Volunteers help Birkenhead Park prepare for ‘world stage’ status

Birkenhead Park, sometimes known as the People’s Garden, was first opened on April 5 1847 as a park to be enjoyed by everyone in the community. It is acknowledged as the world’s first publicly-funded park. Designed by Joseph Paxton, it went onto influence other famous parks such as Sefton Park in Liverpool and Central Park in New York.

Just after its 176th birthday on April 10, the government announced a shortlist of seven sites it would be putting forward for UNESCO World Heritage status, including Birkenhead, and now Wirral Council’s bid for the site will be developed with the government.

The park was a pioneering project to bring greenery to urban environments as people moved to urban areas during the Industrial Revolution and people hope World Heritage status would put the name of Birkenhead on the “world stage” and highlight the history of the area.

Cllr George Davies, who is Chair of the Birkenhead Park Management Advisory Committee, said that if the park gets this prestigious status it is expected to receive more than 5m visitors a year, up from nearly 2m currently.

After the announcement the park was on the shortlist, Wirral Council’s Assistant Chief Executive David Armstrong said: “To be included on the UK Tentative List for potential nomination to UNESCO for World Heritage Status is fantastic news and shows we are one step closer to achieving that ambition.

“A successful application for WHS status would also bolster the wider regeneration of Birkenhead and if ultimately accepted as a World Heritage Site this flagship Park have its place in history cemented even further, as well adding further to its international recognition.”

To prepare it for the bid, the park’s Friends group is working with Wirral Council and park management to clear away vegetation, pick up litter, and tidy the park up. They are also growing replacement trees in a nursery after a number blew down in storms and providing boxes for nesting birds.

Alan Brighouse, a former councillor, said: “If you do not maintain the park, the views would get completely grown over and you wouldn’t be able to see the lake at all so we’re trying to clear some of the sightlines of the lake.”

Graham Arnold, Chair of the Friends of Birkenhead Park said: “To me personally, it will really be a validation about what is great about Birkenhead Park. Central Park is well known and well visited but without Birkenhead Park as the inspiration, it would have been quite a different animal.”

Mr Arnold said: “It really started the idea of creating parks to provide for people coming in from rural areas” and that World Heritage Status “brings more kudos to Birkenhead Park.”

Sheila Blair-Lea, who joined the group after struggling with depression, said: “I am very pleased about the announcement. We have done a huge amount of work to get onto the tentative list. We were waiting for this announcement since November last year.

“It’s putting Birkenhead on the world stage. At the moment we do have visitors coming from all over the world but we want the park to epitomise what you can do in a green space in Birkenhead.

“It’s bang in the middle of Birkenhead, we are in the lowest 10 percent when it comes to deprived areas but it’s a park for everybody, particularly during the pandemic as it was a lifeline for so many people.

“The park blossomed even though at the time the visitor centre or the cafe wasn’t open.”

Sheila said when she was first told the news, she said it was difficult to stay quiet until it went public. She added: “We had wanted it for so long. It was fantastic news. You think to yourself it’s a chance but when chance becomes reality. Obviously it’s only the first stage.”

Members of the Friends group who spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said they were proud of its iconic status, but were also keen to look at how the park could be adapted for the modern day with the planting of wildflowers and habitats for wildlife.

Ian Lea, who met Sheila through the Friends group, said things like the environment and climate change wouldn’t have been considered with the original plans.

He said the park’s preserved history is “one of the things that has taken us forward (with the bid) because there is so much of what was originally put in place but we also have to think about what the local population wants to do now.”

The Friends group was originally set up in 1974, but Ian became the first volunteer in 2006. They have around 35 volunteers and last month they clocked in around 408 hours between 13 people.

Courtney Bradshaw, 19, is one of the group’s youngest members. She started volunteering while doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award but carried on afterwards, adding: “It’s about giving something back.”

For now, volunteers with the group said they’ll continue to work on improving the park. Joking as he cleared away ivy, Ian Wood, a volunteer of eight years, told the LDRS: “All I can say is we may have to start working a bit harder.”

The move has also been welcomed by local politicians. Cllr George Davies who is an honourary member of the Friends group, said he was very optimistic the park could be successful in its bid.

He added: “I am very proud because to get that decision and the opportunity to move forward. I have been waiting for five or six years.

“I just want to thank the officers of the council who put a tremendous amount of work into it as well as the helpers because at the end of the day they keep the park with cuts and everything else, that the park keeps its beautiful existence. It’s an amazing achievement.”

Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley said: “During the many years since first opening its gates to a crowd of ten thousand eager visitors, the park has made a significant contribution to the well-being of people across the Wirral and beyond, to the public health movement, and to the understanding of the relationship between good public health and the quality of the environment.

“During the Covid lockdowns it was a vital resource for the people of Birkenhead. Birkenhead Park is a global ‘beacon’ amongst urban parks.”

The candidates in Claughton are as follows:

Charles Assa (Conservatives)

Gary Bergin (National Housing Party)

Susan Braddock (Green)

George Davies (Labour)

David Evans (Liberal Democrats)

Stephen Foulkes (Labour)

Liz Heydon (Green)

Andrew Hodson (Conservatives)

Perle Sheldricks (Green)

Sheridan Tear-Edmonds (Conservatives)

Gillian Wood (Labour)

Roy Wood (Liberal Democrats)

The candidates in Greasby, Frankby and Irby are as follows:

Alan Brighouse (Liberal Democrats)

David Burgess-Joyce (Independent)

Miriam Cooke (green)

Tracy Elzeiny (Conservatives)

Rosie Evans (Freedom Alliance. Stop the Great Reset)

David Fairbairn (Conservatives)

Tom Green (Green)

Gail Jenkinson (Labour)

Darren May (Conservatives)

Grahame McManus (Labour)

Cathy Page (Green)

Mark Skillicorn (Labour)