The Friends of Oakworth (Holden) Park - Restoration of the Victorian path network

	The Friends of Oakworth (Holden) Park Restoration of the Victorian path network in the woods No navigation buttons at the top of this page? Click here to visit our home page
		The Victorian path network was first established by Sir Isaac Holden when he owned and lived in Oakworth House.

The project was completed in December 2007

Special thanks to the funding body Yorventure and Bradford Parks and Landscape Services who acted as agents for the Friends group

The woods attached to Holden Park are the only public woodland area in the centre of the village. They were very much under-used because the paths were overgrown, muddy in wet weather, and in some cases completely inaccessible.

The initial intention was to obtain funding for a path restoration project in Holden Park woods. All we wished to do was improve public access for a very much underused asset in Oakworth.
Our village is growing all the time and there are new housing developments springing up all the time. It's a fact of life. But the assets within Oakworth such as the park and woods are not getting the improvements they need to keep pace with the rise in population. This is why we decided to apply for the funding of the path restoration project.
Our first application was to the 'Peoples Millions' Big Lottery Fund. Tim Egerton, and others of our group, appeared on the ITV Regional News programme (Calendar) to present our case for this project on Wednesday 15th November 2006. Our project went up against another project in Huddersfield. There was a public vote afterwards by phone and text for people to support our bid. Sadly for us the Huddersfield project won the vote and so we did not get any funding at all.

Later discussions with Yorventure resulted in an offer from them to fund the paths project. Work started in late 2007, with the paths being completed and officially opened in December 2007. We now have just over half a mile of restored paths in the woodland area of the park.

The picnic area equipment is to be installed by the putting green area in early 2008.

Where do we go from here?

This path restoration project is not just about the paths, it's about access for all.
Along with the path network, the Friends group has plans to add a lot of new features to the woods area, giving people the chance to enjoy the different woodland habitats that are already there, some of which are hard to reach.
The restoration of the path network in the woods will allow us to develop these other areas in the woods for walkers, joggers, families and others to enjoy the natural beauty of the woods. They will be able to enter the park gates and walk all the way through the park, up the woods and back again with ease. For people that have to cope with mobility problems it will open up areas that have been closed off to them for many years.
We do know of several local people who are now infirm, or confined to wheelchairs. They haven't visited their local woods for a long time. This will greatly enhance their lives, as with our help they will be able to gain access to the places they played in their youth.
We would also like to create a new picnic area, and a new seated rest area within the old quarry. These will give people the chance to sit down and enjoy the natural features, and spend quality time with their families having a picnic and play in the woods, safe in the knowledge that their children will not be coming home covered in mud!
The stone arched quarry entrance should be rebuilt to make it safe again and the path and fence re-made across it, and another one will go under it to allow entry to the new quarry rest area.
We would also like to make improvements to the entrances in the woodland area so that people would be in no doubt as to when they had entered the park.
We would also like to have two very large information boards which would describe the park and the signposted walks, and show which species of birds, plants and small mammals that may be found in the woods.

Junior Friends of Holden Park
With the help of the Oakworth Primary school, we have started a 'Junior Friends' group of schoolchildren, rainbows, brownies, guides, scouts etc to get to know their local park and woods, and enjoy school nature projects whilst helping to take part in the regeneration of their own local park. Most of these groups have already taken part in bulb planting and other projects within the park, including the mosaic restoration which started on Monday 31st October 2006. Oakworth schoolchildren helped with the design of a new mosaic panel to go in the summerhouse alongside our unique grottoes. Their project began at the school on Friday 10th November 2006.
The schoolchildren can also benefit from being able to take nature classes in the woods and park, which begins just a few steps away from the school gates.

Some other suggested future projects on the back of the restored path network could be:

A 'live willow' arched tunnel walk with seating, and willow sculptures alongside the paths.
Artistic projects within the woods such as 'chainsaw carving' of old tree stumps or logs into figures or seats.
An artistic interpretive area, possibly about something to do with Oakworth or Sir Isaac Holden, such as a History of Wool Combing. We hope to develop this with Oakworth Junior school as a local history project.
A woodland picnic area (this could be used for 'teddy bears picnics' or similar events).
A 'kids assault course' running alongside one of the paths, so that small children will be able to play on it safely whilst their parents walk alongside.
Complete the bog garden area with raised walkway access to make it safe to visit, without disturbing the wildlife there.
Exercise stations for joggers alongside the path network (for pull ups, step exercises etc).
We are of course open to any other suggestions for individual projects within the woods and park. This is your park, come along and take part in its future!
If you wish to have a voice in this, come along to our meetings which are listed on the 'Friends' page on this website, or post a message in the open forum, also on this website.

If you have any questions or comments, please email the site webmaster Andy Wade