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 ...

in New Brighton, Merseyside, England. It features formal gardens, a rose garden, and a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

. The park opened in 1899 and has hosted weekly

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

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 The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. It is a short walk from The Black Pearl driftwood pirate ship.

History

The park opened on 20 May 1899 with the

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, 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 science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. 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 A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped ...

, annual bedding displays, open grass areas, a kick about pitch, a

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

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

concerts under the

each Sunday through the summer months. Entry is free, with

deck chair Deck may refer to: A level or platform Buildings and structures *Deck (bridge), the roadway surface of a bridge *Deck (building), an outdoor floor attached to a building made of wood or wood-like material *Another name for a storey *The concrete ...

s 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" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

References

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