• Sitemap
• Text Only
• Full Graphics

You are here: Home > Winners > Case Studies

• A Welcoming Place: first impressions count

• Date:

  25th March 2004

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

First impressions are extremely important for any visitor to a park or green space, and the perceived welcome is a natural opening criterion for any Green Flag Award judge.

The overall impression for people approaching the site should be one that invites and draws them in and Victoria Park in Wales scored highly in this category, with judges praising the facility as ‘welcoming, with a pleasing, open aspect. A popular and well presented traditional green space.’

Opened in 1897 and managed by the City and County of Cardiff, the park was one of the first open spaces to be dedicated and laid out by Cardiff Corporation as a formal public park. Covering 7.5 hectares, it was named in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and retains its Victorian heritage with many of its original path layouts.

Victoria Park is enclosed by perimeter railings and has seven entrances with five gates off perimeter roads, each served by a traffic calming hump and a visi-rail barrier for safe access. The two main entrances have gates with the name of the park incorporated into the renovated Victorian ironwork. On entering, visitors are met with a notice board giving information on the park and a comprehensive plan. These were all provided as part of the Heritage Lottery funded renovation of the park, funding of which was awarded in 1996.

Two of the main gates in the south of the park lead to a large segmented circle of mixed tree and shrub planting, a form which has changed little since the park’s inauguration.

The central area of the park is dominated by a large bandstand - a replica of the previous Victorian feature - and the canopy to the McFarlane drinking fountain has been preserved at the Cowbridge Road entrance to the park. Two wide paths lead from the gates and converge onto a cartwheel pattern of narrower radiating paths and segmental planting beds. The canopy forms the centre-piece of this area, comprising an ornate cast iron pinnacle dome of open scrollwork supported by eight slender columns arranged in an octagon.

An extremely popular paddling pool, converted from a section of a former ornamental lake, is another of the many features of this open plan park which can be viewed from the outside. The openness is a big bonus point for visitors to such an attractive and well-kept facility.

John Pearse, business development manager for Cardiff Council, said: “It’s a typical Victorian Park, which has been restored to recreate the Victorian splendour following Heritage Lottery funding. This includes updating the information boards and restoration of the band stand and MacFarlane drinking fountain.

“The whole thing is dominated by playgrounds aimed at various categories of children and the fountain in the middle and paddling pool can be viewed from outside the park.”

For further information on providing the ultimate welcome for visitors to a park or green space, contact John on: 02920 894 739.