Clearing Spaces - Bird Boxes

October is a time for seed collection and preparation 

Happily there was still warmth and light enough

for the group to work on painting

bird boxes for the Hidden Pond Garden 

and the Wellbeing Garden

Parks and Gardens - Bedford Park - Printing and Scoping

History of bedford Park

In 1881 the Council acquired 61 acres of land when the medieval St. John's Hospital estate founded by Robert de Parys was wound up by an Act of Parliament. The surplus land was released for building development in Clapham Road, De Parys Avenue and Park Avenue with the proceeds paying for the lay-out of the Park.

In 1882 the contract for the design of the park was awarded to Baron & Sons, of Derby.  The contract was to make carriage drives, plant shrubs, excavate the lake, lay turf and seed pastures for the sum of 7,000 with the work commencing in 1883. Some 18,000 shrubs and trees were planted and the park was opened to the public in 1888 when the imposing ornamental gates were unlocked by the Marquis of Tavistock on Wednesday 11th July. The Park Caf, or as it was then called the Refreshment Pavilion, was open from the inauguration day. 

The West Lodge (399.10s) and Gates (350) were paid for by public subscription, the bandstand was built c1892 while the cricket pavilion was built in the early 1900s. Originally there were just two entrances to the park, the main entrance by De Parys Avenue and the entrance on the bend of Park Avenue. The park was totally enclosed by iron railings until these were removed during the Second World War for war material.

Alliums and Geraniums

In August 1914 men of the 51st Highland Division began to arrive in Bedford, with the numbers reaching at one time 22,000 for military training before leaving for France in May of 1915.  The Highlanders erected a cookhouse in the park and some of their training was carried out there while leisure events such as Highland dancing competitions were also held in the park. Also during The First World War, rows of temporary army huts were built where the tennis courts now are, housing WAACS and Royal Engineers.

In 1916 The County Show was held in the park for the first time and continued to be held there for a number of years.

In the summer of 1966, 27th June to 2nd July a pageant was held in Bedford Park to celebrate the granting of its charter in 1166, The pageant was in ten episodes and covered most of Bedfords history, with the first episode being "The Coming of the Danes" and the last "Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee" with Dorian Williams as pageant master.

The Robinson Pool was donated to the town by David Robinson millionaire philanthropist who stipulated that the pool was to be built in Bedford Park. The pool was opened on the 25th October 1969 at a cost of 350,000.

Sources

• Newspaper Cuttings Collection, Local Studies Library, Bedford Central Library
• SHELTON, P.  A Guide to Bedford Park.  1988.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING 

Bedford Park lies on the northern side of the town at the foot of Foster's Hill, immediately below and to the south of Bedford Cemetery. The 26ha park is divided from the cemetery by metal railings and a yew hedge. A shelter belt of mixed woodland, including a predominance of mature pine trees, adds further screening. The boundary to the west is a wide footpath known as Cemetery Hill, with a former school and playing fields to the east, and Park Avenue forming the southern edge of the site.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The main entrances are off Park Avenue, West Lodge standing at the south-west corner of the site, and East Lodge occupying a site at the eastern tip. The West Lodge and gates were paid for by public subscription, begun with a fund launched to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. In the north-west corner of the park are a pair of later cottages (mid C20) known as North Lodge, which stand adjacent to one of several other access points into the park.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS A broad, serpentine perimeter walk, laid out as a carriage drive, provides access round the edge of the park, the open lawns at the heart of the site being divided by several interior walks. From the East Lodge, the perimeter walk passes a modern (late C20) children's playground before rounding the eastern end of the lake. The c 1ha lake, irregular in outline and with three small islands, forms the main feature in the south-east corner of the park. At its western end the ground has been moulded to add interest to the predominantly flat site, and to form a 3m mound designed to support a rustic shelter.

Shade ad open spaces

Enticing path

Laburnum

White Lilac

At the centre of the park, a little offset towards the northern side, stands the Refreshment Pavilion, designed by the then Borough Surveyor, John Lund. A straight walk, planted as an elm avenue and replanted in hornbeam, leads south from this building to the bandstand. South of the bandstand, adjacent to the southern edge of the park, are tennis courts added in the mid to late C20.

The main feature on the western side of the park is the cricket pavilion, which overlooks an open grass area used for sport. Barron's plan also included tennis lawns, bowling green, archery grounds, and a gymnasium. A pavilion has been built (late C20) in association with the bowling green.

The Robinson Pool complex (late C20) now stands in the former south-west corner of the park, occupying the site of the former nursery.

There are many fine trees including the Giant Redwood

Meeting at Stevenson Way Community Centre

Having scoped the park the group later helped to screen print panels for children at Priory Primary to use during their Back To Books day in Bedford Park.

Paper stencil under the screen

Printed panels inspired by the park

Drying on the line

The panels will have streamers added and the children will use them to create a tent / castle / structure.

Crafts and Indusrty - Back to Books Wellbeing Walk at Unique Cottage Studios by Katie Smith

This walk was designed and delivered by artist Katie Smith who invited us to her wonderful studio at Unique Cottage Studios in Spalding. Carolyn Bantin conducted the Mindfulness Meditation and we were joined by some inquisitive sheep. Carolyn's ancestors had been shepherds so sheep wrangling seems to run in the family! 

Katie designed a photo mission to help us look at our surroundings in a more creative way and we split into small groups to create an environmental intervention made from collected natural materials.

We walked through allotments and pumpkin fields under the strangely glowing pumpkin Sun.

Back in the summer I was contacted by artist Carole Miles to see if I would be interested in leading a Creative Wellbeing Walk for a group of young people as part of the Back to Books project; of course my answer was ‘YES PLEASE.’ Carole explained that the concept of the project was to connect walkers with the history, landscape or location of a place in a unique and creative way.

I am really lucky to be based at the picturesque Unique Cottage Studios in Spalding, Lincolnshire; not only is a working sheep farm but it’s a stones’ throw away from agricultural land and a thriving allotment. It would be impossible not to be inspired by landscape that surrounds me and I can often be found foraging for interesting leaves to create prints and cyanotypes from or searching out interesting sheds to photograph. I also walk through the landscape using it as a thinking space; I like the Latin phrase ‘solvitur ambulando’ which means ‘it will be solved by walking,’ and it often is!

As a socially engaged artist I generally take a ‘go to the people’ approach so the prospect of having people visit me in my studio for this project was an exciting one. Carole’s group arrived in good time and we started our creative adventure in the best way, with a cup of tea and a delicious picnic. I gave each of the visitors an enveloped stuffed with creative suggestions for ‘finding the magic in ordinariness’ which would be our theme for the day. We also decided as a group that we should leave ourselves open to possibility and to wander rather than walk putting the emphasis on responding to the sights and sounds of the landscape rather than getting from A to B.

The first point of interest on our wander was a clay pit which had been repurposed into a large pond. Clay Lake is the name of an area in Spalding which before the drainage of the fens, was a large clay bottomed lake. The pond is located in the garden of the owner of Unique Cottage Studios and accessible via a walk through a paddock – it was here that our first ‘possibility’ presented itself. 

Two curious sheep managed to follow us into the garden which led to a completely unplanned and totally unexpected sheep herding experience. We were pleased to discover that we worked very well as a team and disaster was quickly averted. We took full advantage of the peace and tranquillity of the garden and used it as an opportunity to take stock with a mindfulness activity.

We continued our wander through the allotments, down a winding country lane and through a pumpkin field collecting interesting found objects as we went. It was a lovely relaxed opportunity to chat and enjoy each other’s company. 

 Allotments

 

Artichoke

Mighty cabbage

Naturtiums growing in compost heap

Field of pumkins - orange glow

It was also quite surreal as we were bathed in the eerie orange glow of the red sun, the phenomena created by Storm Ophelia as it whipped up dust from the Sahara.

Back at the studio I introduced the group to the work of artist Any Goldsworthy and we talked about how we could use of found objects to create natural sculptures within the ground of unique. 

Fuelled by more tea and Lincolnshire plum loaf topped with cheese, we worked in pairs to create our own site specific art works. 

 

Abstract arial view of sheep made from leaves and twigs

Heart-shaped harvest

Leaf parcel

Wrapped pebble

Looking at the finished pieces we felt that not only had we found the magic in ordinariness but we had found the magic in each other’s company which is definitely the power of walking and making.

Walk Themes - Crafts and Industry

Unique Cottage Studios - What's On - pottery, mosaics, stained glass, textiles, painting, jewellery

Katie Smith - Socially Engaged Artist - more about

Allotments

Industrial agriculture - Spalding

More photos

Branching Out - Sacred Spaces of Milton Keynes - Guest Blog by Jo Dacombe

Part of  a series for  wellbeing walks through a park, garden, growing space, heritage site or an area of a history rooted in a particular industry or craft. It is always good to walk a new place with somebody who lives there. And so it was that I explored Milton Keynes with David Mason.

David took Project Coordinator Carole Miles and me on a walk from his house to some of the places he was interested in, and able to give us extensive insights into the history of the town’s construction. I have only ever driven through Milton Keynes, and we discovered that walking through the town is a completely different experience.

There were many themes that I could have taken from David’s tour, but I decided to develop a walk around the idea of Sacred Spaces.

I was intrigued by the different spaces that we encountered, which were both of faith and secular at the same time. The planners of Milton Keynes seemed to have recognised that the town didn’t just need infrastructure for navigation and green space for exercise, but that people also needed to connect with the place in a more spiritual way. Thus they have built in to the design spaces to inspire connections to belief and contemplation.

Carrying out my own research, I discovered more about how the geometry of the town was also a manifestation of certain spiritual geometries:  shapes and connecting lines that are thought to signify the energies of the earth and a relationship with the sun.

The result was the Sacred Spaces of Milton Keynes walk, where I attempted to convey these sacred geometries and spaces through walking them and interacting with them in creative ways.

The walk first passed the medicine wheel standing stone circle, which merges at least three faith ideas into one physical structure. We then climbed the steps to the Peace Pagoda, the first such Buddhist structure built in the Western world. We folded peace lotus flowers from rainbow paper, and played with their symmetry and the geometry of the pagoda’s white marble grid platform.  The geometry of the flowers lined up with the grids, and interacted with the cracks, promoting a discussion about the importance of imperfections and the Japanese idea of kintsugi, celebrating the cracks that tell a history.

Lotus Intervention

We stopped at a wishing tree on the way to the Tree Cathedral, a beautiful space planted with different varieties in the shape and orientation of a cathedral. 

Stained Glass Window Intervention

"Your measurements were spot on Jo!"

The hornbeams gently curved their branches towards each other to create the vaulted ceiling of the nave.  Here we created our own instant stained glass window which temporarily glowed with colour in the cool autumn sun, and breathed with the breeze.

The window now just a memory, we turned towards the town centre and climbed the hill to the pyramid.  Sudden strong wind hit us as we looked  back over the views and the connecting line that we had been walking.

Then down to the Milton Keynes Rose, as it is known. Here I explained that the image on the badges that the walkers had been given at the beginning of the walk was taken from an aerial view of the place we were now standing. The image is a known sacred geometry of the Torus, a representation of the movement of energy flow that occurs from the very largest things in the universe, planets and galaxies, down to the very smallest at the atomic level.  I demonstrated the toroidal energy flow with a continuous spring loop, which we all tried out on our arms, watching its movement like a bubble spinning, gently massaging us.

Torus Intervention

Finally we walked most of the length of the Midsummer Boulevard, built to align with the midsummer sun, although it is thought to have missed its mark by a few degrees. A new shopping complex now cuts the Boulevard in half, negating the idea of the sun shining along the Boulevard to strike the mirrored façade of the railway station, where we ended our walk with a much needed coffee and met the bus for our return.

Thank you to everybody who came on the walk and engaged with the ideas with such enthusiasm and generosity; to Back To Books for asking me to create the walk and to Carole for organising it all; and to Dr Dave Mason, for the beginning sparks of inspiration.

Photographs by Jo Dacombe and Andrew Rushton

Further images from the walk can be seen here

A curated creative wellbeing walk for Back To Books by artist Jo Dacombe exploring Parks and gardens, Woods and water, Sacred Spaces in Milton Keynes, the New Town celebrating it's 50th Anniversary. Walk informed by Dr David Mason.

Willen Lakes
Circle of Hearts Medicine Wheel
Peace Pagoda
Tree of Wishes
Tree Cathedral
Head' by Allen Jones 1990. Made of Corten Steel
Light Pyramid by Liliane Lijn in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes

The MK Rose by Gordon Young 

If you'd like to find out more about Milton Keynes 50 follow the link we hope this walk will inspire you to explore  the Parks and Gardens, Woods and Water to be found there.