0:00:13 > 0:00:14We all love a park.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19They conjure up memories of lazy, sunny, summer days,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23of autumnal landscapes, of boating on the ornamental lake.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28They're bits of the countryside embedded in the city, places of entertainment.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31They're amongst our greatest cultural legacies.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37In this programme, I'll be travelling all across the country
0:00:37 > 0:00:42to celebrate the rich history of some of our greatest public parks.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45They've brought us pleasure for generations...
0:00:45 > 0:00:50We use to fish over the railings in the duck pond, and I think we used to catch gudgeon, mainly.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55..and have influenced the development of parks throughout the world...
0:00:55 > 0:01:01from the opulent royal parks in London to the Victorian municipal parks in the northwest
0:01:01 > 0:01:04run by the people for the people
0:01:04 > 0:01:10to revolutionary new urban parks carved out of our inner city landscapes.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Along the way, I'll be finding out about some
0:01:13 > 0:01:18of the iconic features that give each park its unique character...
0:01:18 > 0:01:22- When this opened in 1884, there was 10,000 people.- 10,000?- 10,000.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26..meeting the experts who are revitalising traditional skills...
0:01:26 > 0:01:28It's not too bad, is it?
0:01:28 > 0:01:31HE LAUGHS
0:01:31 > 0:01:38..and I'll be discovering what a cherished role public parks continue to play in our lives today.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52For most of us, parks formed a very potent part of our childhood.
0:01:52 > 0:01:58I remember I used to love to play in the bushes, places where one
0:01:58 > 0:02:04could escape adult supervision, places where the imagination could run wild.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09Now I come to Victoria Park in London, my local park,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and I love it for the very reasons for which it was created.
0:02:12 > 0:02:20It offers a sense of space, light and greenery and beauty in a very crowded part of the city.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27These oases of green away from the stresses of daily life
0:02:27 > 0:02:35were designed for everyone, young and old, lovers and families, people of all income ranges.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37They are a great British invention.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Most of us tend to take our local parks for granted.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47We assume that they've always been here and always will be here,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51free for all to use, very much people's parks.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56But it wasn't always so.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I'm starting my journey here in London, home to eight royal parks
0:03:00 > 0:03:05and probably the best-known examples of public parks in Britain.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Together, they contain around 150,000 trees,
0:03:09 > 0:03:17280 historic statues and monuments and acres of green space for every kind of sport or leisure activity.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21The royal parks were opened to the nation by our monarchs.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25But when they were first created, these parks weren't public spaces at all.
0:03:25 > 0:03:31Set up by the monarchs of the day as royal hunting grounds, they were the domains of the privileged few,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35where only the foolish or reckless would dare to trespass.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39As time went on, they became part of the recreational life of Londoners,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43but predominantly just for the upper classes.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46The public had no legal right to use them.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50They were there at the grace and favour of the crown.
0:03:50 > 0:03:56Hyde Park was the first and, indeed, for many years the only royal park open to the public.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02From the 1630s, gentlefolk were allowed in here to enjoy its sweeping magnificence.
0:04:02 > 0:04:09It now covers around 340 acres and started life as a royal deer park, a hunting reserve.
0:04:17 > 0:04:24I've come to Rotten Row in Hyde Park to meet equestrian historian Joyce Bellamy to talk about the vital role
0:04:24 > 0:04:28horses have always played in the history of the park.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33I've been thinking about the origins of Hyde Park and, indeed, Kensington Gardens.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37It was originally, I guess, a royal hunting ground - deer and so on?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Yes, it was a deer park after Henry VIII confiscated it
0:04:40 > 0:04:44- from the monastery, yes.- Yes. - That's what he used it for himself.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49And that use continued until it became surrounded by the suburbs,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52when it took on a lot of its present character.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56How long have horses played such a vital role in the life of Hyde Park?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Ever since it became a public recreation area.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05As London grew around the park, more and more people used it for riding.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09But riding in the 18th and 19th century is interesting to me.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13I mean, it's exercise. I suppose it's like going to the gym now, isn't it,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15in that people get on a horse and keep their body in shape?
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Yes, they said it blew away the heat and faintness of the ballroom!
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And people carried on riding to an advanced age.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28So riding as exercise also to acquire sort of the necessary skills of life, I suppose.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Indeed, yes, because it was as important as learning to drive is today.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35And young people were encouraged to learn to ride, so that if
0:05:35 > 0:05:39they went into the Army, they would be able to cope from day one.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Right. And the Army would have used Rotten Row for various cavalry arrangement, I suppose.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Oh, yes, there were very, very many regiments based near the park,
0:05:48 > 0:05:54- and that is why the row was doubled in width.- Into the tress over there. - Beyond the trees, yes.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58But now the maintained area of the row is the original width.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01But Rotten Row now, of course, is in splendid condition, isn't it?
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- It's beautifully maintained. - And restored.- Yes. Yes,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07- with sand, and it's raked regularly.- Yes.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11And it's used, of course, by the Army.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14On that note, and on with the moment, I intend to ride myself on Rotten Row.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19I have said hello several times. He seems very understanding.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Oh! Ah, hat. Health and safety!
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- And the chin strap done up. - Yes, I can do that.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Look, he's getting excited. He can see the hat going on.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Wow, that's good. Don't ask me to do it again.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38I won't!
0:06:55 > 0:06:57The first parks that were truly egalitarian,
0:06:57 > 0:07:04where anyone was granted admission for the price of a ticket regardless of class, were the pleasure gardens.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08They began to appear all over the country after the Restoration of 1660
0:07:08 > 0:07:13and reached the height of their popularity in the mid-18th century.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21Pleasure gardens really were the nightclubs of their age, where you would go to see celebrities
0:07:21 > 0:07:28and, indeed, to be seen, where aristocrats would mix with harlots amongst fantastical decorations.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32They were the backdrop for all manner of amazing events -
0:07:32 > 0:07:40concerts, dances, dining, fireworks and occasionally the ascent of hot-air balloons.
0:07:42 > 0:07:49Sadly, today there are very few traces left of such an important part of our history.
0:07:49 > 0:07:56Vauxhall Gardens, started in 1661, was London's first and most famous pleasure gardens.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Indeed, they stimulated the growth of pleasure gardens throughout Britain.
0:07:59 > 0:08:07Vauxhall Gardens flourished mostly in the 18th century, but by the mid 19th century, times had changed.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11The gardens closed and their grounds were built upon.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Terraced houses stood where people had once paraded, but those houses in their turn
0:08:16 > 0:08:23were bombed in the Second World War, and this park, Spring Gardens in Lambeth,
0:08:23 > 0:08:29commemorates the site of the wondrous and now almost forgotten Vauxhall Gardens.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- Can I ask you a question?- Yeah.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Have you ever heard of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- No.- Oh! OK, they were very popular in the 18th century.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Can I ask you a question? Oh. A simple question. No. That's a no.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- So, have you ever heard of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens?- Er, no, I've not.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47OK. Thank you very much.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I work in Vauxhall. Let me tell you, it's an important pleasure in Vauxhall, is this!
0:08:51 > 0:08:54There is something called Exotic Dancers over there. That's a sort of pleasure, I suppose.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Have you ever heard of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens?
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- Yes.- Oh, excellent! Does it move you?
0:09:00 > 0:09:04- Erm, it's not what it used to be! - This is true.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10To find out what Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens were really like at the height of their fame,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14I've come to meet author Sarah Jane Downing.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19Vauxhall Gardens was the earliest, I suppose, and the most famous of London's pleasure gardens.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24- Can you tell me about it?- Oh, yes! It really was an absolute phenomenon.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27I mean, it began very much at the time of the Restoration...
0:09:27 > 0:09:30That was 1660-something.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31- Yes, about 1661.- Right.
0:09:31 > 0:09:37..and over centuries attracted everybody who was anybody, anyone who wanted to be fashionable,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42who wanted to be seen to be fashionable and who wanted to mix with the most glamorous people.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47They were very sort of democratic places, a strange terrain outside the constraints of normal society
0:09:47 > 0:09:52where anyone with the money or the right clothes could get in and be what they wanted to be.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Very much so. Price prohibited poorer people coming, but that was the only thing,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- so that was really unusual at that point in time.- Yeah.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05The idea that someone could buy the clothes for gentlemen and appear to be one and no-one would know,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09that sort of thing really, I think, added a frisson.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Right, this is a very interesting image. It seems to show...
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Well, this is an aerial view... a bird's eye view, rather?
0:10:14 > 0:10:21Yes. They would come in from this direction and walk down along into the grove. And all of these are...
0:10:21 > 0:10:26- You see the little tables?- Yes. - They're all little supper booths, and so...- Absolutely charming.
0:10:26 > 0:10:27But here we see them in some detail.
0:10:27 > 0:10:33- So we see the band, then also we see people sitting dining in lovely Gothic...- Absolutely.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37By the end of its life, Vauxhall was becoming more egalitarian -
0:10:37 > 0:10:39tradesmen getting in, cheaper to get in, more popular.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44I mean, in a sense it really was one of the first sort of public parks.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Yes. I think as numbers were falling in the evenings, they thought,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52"Well, there's a new crowd of people who want to have family entertainments,"
0:10:52 > 0:10:54you know, certainly lots of ladies.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00- Yeah.- And, indeed, ladies' maids complained because there were too many tradesmen's wives.- I see.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It was definitely getting run down, but I suppose its end was inevitable.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09The world had changed and it represented things which the people in the 1840s, '50s
0:11:09 > 0:11:15found they wanted to escape from the associations of vice, I suppose, and excess,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20- and so it almost had to be sacrificed to the changing fashions and taste of the time.- It's so sad.
0:11:20 > 0:11:27I mean, after being such a beautiful sort of huge element of London's society for all those years,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30there's so little of any of them left!
0:11:32 > 0:11:38By the mid-19th century, pleasure gardens were coming under increasing pressure from urban expansion
0:11:38 > 0:11:44and many Victorian reformers thought the time was right to create a very different type of public park.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50Cities were becoming more overcrowded, and the only recreational spaces available
0:11:50 > 0:11:58to the lower classes on Sundays were those that encouraged debauchery, bawdy theatres and public houses.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05With industrial expansion reaching new heights in early 19th-century Britain,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09philanthropists and politicians increasingly recognised the need
0:12:09 > 0:12:16for green, open spaces in the country's ever-expanding, polluted and crowded industrial towns.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21Park campaigners argued quite simply that parks would bring health
0:12:21 > 0:12:26by offering opportunities for sport, recreation, exercise and, of course, fresh air.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29But parks would also, they said,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34bring a civilising and calming influence to bear on the working population.
0:12:36 > 0:12:42Park campaigners wanted the park to be a truly egalitarian public space
0:12:42 > 0:12:46where people from all classes could mix freely.
0:12:46 > 0:12:53And in 1833, Parliament's splendidly named Select Committee on Public Walks was formed to look into
0:12:53 > 0:12:58providing public spaces for the growing cities across the land.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03At the time, the only parks in London were the royal parks,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07but there was nothing to be found south of the Thames and in the East End.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14Alarmed by the poor state of health of the people of Bethnal Green in the 1840s,
0:13:14 > 0:13:19where the average life expectancy was little over 30 years,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24reformers such as Dr Hector Gavin came here to explore and document the area.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28He was absolutely appalled by what he discovered.
0:13:33 > 0:13:41Hare Street now known as Cheshire Street, Gavin found abominably dirty and foul.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46The road was covered with rubbish and the yard behind the crowded houses
0:13:46 > 0:13:50contained cesspits that were overflowing and stinking.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54In number 79, that stood just about here, Gavin found
0:13:54 > 0:13:58the whole household ill with fever, and the stench was appalling.
0:13:58 > 0:14:06It was in this dismal setting that the paradise of Victoria Park was to be created.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12The idea of an East End park was hailed with great enthusiasm.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16A 30,000-signature petition from the local people
0:14:16 > 0:14:22was sent to Queen Victoria lobbying for a green space for deprived Eastenders.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27The Queen gave her approval, and funds for a royal park by the name of Victoria Park,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29were made available from a royal grant.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34Victoria Park was built bordering Bethnal Green, Hackney and Bow.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The park was never officially opened.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41It was taken over immediately by the local people in 1845.
0:14:41 > 0:14:47Never before had they seen such open spaces, beautiful trees and flowers.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52From the start, the community was involved in how its park developed.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57A year after opening, it was decided the park to be given an ornamental lake.
0:14:57 > 0:15:04In fact, two were soon created and filled with water free of charge by the East London Water Company.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07But there were no birds. What was to be done?
0:15:07 > 0:15:13Well, the park supervisor decided he would try and persuade local people
0:15:13 > 0:15:16to form the Victoria Park Ornithological Society.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21That was done, and it raised ten shillings to buy flocks of geese and of ducks.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27They were installed, and the local people came here to enjoy their new acquisitions.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Soon after, another lake, known as a bathing lake,
0:15:34 > 0:15:39was developed in the centre of the park, away from prying eyes.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44It was open from four to eight on summer mornings for men and boys only.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49Two boatmen were always on duty in case of emergencies.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Whilst Victoria Park in London was a step in the right direction for park reformers,
0:15:56 > 0:16:02it was in the major cities in the northwest of England that the park movement was at its strongest.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07I've come to Manchester, the first major industrial city
0:16:07 > 0:16:12in which municipal parks were paid for by the people of the city.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16The enthusiasm for the project was so strong that Manchester opened
0:16:16 > 0:16:24no less than three new parks in 1846, Queens Park, Peel Park, Salford, and Philips Park.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Funding for the three parks was raised partly from a grant,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34but also by subscription from the local community.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38At the time, there was a big campaign in the Manchester press
0:16:38 > 0:16:43calling for people's parks like Victoria Park in east London.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45It was all a question of money.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48This is what one Manchester newspaper had to say.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52The parks have been well named the "lungs of London".
0:16:52 > 0:16:55They have saved thousands of lives.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Dusty, smoky, toiling Manchester has no lungs.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02The rich and influential are asked to extend
0:17:02 > 0:17:08the boon of breathing the fresh air uncharged with dust and smoke.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12What's interesting about the Manchester campaign is that
0:17:12 > 0:17:17the whole community was asked to give funds towards the parks,
0:17:17 > 0:17:25and, mostly, they did, including the heart-toiling mill workers, who gave what they could.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30All three Manchester parks were designed by Joshua Major, a landscape designer
0:17:30 > 0:17:36with a specific aim in mind, to cope with the promenading of large numbers of people.
0:17:36 > 0:17:42His designs included an area of open grass where people could walk or play sports
0:17:42 > 0:17:47as well as flower and rose gardens, where people could stroll or sit in peace.
0:17:51 > 0:17:57When Philips Park opened here in east Manchester in August 1846, it was a huge success.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02The people of the city had raised £6,200 for its creation.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06That's around £30 million pounds in today's money.
0:18:06 > 0:18:13Banners in the crowd read "Park bought by the people for the enjoyment of the people".
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Playgrounds for children were included in parks from the off.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27In Philips Park, separate boys' and girls' play areas were set up.
0:18:31 > 0:18:39Philips Park had seesaws, swings and a very curious piece of equipment called the "giant stride",
0:18:39 > 0:18:46which was really a massive maypole with ropes attached from which children swung. Very popular!
0:18:46 > 0:18:51But curiously, from the very start, the parks committee banned football,
0:18:51 > 0:18:58because it believed that the sight of perspiring boys would overexcite the boisterous mill girls.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01And quite right, too!
0:19:04 > 0:19:10Philips Park opened without keepers or signs, but immediately the parks committee realised their mistake.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15I've come to meet local historian Alan Ruff to discover the difficulties.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Now, public parks were a very new idea in the 1840s.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23I mean, did people know how to how to behave, how to react to this great gift?
0:19:23 > 0:19:29Well, not really because, as you say, it was a new phenomenon.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34When it was opened, the mayor stood somewhere over there and declared that,
0:19:34 > 0:19:40"We've now finished with the park and we hand it over to you for protection."
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Fascinating. So the people had collected money, helped to collect the money to create the park.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48They felt it was theirs. They could pluck flowers or have picnics, if they liked.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Well, there was this general feeling that it was their park,
0:19:51 > 0:19:57- and one could just imagine that these are young children - and they WERE young.- Yeah.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02Of course, they were working in the mills, coming into this park and seeing these flowers,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06the temptation must be enormous to go and pick a bunch of flowers.
0:20:06 > 0:20:13The mayor was particularly worried, and he wrote out what became a set of bylaws,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17which were then written out and posted on notices around the park,
0:20:17 > 0:20:23telling people not to pick flowers, not to throw stones at the swans.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Yes. Or to eat the swans or ducks!
0:20:26 > 0:20:31To have laws, one has to be able to enforce them, and that often means having some sort of constabulary.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34That then presumes the idea of a park keeper emerges?
0:20:34 > 0:20:39Well, no, in actual fact, the head gardener was the keeper.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43- What power did he have? Could he arrest people? - Oh, yes, he could.- Could he?
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Oh, yes, he could lock people up overnight.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50- Really?- They were sworn in as special constables...
0:20:50 > 0:20:55- Good heavens!- ..and, depending on the degree of the misdemeanour, they could lock people up.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I know Philips Park has something very important
0:20:57 > 0:21:02and very rare, because the first head keeper here, Jeremiah Harrison, kept a day book, a sort of journal.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05I think that's the only one that survives in Britain.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Oh, as far as I know, yes, it is.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11We have it in front of us here, a wonderful-looking document.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14It is a remarkable document. It describes all of the activities.
0:21:14 > 0:21:20- It says, "The young men and boys still intrude on the girls' playgrounds."- Yes.
0:21:20 > 0:21:27"I may safely say that I have had more abusive language and insolence shown to me
0:21:27 > 0:21:34"since the swings was put up this spring than the whole time I have been in the parks before."
0:21:34 > 0:21:37So the boys tried to get into the girls playground.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40- Nothing changes, does it? - Nothing changes. Nothing changes.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Manchester and London's pioneering achievements
0:21:46 > 0:21:51soon led to other industrial cities planning their slice of park life.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The next leg of my tour has brought me to Birkenhead Park on The Wirral.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Birkenhead was the first town to apply to Parliament
0:22:04 > 0:22:08for powers to use public funds to create a municipal park.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14It was designed explicitly and solely for public use.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20It was also the most important park designed by Joseph Paxton,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24later famed as the architect of the Crystal Palace in London.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29Here, he pioneered the series of design principles that were
0:22:29 > 0:22:35to be developed to determine the design of parks around the world for generations to come.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43To find out which key elements of Paxton's design can still be seen in the park today,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47I've come to talk to park manager Adam King.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52- So, what sort of park was Paxton trying to create here? - Well, it was a park for the people,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56- and it was to recreate sort of pastoral England.- Yeah.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01So you've got the lovely open spaces on the outside surrounded by trees,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03so a natural landscape.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06It's like the ground to a ministry. People couldn't go abroad,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09but the world's brought here for them to contemplate.
0:23:09 > 0:23:15Yes, indeed, and in fact, the great journey to Italy and northern European landscapes
0:23:15 > 0:23:18are all brought together for the local people.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23So how did Paxton achieve this incredible visual power of the park?
0:23:25 > 0:23:30We're here now in the heart of the park, and it's quite a sort of secluded, hidden area.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35We've got the lakes and the bridge and the boathouse, but you can get a little glimpse across there,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39through a gap in the mounds, to the open park,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43which is the naturalistic, rolling countryside.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Yeah, but even here, of course,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47this gap is quite a vista. I can see no city.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52He's very cleverly screened the city so the place feels much bigger than it actually is.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- A very clever sort of illusion has been created. - Yeah, there's three systems.
0:23:55 > 0:24:01There's the external road network, which is for the commercial traffic that Britain had.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06And then there was a two-mile carriage drive around the periphery of the centre of the park.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11Yeah. Promenading in your carriage, that was the middle class. People drive round the park.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13And for the rest of us it would be these small paths,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16which went around the lakes and across the open sort of grassy land.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18Was there some sort of social engineering going on here?
0:24:18 > 0:24:24They're trying to get the classes to mix and get to understand each other a bit better?
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Yes, I mean, they'd meet walking around the park or driving around in their carriages,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32but also they'd meet through the railings,
0:24:32 > 0:24:38because the majority of people would be living in the terraced houses down near the docks.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42But the more well-off people would perhaps live in the houses,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45the terraces and the villas around the park.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48So both classes could actually watch each other,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52and the working classes could see what could be achieved, perhaps,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56with endeavour and hard work, if they were so fortunate!
0:24:56 > 0:24:59That was the Victorian way of things, wasn't it?
0:24:59 > 0:25:00"Emulate your betters." That's right, yes.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04I must say, standing here now in this evening light, an autumn day,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08one can see that the beauty of the park is absolutely apparent,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11the light changing, the animals and ducks coming and going,
0:25:11 > 0:25:16nature itself, of course changing, I suppose, week by week now. It's very, very wonderful.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22It absolutely reminds me of how perfect and wonderful Britain's parks are.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29When Birkenhead opened on the 5th April 1847, 10,000 people gathered
0:25:29 > 0:25:34to enjoy the bands, the bell ringers and the rural sports.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39The park would become the new town's main attraction and would even go on
0:25:39 > 0:25:43to serve as the model for one of the most famous parks in the world.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47When Central Park opened in 1859 in New York,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51it incorporated many of the design features found in Birkenhead.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00The introduction of statutory holidays from the mid-19th century
0:26:00 > 0:26:08also increased the need for public parks, as people began to have more and more leisure time.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10If people were going to spend lengthy periods at a park,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15fresh drinking water was essential, especially for children.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19This played right into the hands of the Victorian temperance movement.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22They'd longed preached against the evils of alcohol
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and had lobbied unsuccessfully to get pubs closed on a Sunday.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31Now they turned their attentions to the drinking fountains and public parks.
0:26:31 > 0:26:38That gave them an opportunity to provoke temperance and to promote the virtues of drinking water.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48The provision of fresh, clear water for public drinking was at the forefront of a moral crusade
0:26:48 > 0:26:53that extended well beyond the mere quenching of thirst.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Many reformers believed that a drinking fountain
0:26:56 > 0:27:00could also be a work of art which could improve the working-class mind.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03I've come to Sefton Park in Liverpool,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08another one of the parks which still has its original drinking fountain intact.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Here, the neo-Gothic drinking fountain was placed
0:27:13 > 0:27:18close to the boathouse on one of the main walking routes along the lake.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Sefton, a former deer park, was donated to the city of Liverpool
0:27:25 > 0:27:32by the affluent Earl of Sefton and designed by French landscape architect Edouard Andre.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Andre had helped to transform the Bois de Boulogne in Paris
0:27:36 > 0:27:43from hunting forest to park, and he set about designing this park in the formal French style.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Sefton Park, on the wealthy southern edge of Liverpool, was the most
0:27:51 > 0:27:55elaborate and ornamental of the city's parks.
0:27:55 > 0:28:01Andre laid out a series of sweeping, curving boulevards and drives
0:28:01 > 0:28:05that responded to - indeed, enhanced - the natural landscape.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11The strong water theme was reflected by the presence
0:28:11 > 0:28:15of pools, waterfalls, stepping stones and fountains.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Early visitors were amazed to discover that the elaborate rockwork
0:28:19 > 0:28:22and a huge grotto were not natural features.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27The park was opened to the people in 1872 as the perfect place
0:28:27 > 0:28:31to see some of the buildings and attractions that were to become
0:28:31 > 0:28:36familiar sites in late Victorian parks and can still be seen today.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42One building particularly popular with visitors to Sefton was the exotic palm house.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49By the late Victorian period, palm houses were beginning to make
0:28:49 > 0:28:54a significant appearance in municipal parks all around the country.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59The palm house at Sefton was donated by Henry Yates Thompson in 1896
0:28:59 > 0:29:06in order to, "delight the eye, interest a student and generally make life brighter."
0:29:06 > 0:29:08It's recently undergone major restoration,
0:29:08 > 0:29:15and I've come to meet Christine Wray, who's worked with the Palm House Trust on this project.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Christine, when did palm houses first start to appear in the British landscape?
0:29:19 > 0:29:24In the late Victorian times, when the technology had advanced
0:29:24 > 0:29:27to such a stage to enable
0:29:27 > 0:29:29these kind of large-scale iron structures and glass to be built.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33Yes, of course, it's a very strong shape, isn't it?
0:29:33 > 0:29:37One should say, it's symmetrical, octagonal-plan, a wonderful dome with these bays round
0:29:37 > 0:29:42about so it has a kind of vaguely sort of ecclesiastical feel, with your nave and aisle and crossing...
0:29:42 > 0:29:44- Yes, yes. - ..which is very appropriate.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47But at any rate, plants absolutely!
0:29:50 > 0:29:54The palm house was unfortunately bomb damaged in the War.
0:29:54 > 0:30:00It was then restored in the 1950s, but through neglect fell into disrepair again.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05It did become dangerous. The panes of glass are only secured at the side, not at the bottom.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07- So they'd slip out easily? - So they've started to slip out...
0:30:07 > 0:30:12- Right. Golly!- ..which wasn't so bad in the lower ones, but when the ones
0:30:12 > 0:30:15from the top started to slip out, they were falling through.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18- Where we are now, basically!- Yes!
0:30:18 > 0:30:23- So when that started happening, the building was closed to the public.- Right.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26The whole building was taken apart, apart from the structural elements,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29so in fact I was worried that people would say...
0:30:29 > 0:30:31"Where's our building?"
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Yes, "Where's the palm house gone?"
0:30:33 > 0:30:37I guess it plays a very important role in the life of Sefton Park.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41- It pulls people in, doesn't it?- Yes. Well, it's a focal point to the park.
0:30:41 > 0:30:47Often, when you say to people, "What's your favourite building in Liverpool", they say the palm house.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50It's really close to people's affections.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03By the late 19th century, public parks like Sefton
0:31:03 > 0:31:08were no longer just about providing green, open space for the common people.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12They were also about providing recreation and entertainment.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16And nothing symbolised that change better than the introduction of the bandstand.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Indeed, very soon, no park could be without one.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42One of the most glorious examples of bandstands
0:31:42 > 0:31:46can be found in the east of England, in the arboretum in Lincoln.
0:31:49 > 0:31:55I've come here to meet bandstand enthusiast Paul Rabbitts to find out more.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59So, when did bandstands first appear in public parks?
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Well, bandstands really started appearing about 1860 onwards,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05- and music was really popular in parks, anyway.- From the start?
0:32:05 > 0:32:09- Right from the start. If you go back to where parks came from originally, from the pleasure gardens...- Yeah.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12..if you look at, say, Vauxhall Gardens,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16the pleasure gardens in Vauxhall, there was a bandstand or a band house/pavilion...
0:32:16 > 0:32:20- Yeah.- ..where there was bands playing there on a regular basis, so it was very popular.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25But tell me about who played and the sort of music that was played for the crowds.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29It was mainly brass bands, silver bands, a lot of military bands,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32- and the kind of music they would play was very classical.- Yeah.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35- Also very militaristic-type music. - Patriotic, stirring stuff.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40Oh, very patriotic, so anything from Wagner, Strauss, Rossini, Faust,
0:32:40 > 0:32:45- that kind of stuff where you've got this natural amphitheatre...- Yes. - ..it'd sound fantastic.
0:32:45 > 0:32:52- It really would.- I've noticed before me there's a great deal of technology with a nice bit of music.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57- Shall we try it?- Why not? What are we listening to?
0:32:57 > 0:32:59We've got a great song.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02We've got Victory, and it's a waltz
0:33:02 > 0:33:05by the Victory Band, and the music's by Faust.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Oh, right, so this is a real typical example?
0:33:07 > 0:33:10It is, yeah, it is.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13LIVELY WALTZ PLAYS
0:33:17 > 0:33:19It's great.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24The thing about the music is it wasn't just for entertainment and inspiration,
0:33:24 > 0:33:26but it had a social purpose, didn't it?
0:33:26 > 0:33:30It was meant to offer, I suppose, a vision of civilisation for the working classes.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35It was wonderful music and it elevated people's spirits, listening to classical music.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Yeah, it was part of the moral crusade at the time, as the parks movement was,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41and it was classed as very acceptable,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45it was a correct leisure to actually have music playing in the park.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49Obviously, you've got a spectacle, hence these colours, like escapism.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51They'd come from the mill or toiling
0:33:51 > 0:33:53in the factory or living in quite humble conditions,
0:33:53 > 0:33:58you'd come here to escape, escape into the music and also into the architecture.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00They were very ornate, you can see here.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03There was architectural flamboyance about them,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06and extremely colourful and superb pieces on their own.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11It's weird, isn't it? Often, we're rather patronising about the Victorians,
0:34:11 > 0:34:15to see their sentimentality and so on, but in this sense, it did work, didn't it?
0:34:15 > 0:34:19People listened to better music, it improved them, and the working people liked it.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24- They were inspired.- But also, if you look at the amount of people that used to come and listen,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28for instance when this opened in 1884, there was 10,000 people.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30- 10,000?- 10,000.
0:34:30 > 0:34:35They compare to pop concerts today, the numbers of people that came to listen to classical music
0:34:35 > 0:34:38in bandstands like this round the country? It's astonishing.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42- Absolutely thousands, yeah. - In this park?- In this park.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49'As well as bandstands, for many visitors to parks,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54'plants and flowers have always been one of the main attractions.'
0:34:54 > 0:34:57And it was only from the mid-Victorian period onwards
0:34:57 > 0:35:00that public parks really started to include floral displays.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07And one of the innovations that became popular in the late Victorian, early Edwardian period
0:35:07 > 0:35:12was carpet bedding, used to describe closely planted and intricately patterned displays.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Soon, head gardeners all over the country were vying with each other
0:35:16 > 0:35:20to come up with the most outrageous designs,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22from three-dimensional staircases
0:35:22 > 0:35:27to elaborate rolls of carpet and working floral clocks.
0:35:30 > 0:35:37I'm stopping off at Alexandra Park in Oldham to find out exactly how this technique works.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45This park was built in 1865 by unemployed cotton workers
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and nowadays rates as one of the great success stories
0:35:48 > 0:35:52in the revival of the traditional public park.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57It's been instrumental in re-introducing apprenticeship schemes
0:35:57 > 0:36:00and teaching young gardeners these traditional skills.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Ah, Paul, hello.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Hi.
0:36:07 > 0:36:08Good to see you.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13Now, this looks amazing, but tell me, what actually is carpet bedding?
0:36:13 > 0:36:17I suppose the simplest way to describe carpet bedding
0:36:17 > 0:36:19is basically a picture made from plants.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23OK, so like a carpet where you can weave a pattern with plants.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26- This is the pattern you're working to?- This is the plan.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29Here they are, and so these'll be sort of full blocks of colour here.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Full blocks of colour, depicting the Pennines.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35And it's commemorating the mayor of Oldham.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40Brilliant. And of course, carpet bedding was incredibly popular, wasn't it, in the 19th century?
0:36:40 > 0:36:45It was. It was, yeah. It's very, very labour intensive, very costly...
0:36:45 > 0:36:50How long will it take two or three of you, I suppose, for this sort of design? How long?
0:36:50 > 0:36:54The best part of a week for three apprentices to be on this.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58- It's been a lost art, hasn't it, the last decade?- It has, yeah.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03- It's been phased out due to cost, time...- Yeah.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- Changing popular tastes?- I think so. - People forgot about it, I suppose.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- It's great that it's bringing back...- A lost art.- Yeah, yeah.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15It's passing on skills to the apprentices, who can then pass them onto future generations,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17- and hopefully we'll never lose the skill.- Yeah.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21- I mean, it'd be great to have a go at doing this.- Of course you can.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26I've never done carpet bedding. I've done lots of things round the world, but never this,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30so it's great to say carpet bedding in Oldham. Fantastic. I gather you need a trowel?
0:37:32 > 0:37:35- Dig a trench. - So this is just sort of a...
0:37:35 > 0:37:40- This is just to mark it out.- OK, the sand marks the pattern first. I see.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Now you just get the little plants, but I guess the spacing is very important.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46They need to be really close.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48Really close?
0:37:48 > 0:37:50- You can just do it with this. - Oh, right.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Just make like a circle, like that.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55- Like that?- Yeah, so it's deep enough, and then you just...
0:37:55 > 0:37:58- So that's for the roots to be happy, I guess, is it?- Yeah.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01- And then I push it back again. - And push the plant down.- Right.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Not too hard, but quite firmly?
0:38:03 > 0:38:07- Yeah, and then push it in.- And then, basically, one just goes on?
0:38:07 > 0:38:12- Yeah.- When is all this going to be unveiled, this work of art?
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Hopefully, for the end of May, beginning of June.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Have a look at that.
0:38:18 > 0:38:19That's not too bad, is it?
0:38:21 > 0:38:23It's not bad...for a beginner!
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Untrained. It's got a curve.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Yeah.
0:38:28 > 0:38:29Thank you!
0:38:29 > 0:38:33'But whilst some delighted in the frivolous floral designs,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36'others were putting their local parks to far more radical uses -
0:38:36 > 0:38:40'to preach, demonstrate and to campaign.'
0:38:44 > 0:38:48On the next leg of my tour, I'm heading up to Glasgow Green,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Scotland's oldest park.
0:38:51 > 0:38:57Whereas religious and political meetings were banned in many urban parks for centuries,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Glasgow Green has always been a focus for public events,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04ranging from the annual Glasgow Fair to public hangings.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Glasgow Green is Scotland's very own Speakers' Corner.
0:39:08 > 0:39:14It's the birthplace of trade unions in Scotland, a centre for the temperance movement,
0:39:14 > 0:39:19and it's here that the city's Suffragettes met in their campaign to get votes for women.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23It was also home to two very particular Glasgow institutions -
0:39:23 > 0:39:28the communal laundry and the Rangers Football Club.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36For centuries, Glasgow Green was at the heart of a poor, working-class neighbourhood.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Women were literally washing their dirty linen in public,
0:39:39 > 0:39:45rinsing their clothes in the River Clyde and leaving them to dry on Glasgow Green.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50This is the drying green, and it was from posts like these
0:39:50 > 0:39:54that the clothes were indeed hung out to dry.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Interestingly, this traditional activity even inspired some local writers.
0:39:58 > 0:40:06For example, John Wilson, known as the Laureate of the Clyde, wrote this poem in the 1840s.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11"Here barefoot beauties lightly trip along
0:40:11 > 0:40:14"Their snowy labours all the verger throng
0:40:14 > 0:40:17"The linen some with rosy fingers rub
0:40:17 > 0:40:22"And the white foam o'erflows the smoking tub."
0:40:24 > 0:40:29While women were washing, men were getting dirty on the football pitch.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Football's always been a passion on Glasgow Green
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and has featured in one form or another for hundreds of years.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41And in 1872, a group of teenagers decided their love of the game
0:40:41 > 0:40:48justified establishing a team, and Rangers Football Club was born.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Well, can you tell me about Glasgow Green and football?
0:40:52 > 0:40:54This part of the green we are standing on
0:40:54 > 0:40:56is known as Flesher's Haugh, and it was here,
0:40:56 > 0:41:02- in May 1872, that Rangers played their first ever game of football. - Right here?
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Right here, on this very spot.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09It was formed by two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old -
0:41:09 > 0:41:14Brothers Moses and Peter McNeil and their friends Peter Campbell and William McBeath
0:41:14 > 0:41:16decided, effectively, to form a boys' club
0:41:16 > 0:41:19to take advantage of this new craze of association football.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22When did Rangers stop playing on Glasgow Green?
0:41:22 > 0:41:26They played here for their first three years, before moving back up to the West End.
0:41:26 > 0:41:32And, although we are surrounded here by lush, green football pitches, it wasn't always like this.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37It was a red or a black clinker, almost like an ash, on which the people played football,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40so it could be quite an unforgiving environment.
0:41:40 > 0:41:46And what also must be remembered is that one of the founding fathers, the Gallant Pioneers,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49as Rangers fans refer to the boys who formed the club, was Peter McNeil.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54Peter McNeil came to this spot at 12.00 every Saturday afternoon
0:41:54 > 0:41:59and would literally stake out the area on which his team would play.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04And there were times, possibly even literally, when he had to fight for this pitch
0:42:04 > 0:42:08on which his team-mates could come along a couple of hours later and play.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Do you feel a bit of a tremble standing here?
0:42:11 > 0:42:14I think you do, and I think as you get older,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18because like myself, like many Glaswegians of my era and beyond,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21we played football here and we never thought of
0:42:21 > 0:42:26just the great part that it played in the history of Scottish football.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30And I think as you hear the winds whispering in the trees,
0:42:30 > 0:42:36they seem to be telling you of a story of 130, 140, 150 years ago,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38and it's a great story.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50public parks in Britain reached the peak of their popularity,
0:42:50 > 0:42:56as did, arguably, the national passion for sport, health and exercise.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00And this caused sort of headaches for many park authorities.
0:43:00 > 0:43:06For example, here at Glasgow Green, there are no fewer than 18 football pitches.
0:43:10 > 0:43:16And after the First World War, this emphasis on physical health continued,
0:43:16 > 0:43:19as did the range of sporting activities on offer in parks.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24By the 1920s, more and more parks were being designed specifically
0:43:24 > 0:43:27as sporting and recreational facilities,
0:43:27 > 0:43:32and many of these were being built in the newly created suburbs.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37For the next leg of my journey, I've come to Eaton Park in Norwich,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39a superb example of this.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47Opened in 1928, the park had huge sport facilities -
0:43:47 > 0:43:53tennis courts, cricket squares, football pitches and bowling greens -
0:43:53 > 0:43:55all balanced by fine gardens.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02There was even a model yacht club, which still exists today.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Eaton Park was designed by Captain Sandys-Winsch,
0:44:12 > 0:44:18a former First-World-War fighter pilot with a real talent for horticulture.
0:44:18 > 0:44:23Indeed, in 1925, Norwich Corporation made him their first park superintendent.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26And this is his greatest creation.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29It took him three-and-a-half years to create this park,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32and it was obviously a major artistic mission for him,
0:44:32 > 0:44:36but also a social mission, because making the park gave him a chance
0:44:36 > 0:44:39to employ First World War veterans who'd been out of work,
0:44:39 > 0:44:44and this gave them something to do and a way of, I suppose, retaining some dignity.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49To find out more about Captain Sandys-Winsch and his work here at Eaton Park,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52I've come to meet local historian, Andy Anderson.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57I suppose this creation of geometrical beauty, harmony,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01was, in a way, a response to the chaos and the horrors of the First World War.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04He wanted to make something that was beautiful.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Mm, and perhaps this classical style
0:45:06 > 0:45:10and the strong geometry that one finds in the park
0:45:10 > 0:45:17was a response to that, but I've never been too convinced by that.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20It makes sense to me, wanting to create order, having seen chaos.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24And in the process of realising this vision, he found employment for ex-soldiers.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27He created work for them by building this,
0:45:27 > 0:45:33He was indeed. I think there was about 100 men who were employed here for three-and-a-half years.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- Yeah.- In fact, contemporary photographs - I've got one here -
0:45:36 > 0:45:39show men at work.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Here are little railway tracks laid over these flat Norfolk grounds,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47- and these chaps pushing buckets. Fascinating.- Very much pre-JCB!- Yes!
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Ah, lovely! Here you see where we are, the colonnade.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53- That's right.- So here, the concrete columns going up.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57The columns were made with three concrete drums, but pre-cast.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01It's important to remember what the world was like when this park was conceived in the early '20s -
0:46:01 > 0:46:03a very different place, wasn't it?
0:46:03 > 0:46:07And it would have been an amazing acquisition for the people of the city
0:46:07 > 0:46:12to have such a taste of public beauty, but also, I presume, one of the points of this park
0:46:12 > 0:46:17wasn't so much providing just recreation or entertainment, but sports facilities...
0:46:17 > 0:46:22Well, you can see today what is now easily maintained grass.
0:46:22 > 0:46:30- Yeah.- There was a multitude of football pitches and tennis being played all over the place.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33And of course, the bowling greens would be in use.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36It's very beautiful, the park, isn't it?
0:46:36 > 0:46:38The architecture does sort of fulfil every function.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41It contains space, it creates these vistas,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44and of course, it contains the functional uses of the park.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49The architecture is directly related to sports, integrated into the vision, aren't they?
0:46:49 > 0:46:52- These are changing rooms for the football teams...- That's right.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55..that is the boating pavilion at the end,
0:46:55 > 0:47:00- so to make the changing rooms' architecture ornamental and grand is rather clever.- Yeah.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06'And Eaton Park also has one extra feature that few parks can offer -
0:47:06 > 0:47:08'its own railway station.'
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Ah! You've arrived. Excellent.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13- Hello.- Hello.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- Diesel engine?- Yes.- Not steam?
0:47:15 > 0:47:19- Oh, well, we'll have to make do. - That'll do.- Shall I climb aboard?
0:47:19 > 0:47:22- You may.- Thank you.- There you go.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Sitting comfortably.
0:47:24 > 0:47:25- Toot, toot!- Yeah, we're off.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Oh, we're off. Lovely. Ah.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40Well, how long has the railway been in the park?
0:47:40 > 0:47:45We've had a railway in the park since the early '60s.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47Early 1960s, OK.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51But it's extensive. I didn't realise you've got tracks everywhere!
0:47:51 > 0:47:54- Yes. Yeah, we've got nearly half a mile.- Half a mile?
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Yes.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00- But how spectacular! Back to the station.- Back to the station, yes.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03- TRAIN HORN TOOTS That's it.- That's nice.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16By the 1930s, Britain's public parks had evolved to such an extent
0:48:16 > 0:48:20they had become an integral part of our domestic and social life,
0:48:20 > 0:48:26and I'm off to meet an actor who has some very fond memories of 1930s park life.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32So, what's your first memory of a park?
0:48:32 > 0:48:37I think it would have to be either Waterhead Park in Oldham
0:48:37 > 0:48:41or Alexandra Park, and Alexandra Park was the one I remember particularly,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45- but I do remember there was a statue of a bell ringer.- Yes, that's right.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- Is he still there? - The statue is still there.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50- Blind Joe, something like that? - That's right.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54It's all in 19th-century clothes. It obviously goes back a bit.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56- Yes, a top hat.- That's right. - I do remember that.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59We used to fish over the railings in the duck pond,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03- and we used to catch gudgeon, mainly. - Presumably without permission.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06- No permission at all, no.- You were a mischievous child in the park.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09No, one of you kept a lookout the whole time for somebody.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14The somebody was usually a very large policeman called Bobby Finney.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18He was the bobby. "Hey, lads, hey, caught you!" All that shouting going on.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21If he whacked you with his cape, gave you one of those...
0:49:21 > 0:49:25- Do you remember the very heavy capes? - With the hooks, yeah. - It would knock you over.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30- What fun.- No, I mean, all the kids did that, all the boys, didn't they?
0:49:30 > 0:49:34You were told off, you'd let it die down for a bit and then you'd go back again.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Climbing trees, bylaws against that. Conker gathering's OK, I suppose?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41I never did conkers at all. No, I don't think we had conkers in Oldham.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45- No, weren't allowed. Lethal weapons. - Yes.- We'd have used them in our catapults.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48- HE LAUGHS - Of course!
0:49:48 > 0:49:51SIRENS WAIL
0:49:51 > 0:49:53With the outbreak of war in 1939,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56recreation was no longer top of the agenda,
0:49:56 > 0:50:03and parks across Britain had an important defensive role to play in most of the major cities.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08Trenches were dug, air-raid shelters built and barrage balloons anchored.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Huge areas of parkland were dug up for allotments.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19Regent's Park in London was one of them.
0:50:22 > 0:50:27Now, we're in Regent's Park, and this area of grass around us was,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30- in the Second World War, given over to allotments.- It was.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34There were over 100 allotments in this space alone,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36and then over by the boating lake
0:50:36 > 0:50:39there were another 100 or so. But it's not just here.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43Throughout the London parks, just in London, there were about 6,000 allotments.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48It's very exciting all this standing here, because we are standing on a part of the war effort.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51- We know how they were laid out. - Right, right.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55Oh, of course, we have this aerial photograph. This is taken, what...
0:50:55 > 0:50:57- 1946, and it just shows exactly... - ..where we are.
0:50:57 > 0:51:03- And if we orientate to the zoo over there...- This with the playground is roughly where...
0:51:03 > 0:51:06- Just about there.- ..these two avenues meet, with the trees.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08We should be just about, I think, here.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12I must say, they look rather large, like fields. Have I got the scale wrong?
0:51:12 > 0:51:16No, they're traditional. They're ten-pole plots, which is about,
0:51:16 > 0:51:21roughly speaking, about 95 to 100 foot long by 25 to 30 foot wide.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24- Right.- They vary depending on whether you've got paths or not.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28So, when did allotments first sort of appear in London's parks?
0:51:28 > 0:51:34Well, the announcement for the Dig For Victory campaign came within the first week of the War,
0:51:34 > 0:51:39but it took a while, as you might imagine, to organise that the public parks and then the royal parks
0:51:39 > 0:51:42would actually start digging up the pasture areas.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46How does someone get an allotment back in the beginning of the War, '39, '40?
0:51:46 > 0:51:50They fairly soon had allotment associations starting up,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55and you could apply to the local council or the allotments association for one.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59They were very keen to encourage women, particularly after 1942,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02when conscription really hit hard.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04So, what do people grow here in 1940, '41?
0:52:04 > 0:52:09If you look at a list, the Government was recommending what you should put in your allotment,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11literally vegetable by vegetable.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Cucumbers were banned, as were asparagus, because they...
0:52:14 > 0:52:19- No nutrition or something? - Yeah, not enough nutrition, waste of space, too much time.- Yeah.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23They were very much part of the war effort, like making munitions.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25Yes, and all the same phraseology.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29You were a member of the allotment army and you did things like you grew
0:52:29 > 0:52:34beans as bullets in the munitions campaign - wonderful phrases, "cloches against Hitler."
0:52:34 > 0:52:37You know cloches - these great things,
0:52:37 > 0:52:39you grow vegetables, longer season.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42And how did the whole thing come to an end at the end of the War?
0:52:42 > 0:52:48In the vast majority of places, there was going to be something like 12 months after the end of the War
0:52:48 > 0:52:53and then you would have to vacate and it would be put back like this.
0:52:55 > 0:53:01Allotments may have done much to help boost wartime production, but the War greatly damaged our parks.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06Railings were removed, palm houses and other buildings bombed.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13After the War, public parks were no longer the only green spaces
0:53:13 > 0:53:16where people could go to escape from the city.
0:53:16 > 0:53:22Families began to travel further afield by car and rail for their days out.
0:53:24 > 0:53:30And in the 1950s and '60s, the creation of national parks and country parks
0:53:30 > 0:53:34gave the public access to even more green spaces in the open country.
0:53:39 > 0:53:45Despite a resurgence during the long, hot summer of 1976,
0:53:45 > 0:53:51things got really bad in the 1980s, when parks went into a spiral of decline all over the country.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55Under Margaret Thatcher's Tory government, rates were capped,
0:53:55 > 0:54:01full-time park keepers were removed and standards of maintenance fell.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07Vandalism and crime grew to such an extent that many parks became bleak no-go areas,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10even dark and dangerous places.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23But over the last ten years, British parks have actually enjoyed a huge revival,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26thanks in part to a big boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund,
0:54:26 > 0:54:31who have been funding restoration projects in parks all over the country.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Parks are now being used more than ever.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38It's estimated there are about four billion visits to parks per year.
0:54:39 > 0:54:47Everybody wants a slice of park life, and a civic pride that started with the Victorians is back.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52And as the demand for open, green spaces grows in urban areas,
0:54:52 > 0:54:57derelict industrial wastelands are also being transformed into parks and gardens of the future.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06I'm walking next to the Regent's Canal in Mile End, East London.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11The area behind me had been covered with a network of Victorian streets and houses,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14much bomb-damaged and neglected.
0:55:14 > 0:55:20They've been replaced by this rather astonishing park, a green oasis
0:55:20 > 0:55:24in an area that had become an urban wasteland.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36The park is divided by roads, railways, waterways
0:55:36 > 0:55:42and an iconic green bridge that carries the park across the busy Mile End Road.
0:55:42 > 0:55:47It's a fascinating example of an ecological park in an inner-city area.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53So what is the ethos? What's special about this park?
0:55:53 > 0:55:56It's obviously special in terms of being cut through a bit of city,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59but in terms of plants and animals and so on?
0:55:59 > 0:56:02It's fabulous, because it's such an inner-city park, it really is,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05even at its best, this was just short grass,
0:56:05 > 0:56:06and now we've got great habitats.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11That's increasing our insect population, which increases the bat and bird populations and so on.
0:56:11 > 0:56:17- It's important because lots of children in the area, 82-83% of them, live in high-rise flats.- Right.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19This is their taste of the countryside.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24Victorian parks were created on the edge of cities, but this is a park carved out of a city -
0:56:24 > 0:56:27bomb-damaged sites and houses, but some obviously surviving.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30Is this a model for urban parks of the future?
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Yeah. I think certainly it is one model, if maybe not THE model.
0:56:33 > 0:56:39I think, perhaps more importantly, it's the idea of a successful park appeals to a wide range of people.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43I like Mile End Park as it offers something to absolutely everybody,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47from people walking their dogs or who like nature, who like art....
0:56:47 > 0:56:51The children over there are obviously dipping away for creepy-crawlies.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54- Aquatic creepy-crawlies, yes. - In this pond here, yes, yes.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58- I'll maybe go across and see what they've caught.- Good idea.- Yeah.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07What's that, a little fish?
0:57:07 > 0:57:08A couple of sticklebacks.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20On this journey, I've visited a number of very different parks
0:57:20 > 0:57:24and I've discovered what an important role they've played
0:57:24 > 0:57:27in people's lives for hundreds of years.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32It's been a gripping tale of class, civic pride
0:57:32 > 0:57:36and changing fashions in design, sport and entertainment.
0:57:36 > 0:57:42Parks are special because they occupy a cherished place in all our memories,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45and we use parks much as the Victorians did.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47Some come to look at the buildings or the plants,
0:57:47 > 0:57:52others to exercise or to survey the beautiful scene.
0:57:52 > 0:57:57They refresh the body and allow the spirit, the imagination, to soar.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:54 > 0:58:58E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk