Preston Park, Stockton-on-Tees
Coordinates: 54°32′10″N 1°20′13″W / 54.536°N 1.337°W
| Preston Hall Park | |
 Preston Hall Park
 Preston Hall Park shown within County Durham |
|
| OS grid reference | NZ430158 |
|---|---|
| List of places: UK • England • County Durham | |
 |
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
Preston Park (officially referred to as Preston Hall Park) is a 100-acre (0.40 km2) public park located next to the River Tees, in Preston-on-Tees, England. It is highly popular and it hosts many events each year that attract people from across Teesside and further afield.[citation needed] Entrance and parking on site is usually free, though some events may charge.
The land was originally a private residence with large grounds but has since become the property of Stockton Borough Council after being purchased from Sir Robert Ropner.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Areas of interest
The space is broken into several diverse areas:
[edit] Hall
Preston Hall is an old mansion house dating from 1825 which is now a museum.[citation needed]
[edit] Showground
The flat, grassed area in front of the main house is now the main staging ground for large events held in the park. It is easily able to hold the largest of circus tents and other temporary structures. When not being used for an event, this area will often contain people playing sports or picnicing with their children. The field is used for training by a number of football teams, and a local frisbee team. The field does however suffer from drainage problems meaning that it often becomes waterlogged, however work on a drainage system for the field are currently under way, and expected to be completed by Summer 2010.
[edit] Butterfly World
This building houses an environment specially controlled to allow a variety of exotic butterflies to thrive. There is a charge for entry.[citation needed]
[edit] Café
Beside the main car park is a café.
[edit] Children's playground
Adjacent to the café is a play area containing a variety of traditional swings and more adventurous climbing equipment. This is enclosed by a fence to help prevent children wandering off.
[edit] Crazy Golf
In front of the café lies a simple crazy golf course. Originally quite open, the bushes and trees have grown, leaving most of the course hidden from view.
[edit] Miniature railway
Across the showground from the car park is a miniature railway with two trains. This only operates during the summer months.
[edit] Quarry Wood
This is a popular place for younger mountain bikers, with the main attraction being "The Dippers". These are a series of dirt jumps and gravel corners created by the natural terrain. They are mostly fenced off in an attempt to protect the public from out-of-control bikes.
"The Big Dipper" is a 15ft-deep cut in the ground which is used as a kind of half-pipe. From the top of the slope, riders can aim at a variety of take-off points on the other side, each of which provides differing amounts of "air time".
There are a variety of smaller jumps nearby, as well as some rougher cycling routes.
[edit] Previous attractions
The world's first passenger railway ran through the grounds beside the main road in the 1800s.[citation needed] There was no station.
In the 1970s and 80s there was a small zoo within the park, partly covering the area now used by the playground and stretching down to the hall. It famously had a penguin enclosure. There were also llamas and chipmunks, among others.[citation needed]
[edit] Relocation of Egglescliffe School
In 2009 it was proposed by Ingleby Barwick councillors that Egglescliffe School be relocated within the park with a foot bridge linking the school to the estate.[1] The proposal was backed by the then MP for Stockton South Dari Taylor, but was strongly opposed by many residents in the local area due to the loss of valuable public park land.[1] The Conservative candidate for the Stockton-South seat James Wharton also opposed the proposal before narrowly winning the seat in the 2010 election. Leaflets from Dari Taylor's party have since expressed regret for not opposing the development of Preston Park.
The proposal for the development (coded option D2) has now been removed as a viable option. The reasons given are that the funding for the new foot bridge would not have been granted from central government, and that "During the feasibility work undertaken, the location of the proposed bridge also raised significant engineering issues. In addition to this, any additional traffic from a community school facility could not be accommodated without significant upgrading of the road network.", and that the Preston Park allotments would have had to be moved.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
