Wilton Park Water Cascade

The final act of the centenary celebrations for Wilton Park, was the switch on of the the water feature, the cascade at the park lake and I was privileged to be involved and to welcome people to Wilton Park.

It was a beautiful day, which made it easy to see what a marvellous resource this is for the community in Batley. It’s the most popular, best used park in Kirklees and attracts people from far and wide.

I’ve been a visitor to the park for the 40 years I’ve lived in Batley, I brought my children here when they were young and I now bring my grandchildren. My two year old grandson is on his way to Batley from Cheltenham and he will certainly want to play in the park this weekend.

The park has been a great family attraction this it opened and during the past 12 months, we have been celebrating the centenary of the park and Bagshaw Museum at the top of the hill. There has been a programme of events which we have enjoyed, funded by a lottery grant and run through a partnership of Kirklees Council and a volunteer group in the park, led by Gerry Hird, one of our local heroes and my personal hero. There are some lasting reminders of the centenary, such as the centenary memorial stone outside the museum, the nature trail, the new duck houses, the new planting and the final act is the renewal of the cascade, bringing it back into use in its former glory. All this makes our park an even greater attraction hopefully, for many years to come.

The council will need to work in partnership with community groups increasingly in future and we need a group of volunteers here in the park, if we want it to remain a great family attraction in future so if anyone is interested, please get in touch. Gerry is moving on to pastures new. I’d like to thank him and the Friends of Wilton Park for the good work they have done, particularly over the last couple of years and best of luck for the future Gerry.