West Park is the premier

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 ...

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has been part ...

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

leisure centre A leisure centre, sports centre, or recreation centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. Typical facilit ...

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 canal lock, locks. The first lock at Langley Mill, Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal. Origins The canal obtained its act of Parliament, ...

, 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 split 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 Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

. It is an

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

* 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 Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

, 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 Corporat ...

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

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

. A

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

takes place in the park every Saturday morning. Long Eaton Rugby Club are based at the park.

Miniature railway

The park once had a narrow gauge passenger railway which was opened in 1966. It was of gauge and used a 4-wheeled Ruston diesel and an ex NCB 4-wheeled open carriage A four-wheel 13 h.p. Ruston Hornsby diesel locomotive was bought for £75 () from British Gypsum Ltd at Kingston-on-Soar and one coach was obtained from a colliery. On opening on 28 May 1966 the line comprised of line. Two years later the line was extended to a total length of when it ran from the paddling pool towards Wilsthorpe Road. In 1976 the line was converted by Narrotrack Ltd of Sheffield from to gauge and extended to a length of 1,000 ft. However, this did not secure the railway's future and it was dismantled in 1977.

Flooding

West park has had issues with flooding in the past, with the autumn of 2023 having particularly notable flooding. Parts of the park had knee-high water levels, with the majority of the park's grounds being visibly submerged. As a result of the 2023 flooding, the annual

Bonfire Night Bonfire Night is a name given to various yearly events marked by bonfires and fireworks. These include Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) in Great Britain; All Hallows' Eve (31 October); May Eve (30 April); Midsummer Eve/Saint John's Eve (23 Jun ...

event, that usually takes place in the park, was cancelled.

References