Isn’t Stratford Park magnificent!

Your welcome article “District has plenty to keep all the family entertained” (page 32 July 31st SNJ) states:

“there is plenty of outdoor space at the 56 acre SDC owned Stratford Park including a newly refurbished play area, acres of grassy lawn, a small skate park, a lake, woodland, sensory garden , six top tennis courts, a 5k park run on a Saturday, bands playing in the bandstand most Sundays and a miniature railway which runs on the last Sunday of the month”.

All of that is extraordinary and we in Stroud and beyond are very fortunate that the District Council has been so innovative and successful.

But there is more ! We have our Museum in the Park which has just won the best Museum and Art Gallery award in the Slow Travel Cotswolds Awards 2024 (page 6 SNJ) and the Bowls Club, the Leisure Centre and the Lido (spread from spring water from a bore hole). All to be upgraded over the next few years by the £2.7 million pound grant from Stroud District Council (page 5 SNJ).

I walk round the perimeter of Stratford Park most mornings with my dog. I would like to pay tribute to all the maintenance staff who so sensitively balance access with nature; who produce such vivid palates of colour and who honour the magnificent old trees that grace the park.

One of my favourite areas is the Sensory Garden ( the Park is for everyone). Built by Stroud Valleys Project in partnership with SDC, Daisybank Garden Design, Creative Sustainability, Graduate Gardeners, Exedra Nursery and a range of community groups, it has beauty, colour, fragrance, sound - and fun. Community groups have a piece of the Sensory Garden to look after - this currently includes Brownies, Selsley Cubs, Sunflowers Suicide Support, Barbar Nursery, SGS College, Thomas Keble, as well as the SVP team.

Is this not a wonderful example of community working together – for community.

Erik Wilkinson

Stroud