Our parks; A long look at Norman Park in Birkby

Jan 12 2009 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Our parks; A long look at Norman Park in Birkby; pictures

In the second of our occasional series on Kirklees’s historic parks Dr Peter Davies, of Huddersfield University, looks at Norman Park in Birkby

“I’VE been coming here for 40 years,” said 84-year-old Joan Esteves.

“It’s been an important part of my life and my two rescued dogs love it here.”

Norman Park at Birkby was opened to the public in 1896.

And as Joan testifies it has become a significant local facility.

She lives on nearby Leslie Street and adds: “It’s a quiet place. I like to come here and give Candy and Benjy some exercise.

“There’s been an upsurge in vandalism, but I still love the park.”

Norman Park is wedged between rows and rows of terraced houses.

It encompasses both ‘park’ and ‘rec’ areas (separated by Birkby Hall Road) and borders on to Norman Road, Jack Hill and Halifax Old Road.

And it’s a mere six-hit away from the old Fartown county cricket ground on Spaines Road.

Once upon a time there were two huts in the park; one for dominos and another which was frequented by pipe-smoking locals!

It also staged local events and carnivals.

The original playground was built in 1954 and the sundial – which came from the garden of Clough House and was eventually wrecked by vandals – dated originally from 1805.

The pond came to be overgrown, a famous old tree was the victim of an arson attack and the toilet block had to be closed after a particular bout of trouble.

Norman Park is an eco-system in itself.

There is an array of trees, including chestnut, beech and maple, plus buddleia flowering plants, which encourage butterflies.

And locals say you can spot sparrow hawks, barn and tawny owls, magpies, foxes, squirrels, rats and pipistrelle bats.

“It’s an amazing place,” said Robert Kirk, 49, who lives on Birkby Hall Road.

“I come down here every day of my life; it’s like a second home.”

Robert comments: “It’s gone downhill in recent years because of litter, vandalism, drunkenness and anti-social behaviour.

“I’m afraid that some local kids have no respect for the park and its history.”

Indeed, in the post-war period, the park has suffered its fair share of anti-social behaviour.

As early as 1963 the Examiner declared, “The park, once so pleasant, has suffered at the hands of the modern destructive element designated as vandals.”

The park also has a war memorial.

The original monument was unveiled on Saturday April 2, 1920 by General Sir Ian Hamilton GCB, GCMG, MG, DSO., a British Army general who commanded the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915-6.

And there is a copy of the original programme detailing the events at the unveiling ceremony in the Ephemera Collection at the Tolson Museum, Moldgreen.

After the First World War the monument – which features a soldier on a plinth and was designed by Hart, Son, Peard and Co, of Birmingham at a contract price of £1,370.00 – became a memorial to soldiers from the Fartown and Birkby areas who had fought and died during the conflict.