Nestled against the sloping valley of the River Wensum is a well-loved Norwich park. Many of us will have visited there to feed the ducks, take a stroll and perhaps even splash through our first strokes as we learned to swim.

Norwich Evening News: Boys enjoying the sunshine, near the paddling pool in Wensum Park in Norwich. Date: April 8, 1969.Boys enjoying the sunshine, near the paddling pool in Wensum Park in Norwich. Date: April 8, 1969. (Image: Archant Library)

But the Wensum Park we see today emerged from life as a rubbish dump at the turn of the twentieth century.

Norwich Evening News: Two ladies and a little girl enjoying the spring air. The Weeping Willows by the riverside at Wensum Park are just starting to bloom. Date: April 9, 1964. Buy photo prints from our online store at https://archantnorfolk.newsprints.co.uk/.Two ladies and a little girl enjoying the spring air. The Weeping Willows by the riverside at Wensum Park are just starting to bloom. Date: April 9, 1964. Buy photo prints from our online store at https://archantnorfolk.newsprints.co.uk/. (Image: Archant Library)

Norwich Evening News: Visitors to Wensum Park, Norwich duck-spotting with the aid of the identification panel. Date: August 30, 1971. Buy photo prints from our online store at https://archantnorfolk.newsprints.co.uk/.Visitors to Wensum Park, Norwich duck-spotting with the aid of the identification panel. Date: August 30, 1971. Buy photo prints from our online store at https://archantnorfolk.newsprints.co.uk/. (Image: Archant Library)

The city council purchased the site in 1907 and a new bath was opened there later in the year. In the winter of 1908-9 unemployed labourers constructed a children’s bathing pond as part of broader social relief efforts at the time. Another was added after so there was a pool for boys and another for girls.

By 1910 development halted and the land was used as a dumping ground and for storage by the City Engineer’s Department. In November 1921 unemployed workers - predominantly veterans from the First World War - returned to the site under the direction of the Parks Superintendent Captain Arnold Edward Sandys-Winsch.

Norwich Evening News: Ground plan for Wensum Park, published in the Eastern Daily Press on September 10, 1925. Search our archives at localrecall.co.ukGround plan for Wensum Park, published in the Eastern Daily Press on September 10, 1925. Search our archives at localrecall.co.uk (Image: Archant Library)

The official opening of Wensum Park by the Lord Mayor of Norwich (Dr George Stevens Pope) took place four years later.

Norwich Evening News: The Lord Mayor Dr George Stevens Pope opens Wensum Park in Norwich. Published in the Eastern Daily Press on September 10, 1925. Accessed via localrecall.co.ukThe Lord Mayor Dr George Stevens Pope opens Wensum Park in Norwich. Published in the Eastern Daily Press on September 10, 1925. Accessed via localrecall.co.uk (Image: Archant Library)

During the Second World War areas of the park served as public air-raid shelters when bombs began to fall in the vicinity. The open-air pool sadly fell into disrepair after these bombings and was left to become overgrown.

In more recent years there have been several changes to the park. A picnic platform was built next to the river. The park’s original flower bed has been converted into a paddling pool for children. There is now a maze to traverse.

Norwich Evening News: Fishing on the river in Wensum Park, Norwich. Date: 1960s.Fishing on the river in Wensum Park, Norwich. Date: 1960s. (Image: Archant Library)

Wensum Park may look slightly different to the sloping gardens and facilities that opened in 1925, but it still draws many visitors today.

Norwich Evening News: Taking a stroll in Wensum Park. Date: September 1963.Taking a stroll in Wensum Park. Date: September 1963. (Image: Archant Library)

It is a fine city park to take a stroll in, embrace a daily dose of local exercise to blow the cobwebs away and perhaps relive fond memories from the past.

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