Park of the week

81. Meadow Park

Meadow Park is close to BBC Elstree Studios and Borehamwood town centre, and next to Borehamwood Football Stadium, home to Boreham Wood FC, Arsenal Women and Watford FC Reserves. It’s mostly a flat, open playing field, with a wildflower meadow but not very many trees.

I usually include something about a park’s history, but I can’t find anything for Meadow Park besides that it opened in 1929. I’ve no idea what had been there before. That shouldn’t stop anyone visiting, perhaps if you’re in the area rather than making a special trip. It’s popular with people playing sports and there are lots of things to do. It has two children’s play areas, tennis courts, multi-sports court, baseball court, interactive games with lights and music, football pitches and an outdoor gym. There’s something called a youth shelter, which appears to be a place where teenagers can meet, rather than hanging around the streets, open on one side. The park is monitored by CCTV.

Since we visited, a splash park opened there, including water jets, large columns of water to run or jump through, a fountain three metres high and “arching crawl features”. Jack won’t let us visit a park more than once, so I won’t be able to go back and find out what these features are. The park also hosts local events such as Movies in the Park, Families’ Day, Halloween Funday and an annual firework display. There’s a bandstand, home to concerts, and it’s also used as a performance area.

There’s a café, and toilets. There is a car park, but we parked on a local street and there seems to be plenty of room nearby.

Judith Field

Meadow Park, Brook Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1TL