West Park is the premier park in

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...

, Derbyshire, England. It is also the location of the town's indoor leisure centre.

History

West Park is near the historic centre of Long Eaton on the opposite side of

Erewash Canal The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under and has 14 locks. The first lock at Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal. Origins The canal obtained its act of parliament in 1777 with John Varley a ...

, the area was used for

Lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

factories and part of the park is within The Lace Factory Conservation area. It is an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

park with Long Eaton Borough council purchasing the land that now comprises the park in seven parcels starting in 1882 and finishing in 1952.

Landmarks

The gates and gatepiers to West Park were made by Robert Bakewell in the early 1700s and are Grade II* listed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

, they were purchased from

Aston Hall Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house. In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpor ...

, Aston on Trent, Derbyshire and erected in 1928. A Fishpond Shelter was also installed after purchase from Aston Hall and there is a historic bandstand.

Facilities

Watching an Evening Game of Cricket - geograph

The town's leisure centre is located at the park. In addition there is football, two cricket clubs, rugby pitches, baseball pitches, tennis courts, bowling greens, an

outdoor gym The outdoor gym is a gym built outside in a public park, with the all-weather construction of its exercise machines somewhat modeled on playground equipment. It is similar to the 1960s–1970s proliferation of fitness trails, which continue to ...

, a cafe,

formal gardens Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...

, a bandstand, a skatepark, two children's play area, a splashpad, walking, cycle paths and

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

. A

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

takes place in the park every Saturday morning. Long Eaton Rugby Club are based at the park. The Park once had a narrow gauge passenger railway which was opened in 1966. It was of 2ft gauge and used a 4 wheeled Ruston diesel and an ex NCB 4-wheeled open carriage It closed circa 1970.

References

{{commonscat, West Park, Long Eaton Long Eaton Parks and open spaces in Derbyshire

History

Landmarks

Facilities

See also

References