1I'm very pleased to welcome this evening's guest speaker, Mark Logan,
2who's going to tell us about the recent transformation of Minster Park.
3Over to you, Mark.
4Thank you.
5I'm sure you're all familiar with Minster Park.
6It's been a feature of the city for well over a century,
7and has been the responsibility of the city council for most of that time.
8What perhaps isn't so well known is the origin of the park:
9unlike many public parks that started in private ownership,
10as the garden of a large house, for instance,
11Minster was some waste land,
12which people living nearby started planting with flowers in 1892.
13It was unclear who actually owned the land,
14and this wasn't settled until 20 years later,
15when the council took possession of it.
16You may have noticed the statue near one of the entrances.
17It's of Diane Gosforth,
18who played a key role in the history of the park.
19Once the council had become the legal owner,
20it planned to sell the land for housing.
21Many local people wanted it to remain a place that everyone could go to,
22to enjoy the fresh air and natural environment -
23remember, the park is in a densely populated residential area.
24Diane Gosforth was one of those people,
25and she organised petitions and demonstrations,
26which eventually made the council change its mind about the future of the land.
27Soon after this the First World War broke out, in 1914,
28and most of the park was dug up and planted with vegetables,
29which were sold locally.
30At one stage, the army considered taking it over for troop exercises
31and got as far as contacting the city council,
32then decided the park was too small to be of use.
33There were occasional public meetings during the war,
34in an area that had been retained as grass.
35After the war, the park was turned back more or less to how it had been before 1914,
36and continued almost unchanged until recently.
37Plans for transforming it were drawn up at various times,
38most recently in 2013,
39though they were revised in 2015,
40before any work had started.
41The changes finally got going in 2016,
42and were finished on schedule last year.
43OK, let me tell you about some of the changes that have been made
44and some things that have been retained.
45If you look at this map,
46you'll see the familiar outline of the park,
47with the river forming the northern boundary,
48and a gate in each of the other three walls.
49The statue of Diane Gosforth has been moved:
50it used to be close to the south gate,
51but it's now immediately to the north of the lily pond,
52almost in the centre of the park, which makes it much more visible.
53There's a new area of wooden sculptures, which are on the river bank,
54where the path from the east gate makes a sharp bend.
55There are two areas that are particularly intended for children.
56The playground has been enlarged and improved,
57and that's between the river and the path that leads from the pond to the river.
58Then there's a new maze, a circular series of paths, separated by low hedges.
59That's near the west gate -
60you go north from there towards the river and then turn left to reach it.
61There have been tennis courts in the park for many years,
62and they've been doubled, from four to eight.
63They're still in the south-west corner of the park,
64where there's a right-angle bend in the path.
65Something else I'd like to mention is the new fitness area.
66This is right next to the lily pond on the same side as the west gate.
67Now, as you're all gardeners,
68I'm sure you'll like to hear about the plants that have been chosen for the park.