating an Amphitheatre as a community resource - a place for storytelling, music, outdoor lessons, theatre and even opera.
To see more photos of the Amphitheatre go to: Amphitheatre Web Album
To ensure that the Amphitheatre has the minimum impact on the environment it is being created out of all natural materials. The seats are being cut out of the hill, supported by woven willow and topped with turf. Over time the willow will rot away leaving just the turf steps.
Around the Amphitheatre we have planted a hawthorn hedge which will act as a vision and sound screen as well as creating the park's first proper hedgerow habitat for wildlife.
To protect the growing hedge we have also planted a fedge. A fedge is a living, woven willow hedge crossed with a fence - hence a fedge. As the spring progresses the willow stems will come into leaf creating a livivng screen.
What's going on
For autumn/winter 2009 we are planning to add to some blackthorn to the hedge, repair some of the willow weaving and add some more steps.
History
The hollow is, we think, a result of excavations for the railway embankment behind the orchard. It is marked on the old maps as a clay pit - which accounts for the hard digging!
During the Second World War the area was used as a barrage balloon site. Tony, an active FoCP member, remembers going to the park after school to watch the young women staffing the site struggling to keep the ballons tethered and sometimes being lifted off the ground.
Get in touch if you know any more about the history of this bit of the park - we'd love to see any photos.
