Vale Park is a historic Victorian

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.: Australia * New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores Canada * New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood * New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...

, Merseyside, England. It features formal gardens, a rose garden, and a bandstand. The park opened in 1899 and has hosted weekly brass band concerts through the summer months since the day the park opened.

Location

The park is on New Brighton Promenade with views of the River Mersey and Liverpool. It is a short walk from The Black Pearl driftwood pirate ship.

History

The park opened on 20 May 1899 with the bandstand being added in 1926. Vale House, built circa 1830, was originally a family home. The family of Charles Holland, a Liverpool businessman and Wirral

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, lived here for over 50 years. Holland traveled widely and returned with botanical specimens that his gardeners planted, many of these plants and trees grace the park. The first Head Gardener of Vale Park was William Grinsell Burston, an expert

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Most of the design of the flowerbeds and footpaths were his. He died at Vale House in 1918. Vale House is now a community cafe and community centre.

Features

The park has formal gardens, a children's play area, a cafe, toilets, a rose garden, annual bedding displays, open grass areas, a kick about pitch, a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

garden, and outdoor

fitness equipment Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...

Brass band concerts

The park features brass band concerts under the bandstand each Sunday through the summer months. Entry is free, with deck chairs provided for seating. Brass bands have been present since the day the park opened, when the Tranmere Prize Gleam Silver Band played the crowd in through the gates with the

British National Anthem "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, but ...

References

{{Parks and Commons in Wirral Borough Parks and commons in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral New Brighton, Merseyside