| Leyland 'Worden' Park |
| JohnH | Some of my strongest memories of Leyland involve Worden Park! I was fortunate to live 10 min walk from the park. The superb woods, seemed like a forest when you're young, the waterfall, pet cemetery, flower gardens, a fantastic maze, the miniature railway, the duck pond, and of course the kid's playground with a massive(!) paddling pool and sandpit. Those were the days when we had proper summers that seemed to lasting for weeks.
Simply the best. Anyone got some good stories of the park! Remember the cross-country runs from St Mary's - out the gates, past the shops, down the hill, up to Hall Lane, woods, etc. and back to school best PE activity of all.
JohnH |
| julie | Hi john
Best pe activity- are you mad-  all i remmber of that was cold muddy,wet.No PE was not my subject at all.What about hocky what a mad game that was,i can feel my ankles now
the only thing i liked to do in pe was babminton,couldnt do it,but liked it-nice indoor quite game.and as for climbing up ropes-how do people do that?
julie
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| Martin | I seem to appreciate Worden Park more as I've got older. There aren't many towns that have such a wonderful free facility as this.
Oh yes I remember doing the pe run through the park, at least it gave the teachers time to have a fag whil we were out.
Martin
In The Pink |
| MartinRice | The PE run also has strong memories for me. It was always one of my favourite PE activities as, being on the small side at the time, it didn't (theoretically) involve any contact.
In more recent years, distance running has become a serious hobby of mine with numerous London marathons under my belt. Last time I was in Leyland, I took the opportunity of doing the course again, albeit with a mile and a half run to the start and again at the finish. The scramble up the bank in the woods really did take the wind out of me.
My other real memory of Worden Park were the annual Playschemes. These were always the highlight of the year and completely knackering. I used to run the band and, if anyone remembers it, my guitar playing hasn't improved with time.
Martin |
| BenMulkern | Hi there, great forum, which I've just found. I recognise many of the names I think ...
Had to comment on the Worden Park thread - I well remember the PE runs into the park, which I hated at the time, but now think, well, they were quite good weren't they in a strange sort of way? Those damn hills  Went to the sports hall at St Mary's recently, and there are some great pictures on the wall on the way in of years gone by - and Norman Davidson is still the man there.
Worden Park - a fantastic treasure for the people of Leyland - let's hope they don't ever lose it to housing or something stupid like that.
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| Martin | quote:
Worden Park - a fantastic treasure for the people of Leyland - let's hope they don't ever lose it to housing or something stupid like that.
I hope there aren't any property developers reading this 
Martin
In The Pink |
| The Cockney | You can't have it both ways!
Does it really matter where you were born? |
| Martin | quote:
You can't have it both ways!
Why can't I have it both ways? I'm multi talented.
Martin
In The Pink |
| mossy | i can remember that cross country run we did in pe at st marys.i have vivid memorys of it.the same thing happened every run .the same lads did it every time.when they got to the gate at worden park instead of turning right on to the trim trail.they would hide in the bushes get the old 10 benson and hedges out and wait for the lads who where doing the run proper to come out on the football pitches.they would then run in to the lead .it was so disheartning to see these cheats run infront of you laughing when you had been leading all the way through the park section of the run.of course they would point blank deny that they had cheated to mr davidson.
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| mossy | kipax might of been 10 number 6 remember them.
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| Kath smith | In 1979,i think, Joe Clark decided that St Marys needed a new mini bus and got us all fund raising, discos etc, but the biggie was a sponsored walk round Worden Park during school time. We could do a maximum of 10 laps of the route. But as some of us had 'friends who happened to be boys' we managed to slip off for a great deal of the time and pass the check in points regularily enough not to raise the teachers suspisions. My dad still can't beleive i managed to get round the park 7 times in 2 hours when i wouldn't walk to the corner shop for his paper on a sunday. We raised enough cash for the blue mini bus and it ran for years.
I well remember the cross country runs too and I've been sad enough to take my kids on a walk round the route, I was cr*p at running so i remember the circuit well as it took ages to get round.
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| noel | quote:
i can remember that cross country run we did in pe at st marys.i have vivid memorys of it.the same thing happened every run .the same lads did it every time.when they got to the gate at worden park instead of turning right on to the trim trail.they would hide in the bushes get the old 10 benson and hedges out and wait for the lads who where doing the run proper to come out on the football pitches.they would then run in to the lead .it was so disheartning to see these cheats run infront of you laughing when you had been leading all the way through the park section of the run.of course they would point blank deny that they had cheated to mr davidson.
Same thing happened at Balshaw's in the sixties. Strange how the cheats always did well in life
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| Martin | I'd like to ask Bill and anyone else, what are their earliest memories of Worden Park? does anyone remember the fire? |
| William R | Hi Martin, Early memories of Worden Park? Not a lot. I seem to recall that pre-war we used to visit there when it was the May Festival day. The hall was not open to the public because the ffarington family were living there. On Festival Day people were allowed in with the procession, and there were things going on like the Crowning of the Festival Queen, generally by some local dignitary. we used to visit the Gardens and the Maze, but nothing else because it was "private". I believe that there were boats on the Lake at some time, but no details, sorry. I remember one year we were allowed in the park when the Lake was frozen over and people were skating. There was only one main entrance through the big gates, the others were all for private use. The May Festival also used the Mayfield up Church Road some years, memory not too good here. Didn`t the Whit Walk from the Parish Church sometimes go to the Park? There used to be a Festival for crowning the Cotton Queen, did that make use of the Park? Sorry I don`t know a great deal from the early 30`s, perhaps somebody else knows. Cheerio, Bill. |
| bigdave | My earliest memory is going to watch my dad playing football on a sunday morning, it was years before i thought thowing up on the side line was not part of the game lol. |
| Caroline | One Leyland Festival day, I lost my 6 year old son ,with his new bow-and-arrow on Worden Park. Searching for him, I noticed an arrow whizzing out of a small window in the Police van, to be collected and taken inside again by a policeman! Officers inside were disappointed that I was claiming the lost child, and to have their game stopped -
' We were just enjoying that! ' |
| Robbo | Kath smith, are the Kath smith who use to work as a dinner lady at Leyland St Mary's Primary School on Haig Avenue? |
| Lady Griffin | What years are you thinking of Robbo?My cousin was a Kath Smith born in Leyland but now lives in Kent.Will ask her.
Have discovered through some family digging that,in a little known side of the family,Vincent( Sinfield) was Head Gamekeeper/cum Chauffeur at Worden Hall and married the Cook( Margaret Speakman)
20'S onward????.
Would that have been the new Hall? |
| Robbo | I'm on about Kath Smith who worked at Leyland St Mary's Primary School on Haig Avenue in the late 80's early 90's. She must have been in her late 40's early 40's in 1992, wears glasses? |
| dampslad | Worden Park on the Leyland Festival days of the 70s (they'd moved it to June from May by then).
Tom Lane on the PA system telling us what a great time we were all having every five minutes, and most hilariously the ox-roast that was always ready at exactly the time as the sky-divers jumped out of their plane. Result - Worden Park full of people with hot beef barmcakes in their hands, all looking up and all bumping into each other!
Happy days.
Colin Damp
Plymouth |
| Caroline | And what about the Kathleen 'Mitty' Smith who was at Broadfield with me? Glasses, yes, would've been in her mid forties around the time you mention, Robbo, but looked older than her years. I think she was at Balshaws, too. Last saw her in the butchers at Seven Stars, circa 1975, she was living at home and caring for her parents. How many Kathleen Smiths are there? |
| Lady Griffin | Cousin Kathleen would have been the right age AND wore glasses-had a sister Margaret-am still checking-probably hundreds of them.
Linda from the back of beyond. |
| Lady Griffin | How did I do that double act -AGAIN!
S-o-r-r-y Martin. |
| Martin | I'll have a play with the settings again... it shouldn't let you post twice within a couple of minutes. strange. |
| noel | I've lost my owl. !!!! Ow'l I ever find it again. |
| Lady Griffin | Wondered where the owl had flown to.Did it get bOWLed over.
Sorry!!!!![:I] |
| noel | quote:
Originally posted by Lady Griffin
Wondered where the owl had flown to.Did it get bOWLed over.
Sorry!!!!![:I]
Methinks you are heading for a Boddies shampoo !!!![:)] |
| Lady Griffin | What a Hoot!
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