George Bancroft Park is a
municipal park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and other incorpora ...
and garden created in the town of
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
(in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
) in 2006. The park is named after George Bancroft; a former leader of Blackpool Town Council who died in 2001.
Background
The development is part of Blackpool's "Central Gateway", a project which has gradually adapted derelict railway land, which was formerly the approach to
Blackpool Central railway station
Blackpool Central was the largest railway station in the town of Blackpool in the county of Lancashire, England. It contained 14 platforms; at its closure in 1964, it became the station with the highest number of platforms ever to close. Princi ...
, into an access road and associated facilities.
The park was ceremonially opened by designer and TV personality
Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen on 24 May 2006, almost 80 years after the town's last major park,
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...
, was completed.
As well as the traditional gardens and children's play area, George Bancroft Park has an enclosed
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and five-a-side
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
court. A more unusual aspect of the park is the presence of two highly sculptural 20-metre
climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...
towers and a
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...
wall.
See also
*
Bispham Rock Gardens
*
Kincraig Lake Ecological Reserve
*
Kingscote Park, Blackpool
*
Salisbury Woodland Gardens, Blackpool
*
Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park is a urban park, public park in the town of Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. It is the town's primary park and covers an area of approximately . The park was designed to include significant sporting p ...
References
External links
Blackpool Borough Council website
{{Blackpool geography
Parks and commons in Blackpool