Discovering the Park

Transcription

1 Discovering the Park Teacher notes This discovery box contains six activities that will encourage your children to explore the park and find out more about its history and the changes in its use. The activities are designed to be completed in groups of about 5-6 children with an adult in a supervisory role. You may wish to do all or just some of the activities. It is unlikely all the groups will complete all the activities; rather this is an opportunity for them to present their findings to the rest of the class back at school. You will find here instructions for the activities and background information for your and your staff. All the resources you need for the activities are included in the discovery box. Unfortunately, owing to copyright issues, we cannot make the photographs available to schools.

2 Discovering the Park Activity 1 - Find the Spot To work out where in the park the photographer stood to take each of these photographs. To take a photograph of the same view today To list the changes between the old photo and today s view There are four views of the park taken in the past. Taking each picture in turn, ask the children: To look at the picture closely. Identify any features in the photograph that could help them find where it is in the park. Look about them to see decide which direction to go in to try and find the place they are looking for. Agree where the photographer would have stood. Compare and record the changes they observe. Take a photograph or photographs of the view from the agreed point. Background information The South Terrace 17A This is the terrace of the south side of the building in about 1910, left from the museum entrance. The steps in the picture have been made into a ramp the canopy over the ground floor windows was removed for scrap metal during the war. The corner urns are also no longer there; however there are still urns, albeit a different shape, on the corners of the steps leading down to the lawn. The lime trees are still there but of course much larger now. Terrace and Lawns 7 This picture looks up the terrace and across the lawns from the other side of the house. The photo was taken in At this time the house had creepers growing up it. South Front of the House 1 This picture, taken in 1921, looks back up to the house and terrace from the path that runs in front of the wall at the bottom of the formal gardens. The fencing for the tennis courts is visible on the right. The lawn edging has gone as has the bird bath in the centre of the flower beds.

3 The Bathing Hut The bathing hut is still at the nearest end of the lake to the museum. It was built around This view of it, from the side closest to the museum, is now obscured by large weeping willow trees. When this photo was taken in the 1920s the lake was use for bathing. You can still see the steps and emplacement for the diving board on the edge of the lake. A lot of the trees behind it in this picture have now been cleared and willows line this end of the lake. Although the water was much cleaner then, oral history sources tell that the bathers did share the water with the ducks!

4 Activity 2 Missing features To find out where the features shown in these photographs once stood. To mark the place on the map. To learn how to use simple grid references. KS2 There are pictures of three features that are now missing from the park. Taking each picture in turn, ask the children: To look closely at each photograph. To find any clues in the picture they think might help them work it out. To look at the map to see if there are any clues there. To decide as a group where to look. Look for clues in the landscape. Once the group have decided, mark the position on the map Answers Attached is a copy of the map showing the positions of these lost features. Below is some background information. The WWI Tank The tank stood at the lower end of the park, close to the lake, on the New Bedford Road side of the park. In this picture the biggest clue is the bridge, but you can also just see the edge of the water fountain between its front tracks and the plinth. The tank was a German one captured as a trophy and had been installed in the park by The men in the picture may have been the ones who installed it. It was removed in the early 1940s as metal was collected for the war effort. A weeping birch tree is now growing in the same spot. The Bandstand The position of the bandstand is obvious by the large patch of tarmac between the suspension bridge and the New Bedford Road. All the paths on this side of the park lead here. In the picture, to the right of the bandstand, you can see the roof of the boat house which still stands by the lake. Concerts like this one were very popular in the days when most people had no cars. During the first months of the First World War many soldiers were billeted in the town. It is a sobering thought that the young soldiers in the picture may well have been amongst the many casualties of the Great War.

5 The Greenhouses These stood close to the house, to the north, near the entrance to the service courtyard. The biggest clue to finding this location is the impressive arch that frames the entrance to the stable yard. Flowers, fruit and vegetables for the household were grown in these greenhouses. The back wall survives in a reduced form, but the greenhouses themselves have been replaced by a border shrubbery.

6 Activity 3 Find the Tree To find out where the trees shown in these photographs once stood. To learn about growth and change There are historical pictures of three significant trees found in the park Taking each picture in turn, ask the children: To look closely at each photograph. To find any clues in the picture that could help them locate the trees Once children have found trees, ask them to pick their favourite Using this tree, discuss any changes, and why. Growth, like you are growing, taller, wider etc Answers Attached is a copy of the map showing the positions of the trees involved. Photos Lime Trees 18 The lime trees planted here are of a type that can grow up to 45m in height, making it one of the tallest broadleaf trees in Britain. One of its characteristics is it produces boles of young growth at the base of its trunk. Just behind the house you can see the top of a redwood that is still growing on the north side of the house. These trees in their native California can live for up to 2000 years and reach heights of 100m. The Carriage Drive 21 The lime tree on the left of this picture still stands, now next to the Victorian post box. Limes produce sticky honeydew which is popular with insects but not car owners. In the Autumn it produces distinctive seeds known as bats and balls. Trees of this kind can live for as long as 300 years. Grand Opening 31 The tree in the foreground is the cedar that still stands there. Cedar trees were popular in large gardens because of their associations with the stately homes in which the first imported specimens were planted in the 1700s. They can grow as tall as 35m and may live as long as 200 years.

7 Activity 4 Map Discussion Task To plot real life objects onto a map. To learn how to use simple grid references. To learn how to make information on maps readable and clear. Teacher Notes There are pictures of a number of things that you can find in the park. Ask the children to: Split into groups Select a/number of photographs per group. To find any clues in the picture that could help them locate the items Plot on their maps where they think the object is. Allow groups to swap maps and see if their colleagues can locate the item. If not, why not? Discuss clarity of language and images. Answers The features are: The summer house The play park A fallen tree Post box The bathing hut

8 Activity 5 Mysteries To identify landscape features and interpret them historically. To acknowledge maps as an historical resource. Mystery 1: Lumps and Bumps (Grid D6 Modern Map) On the east (Old Bedford Road) side of the park you will find some large long mound-like features. They date from the time of the Second World War. What do you think they might be? Photos: Modern photos of air raid shelter lumps on old Bedford Road side Answer The lumps are were the large public air raid shelters that served the park and surrounding streets once were. After the war they were closed and the entrances filled in. Mystery 2: The path to no-where (Grid A6 Modern Map) On the west (New Bedford Road) side of the park there is a narrow footpath that branches off but goes no where. Use the map to find your way there then look for clues in the landscape that might suggest what it might have led to. Answer Still visible is the platform on which a building once stood. The break in the boundary wall also suggests that there was once a feature here. The building was a block of toilets built to serve the park but demolished in the early 1990s. The path once led to them.

9 Activity 6 - Facilities in the Park To discover what facilities and activities there are available in the park To understand why these facilities are provided To explore why some facilities are no longer available Discuss what activities and facilities there are in the park today What has been provided to cater for these activities? What activities and facilities there were in the park in the past? Background Past activities include: Walking, skating, swimming, bowls, concerts, paddling, cricket, tennis, boating, picnics, reading Compare with today: E.g. Table Tennis, Basketball, cycling, dog walking, feeding the ducks, playground, Frisbee, picnic, reading, What is the same, what has changed, why? Why: Health and Safety, risk, pollution in the lake, cost of insurance, changing attitudes to outdoor play. Photographs Cycling & Boating 23A Daisy Chains 26 Boating 35 Boating on the Lake was a popular past time until at least the mid 1970s. Bowling 6 Bowling still takes place within Wardown Park, with an active Bowling Club open to all ages and genders.