2009

NZ2561 : Geese, Saltwell Park

taken 14 years ago, near to Gateshead, England

Geese, Saltwell Park
Geese, Saltwell Park
The park lake provides a safe area and a good food source (many visiting children and parents) for a large number of ducks and geese. The geese in particular like using the open grassed area to the east known as Northern Fields.
Saltwell Park :: NZ2560

Saltwell Park is a large Victorian park situated in Gateshead. The major part of the park was designed by Edward Kemp. Also known as the 'People's Park' and part of Gateshead's heritage since it opened to the public in 1876, the park is steeped in history. Thanks to a £10 million restoration project 2002-2005 funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Gateshead Council, the park has been restored to its former glory.

Saltwell Park has been given numerous prestigious awards, such as "Britain's Best Park" 2005 and "Green Flag Award" 2006 amongst others.

At the centre lies William Wailes's former home, the Grade II listed Saltwell Towers, also restored, with the addition of a café and visitor information points located in the building.

The park also contains a boating lake, children's play areas including animal stables, aviaries, a stream (The Dene), bandstand, a yew-hedge maze, bowling greens and tennis courts. The park's bandstand was at one time situated in the middle of the lake and bands had to travel across the lake by boat.
War memorials, decorative seats and many items of public art are also to be found.

LinkExternal link
A detailed descriptive history of the park is given here LinkExternal link
Other images of Saltwell Park on Geograph (including mine) can be found here Link
Tyne and Wear HER(5004): Gateshead, Saltwell Park LinkExternal link

The Lake

The lake is one of the main features of Saltwell Park, and was constructed in 1880. Bore-holes were drilled through the site and in August 1880 a tender for the construction of a 4 acre lake with island rockery was accepted. The lake was completed by the end of the year and Joseph Wilson Swan was asked to advise on the lighting of the lake by gas or electricity, but no action appears to have been taken. Skating on the frozen lake began in December 1880. In 1886 the Gateshead Model Yacht Club began to use part of the lake, and this led to endless disputes with users of rowing boats. These had been in use for some years and various other forms of water transport were tried with varying degrees of success. A motor-boat, the John Maccoy, began to ply the lake in 1909 LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Andrew Curtis and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Category: Lake
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Saltwell Park Lake [19] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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NZ2561, 134 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Andrew Curtis   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Friday, 13 November, 2009   (more nearby)
Submitted
Saturday, 28 November, 2009
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NZ 2545 6125 [10m precision]
WGS84: 54:56.7158N 1:36.2538W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NZ 2551 6127
View Direction
West-southwest (about 247 degrees)
Clickable map
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SW S SE
Image classification(about): Geograph
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