Restoring Holywells Park

The Borough Council and Friends of Holywells Park group are preparing a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund under their 'Parks for the People' programme to restore the park and develop it as an attractive facility. As usual in such bids, support from other organisations in the community can make quite a difference to the result. So the Chairman of our Society was delighted to be able to write enthusiastically as follows:

"Sadly the mansion house was demolished over 30 years ago, so let's not neglect what remains, i.e. the stable block and orangery, and develop them for further use. Historically, the ponds supported local business by supplying water to the former brewery at Cliff Quay and feature prominently in one of Gainsborough's paintings hanging in Ipswich's Christchurch Mansion.

"An excellent playground was installed in the park last year, bringing more youngsters on to the site. Therefore it makes sense to provide more facilities that parents and children can use nearby. A skateboard park perhaps? The area is quite densely populated along Cliff Lane then up to Landseer Road where older children lack amusement facilities. Staff will be needed to implement the vision and to maintain it, hopefully well beyond a five year period.

"It is good to see all these aspects included in the bid. That area of town is not the most wealthy and the success of this bid would make a major difference to the vicinity and the local inhabitants. It has our strongest support."