Green spaces: West Bank Park
3 July 2006
3 July 2006
I remember this place from childhood - mainly because of its surprising statue of Queen Victoria. I remember it from later visits for its tunnel of climbing roses. But I haven't been through here for years, so on my wander through Acomb I called in, as I heard it had had a revamp, and that Queen Victoria had a new nose.
I called one summer evening. There were plenty of people of all ages wandering through, or playing sport. No one sitting on the numerous benches, though they looked like good places from which to contemplate the view - or indeed the many views, as this park has several different areas. Some fairly formal, and some more woodland-like.
I would have sat down myself, but I was so weary from my long wander through Acomb, I thought I might fall asleep if I stopped. So I carried on walking, and took a few photos. See the bottom of the page for notes.
It was nice to visit here again, and interesting to see it as an adult, rather than as a child or teenager. I'm not sure how much it has really changed, and how much is to do with not really looking at it properly before. When I returned home with these photos, I did look for background information.
In the books I referred to, like my indispensable Pevsner guide, the park is referred to as West Park - though we always called it West Bank Park, and it's certainly officially called that now - it says so above the impressive gates (pictured). It was originally the grounds of a house called West Bank, a Victorian house built in 1853 and demolished in the 1970s. It was also, for many years, the site of the Backhouse Nurseries which were presumably part of the grounds of West Bank.
The Friends of West Bank Park have recently, with the help of many local residents, created the fernery, inspired by the park's history as the Backhouse Nursery. (See link to article, below.)
Despite changes in the planting, Queen Victoria's statue remains, though it looks different from my memories of it. I thought it was lower down, and rather darker in colour. I'm not sure how much has been changed since I was last here - whether she's been cleaned up - but she does have a nose now - for some years it was missing, knocked off by vandals.
The local paper's Diary section mentioned the statue in an entry in November 2005, while discussing the problems of commemorative statues in general: "her statue has long been neglected and forgotten in West Bank Park. She is little more than a glorified bird toilet and her nose keeps falling off."
This statue, originally a tribute to and commemoration of Queen Victoria's reign, was sited in the Guildhall originally, but ended up here in the park. A strange place to put it, perhaps. But reflecting changing attitudes to this type of commemorative statue - we're less deferential now and seem to prefer our sculpted figures to be rather more symbolic - like the Angel of the North (just thinking about it makes me feel proud to be a northerner). But I think we'd miss Queen Victoria if they moved her out of the park.
Information on York's parks and gardens can be found on the City of York Council website - Parks and gardens pages, which include maps of the parks' locations.
The council's magazine Streets Ahead included an article on the creation of the fernery in its April 2006 issue (PDF file).
For details of the many events taking place in York's parks see the Yortime website.