Park of the week

35. King George Recreation Ground

We’ve been to large parks and tiny ones on our travels. Some have been hardly bigger than our garden and to make it worthwhile now that we’re having to travel further from home in search of new places to visit, I look for larger green spaces on the map. 

King George Recreation Ground, The park, in Bushey, is one of the larger ones. It was originally part of the countryside, and you can still see a lot of the original layout there:  furrows, ancient hedgerows, and 250 year-old oak trees. It was developed from fields that a farmer had let local children play in as the ground was too dry in summer, and wet in winter, for hay production and grazing.

The park was opened in 1912, to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population of Bushey. During the opening ceremony, the Chairman of the local authority said “Healthy boys or girls are not satisfied with spending their leisure hours indoors; they must get out in the open air and have something to do. If not, they are liable to get into mischief and who could blame them?” I often felt like that during lockdown, if you substitute “go mad” for “get into mischief” so although it was quite a long way from here, I found it worth visiting. 

It was refurbished in 1998, after which it got its first Green Flag Award, which it has kept since then.
It has a café with toilets, bowling club, tennis and multi-sports courts, outdoor table tennis tables, an outdoor gym and plenty of places to sit. There’s a big area of open grassland and trees, , a wildflower meadow and a children’s play area. The park is designated a destination site for inclusive play, which means that there should be equipment suitable for those of all physical abilities, for example a ground-level access roundabout. I wish that also meant giant swings for the 25 year olds. 
There’s a ‘splash park’ paddling pool – open from May over the summer months. 
There are five entrances, including  King George Avenue and Chiltern Avenue so it’s easy enough to park on the road, but the park has its own car park.

King George Avenue, Bushey, WD23 4NT