Category:Blakers Park
Blaker's Park, Brighton is a little to the East of (and uphill of) Preston Park. The land for Blaker's park was donated by Alderman John George Blaker in 1894. The park is mostly distinguished by its unique dark green iron clocktower, inaugurated in 1896.
Character
Blakers Park is a community park maintained and improved with the help of local fundraising and local volunteers. With roughly 4:1 proportions, aligned approximately North-South, the park runs up a not-too-steep slope, and from the top one can see the sea. The upper half-to-two-thirds is open space bounded by trees, after which the park is cut across by a tree-lined path, in the middle of which is the Clocktower. Further down is the fenced tennis court and a children's play area that (as of July 2021) seems to be undergoing construction or reconstruction work.
The sides of a substantial storage shed by the tenniscourt displays professionally-produced graphics relating to the park's ongoing refurbishment.
The Park is currently undergoing a multi-year tree diversity planting project, which is turning the park perimeter into a sort of curated reference collection of different tree types. While some older photos of the park that can be found online seem to present it as being perhaps a little blank and bare, the effect if this "re-treeing" and replanting project has already turned the space into something more complex and more interesting, and the park will presumably improve even more as the project progresses.
John Blaker
Alderman John George Blaker (1854-1926), was at various times Mayor of Brighton, and ended up as a Baronet.
As someone who made money from selling parcels of land for housing development, it was sensible as well as socially responsible to set aside a proportionate number of parcels of land in an area for use as public p[en space, as improving the local amenities would ensure that a location remained desirable, and didn't become completely overdeveloped. It also probably didn't hurt that Blaker himself lived nearby, and got to use the park himself.
1933 description:
The Blaker Recreation Ground, about 4 acres, named after the donor, Sir John Blaker, Bart., O.B.E., is situated between Stanford Avenue and Preston Drove. Here are public tennis courts.
— , -, , A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to Brighton and Hove, 10th Edition, , Ward, Locke & Co Ltd., , 1933
External links
- The Friands of Blakers Park (blakersparkbrighton.org.uk)
- Blakers Park Tree Project (justgiving.com)
- Blaker's Park Clock Tower (brighton-hove.gov.uk)
Pages in category ‘Blakers Park’
This category contains only the following page.
