October
2002
Derby's Arboretum Park |
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| One
of the Arboretum's two fine lodges |
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The
Arboretum is of great historical interest and has a claim to fame
of being Britains first public open space in the 19th Century, thanks
to Joseph Strutt. |
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| The
Arboretum - Today and the Future |
Derby
City Council’s bid for funding to refurbish the Arboretum to its former
glory has been approved by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
More than £5 million will be invested in the park to restore the two
old lodges and to build new facilities and play areas for children
of all ages.
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| A
route through the park |
A new
‘Heart of the Park’ community building is to be constructed in the
centre of the Arboretum, which will house a café, an office for the
park rangers, toilets, changing facilities for sports groups, and
community rooms.
In addition an exhibition outlining the history of the Arboretum will
be displayed in the Grove Street Lodge.
To increase safety two lit routes will be created across the park
and the ‘mounded end’ of the restored park will be closed each night,
although the recreation end will remain open.
There will also be an office in the new Heart of the Park building
for the community Police Officer, who will call in regularly at the
park. Restoration work will be undertaken on the park’s boundaries,
gates and walls, path surfacing and so on.
The bandstand, which was not an original feature of the park, is not
to be replaced - instead the original mound which it was built upon
will be restored.
 History
of the Arboretum
Every tree in the park has been examined by a specialist and recommendations
have been made about what is best to do with each.
About 111 of the 600 or so trees in the park will need to be removed,
either because they are being overshadowed by other trees and so are
unable to grow properly, or because they themselves are overshadowing
other specimens.
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| One
of the lodges - due for restoration |
In
the long run, however, the range of species of tree in the Arboretum
will increase, helping to revive the idea of the park as a place
of education as it was originally conceived by Strutt and Loudon.
Work on the restoration project is scheduled to begin later this
autumn, and it is expected to take three years to complete.
During this period the Arboretum will remain open - only the area
actually being worked upon at a particular time will be closed to
visitors for reasons of safety.
The aim of the lottery funded project is not simply to turn back
the clock and restore things exactly as they were when the Arboretum
first opened.
Some of Loudon’s instructions, which proved impractical in the 19th
Century, would be just as impractical now, such as his order that
trees should be cut down when they reached a certain size and replaced
with smaller specimens.
History
of the Arboretum
More
Parks
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| Contact
Us |
BBC Derby
PO Box 104.5
Derby
DE1 3HL
(+44) 01332 361111
derby@bbc.co.uk |
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