National Trust

In association with
The National Trust

City park lake set to become wildlife haven

Feb 27 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

1
2
next

ENVIRONMENT Editor TONY HENDERSON on people who have rallied round their parks.

Volunteers help clean up the lake at Exhibition Park, Newcastle

A MOTHER’S memories have served as the inspiration behind plans to turn a Victorian park boating lake into a 21st-Century nature haven.

Fifty years ago, Barbara Hogg would wheel her children two miles in their pram from her home in Gosforth in Newcastle to the lake in the city’s Exhibition Park.

“I was very keen for my three children to enjoy everything in the park and we had some lovely times beside the lake,” said Barbara, who now lives in Jesmond.

Now her fond recollections have sparked the Lakeside Explorer project, which will see the harsh, concrete-edged section of the lake nearest to the Town Moor turned into a mosaic of reed beds, bays and promontories, through which will run boardwalks made from recycled decking.

The planting of native shrubs and aquatic plants, together with the shallow and curving bays, will attract wildlife, and dipping platforms will allow youngsters to enjoy nature in the city. The Lakeside Explorer is one of a number of community initiatives by the Exhibition & Brandling Parks Community Trust.

The trust has been given £100,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to work up a masterplan for a future £2m submission to the HLF to restore Exhibition Park.

The £90,000 lakeside scheme is separate from the HLF bid and has been given £50,000 from Groundwork’s lottery-funded Changing Spaces scheme, £2,000 from the Sir James Knott Trust, £1,000 from the North Jesmond Ward committee and £4,500 from the South Jesmond Ward committee.

Support has also been offered by Northumberland Wildlife Trust, and Newcastle University’s Student Community Action Newcastle (SCAN) group.

Trust secretary Keith Pimm said: “The scheme will change the character of the lake . We want to get people involved and interested and this scheme will show that something is happening.

“We found Barbara’s memories of the lake really evocative and they are the inspiration for this project.