Arrival of First Bridge into Queens Park

Arrival of First Bridge into Queens Park
Media Invite - Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 10am
The first in a series of landmark bridges will be installed at Crewe’s Queens Park next week, when the region’s press is invited to record this historic moment.
Queens Park, the only formal park in Crewe, is more than 130 years old and is currently undergoing a £6.5 million pound restoration, thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Altogether the 45-acre park will eventually house five bridges, the first of which is Tipkinder Bridge over the inlet at the entrance to the park.
It’s the smallest of the five bridges at 7.3 metres in length and is made from timber and steel.
The most impressive structure will be Broadwalk Bridge, which will be 40 metres in length and will be unveiled later on this year.
Councillor Andrew Knowles, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Parks, said: “The installation of Tipkinder Bridge marks the beginnings of a new chapter in the history of Queens Park.
“Since the 1870s, this wonderful public amenity – handed to the people of Crewe by the London and North Western Railway Company - has brought enjoyment to generations of Crewe families, and will continue to do so with a modern twist on the traditional Victorian park.”
Works:
To allow these extensive works to be carried out, around two thirds of the park have been closed off to the public, but it’s hoped that three quarters of the park will have been re-opened by the end of the year.
Other works in the pipeline include a planning application for replacement buildings, the largest of which is the new pavilion to replace the Jubilee Cafeteria built in the 1970s.

Modern in design, it will be made out of sandstone and glass to give customers impressive views over the park’s grand grounds.

Planning permission for a new bowling pavilion is currently under-way and designers are in talks with the Queens Park Bowling Club to get the best facility possible. Both buildings will have newly refurbished public toilets.

Derek Morgan, Chairman of the Friends of Queens Park Group, said, “Things will start to move very quickly during the Spring and Summer months. People will start to see a real difference as the Park is brought back to its former glory”.

The East and West lodges will also be improved and up-dated and there are plans for a “Memorabilia Lounge” at the West lodge.

Councillor Roy Cartlidge, of the Crewe West Ward, who has supported the project throughout, added: “The installation of the main bridges will be a significant part of the Park’s history and are intended to last the next hundred years and beyond. “


Filming, radio, photographic and interview opportunities available by contacting:

Beverley Walkden
Media Relations
Cheshire East Council
01270 686 585 / 07533 873 778
Beverley.walkden@cheshireeast.gov.uk

New Pavilion Design

The new pavilion design is finalized and presented here. Work will start around easter time on the new pavilion which is highly energy efficient and can be divided into areas so it can be used for small groups
It is designed to mimic the main entrance which has a lodge each side and the tower in the middle. The pavilion has the same two structures and the war memorial in the middle. Being mostly glass it will give a great view through it onto the lake
The Boer war statue will be restored and the base will be dug out as the original footing are still there. This will mean people can then read the names of the fallen.

What is interesting is there will be guns brought back like the original inn the picture above. But it will be interesting to see what we get the was a lot of controversial talk about the guns as at the time the guns used were not the type used in the Boer war and a lot of complaints were voiced at the time. So will we get Boer war guns or just old ones we will ask at the next meeting

Duck

I spotted the ducks in the snow and this one caught my eye its not our normal duck we get in the park. It looks like some sort of wood duck can anyone tell us what it is and is it rare in the Park?

We have found out
The Duck is a Male Mandarin. Not all that rare but very nice to have in an urban park and not very often in this part of the world

Weather delays new bridge

The bandstand looking good in the snow

The first new bridge should have arrived today but it had to be called off due to the weather. The park like the rest of Crewe is covered in snow and very slippery in places so it wasnt safe to work on the bridge. Its hopped it will be installed next week if the weather improves
The lake is frozen over but the ducks have found there own little pond and being fed by visitor
Another view of the frozen lake
The main entrance to the park under snow

Broad Walk

Work has started in earnest on Broadwalk the bridge concrete has been in for some time done by the old contractor. But now the work has started to get the bridge supports in ready for the bridges that are coming in Jan/Feb
As part of this a new path has been created so you can get down to Coronation Walk as you can see above this is designed so it can be used by disabled people. On the other side will be steps and flowers. The path is way underway and the mole machine has been drilling down for the footings.
Everything is scaled down for Xmas but we believe there will be a lot more on site in the new year and work will forge ahead at a great rate of knots

Bandstand Dome Returns

The dome of the bandstand returned today and was lifted in place with a crane. Above ready to lift the dome in its glory with a gold leaf top and a repaired copper top ready weathered. If it wasn't weathered it would drip down and spoil the rest of the bandstand

The crane lifting the dome on a cold wet miserable day

The men inside the roof guide the dome into place ready to bolt it in place inside the roof
The dome on the final few feet being lowered


Inside the bandstand note the restored posts and railings and showing the roof and beams in the roof


A long shot from by the Boer War memorial showing the dome in place with the new roof some of which is still covered in plastic coating protecting it

Queens Park Friends Meeting

STAKEHOLDER UPDATE DECEMBER 2009

The meeting was poorly attended maybe the dark cold night had something to do with it.

It was an interesting meeting with presentations by Lost Arts who are doing the Bandstand. We were shown the new design for the Cafe and Bowling club. Its hoped this can go before planning before Xmas and then tenders can be sought in the new year with work starting in March time.

One exiting piece of news is that the play area has been brought forward due to complaints and the horse and spider falling apart. Designed by children it will be divided into two areas one for very young children and one for older children. Its hoped it will be ready for easter next year so thats good new all round and it shows the council do take notice of people.

Its still hoped that the lake will be finished by March next year and open to the public at long last but some paths will have to be closed in the future for new paths to go in.
Chairmans report

Lake and Bridge Works (Tolent Construction)
Tolent have been on site for 11 wks following acceptance of their tender.
There has been a 6 day delay due to bad weather.
The Tolent site will close at Xmas from 18th Dec for 2 wks.
Works have focused on lake edges and islands plus preparations for bridge abutments and foundations etc.

The Inlet Bridge at the Tipkinder end of the lake is the first bridge to go in and it will arrive on site Tue / Wed next week, preparation works are ongoing.

All Lake Inlet walls have been repaired and repointed.
Gabion baskets all around the Burma Star Island to be faced with stone blocks. A stone sample has been agreed.

East and West Island walls have been completed but may be raised to allow fluctuations in water levels.
Works to modify bridge abutments are underway.

Broadwalk Bridge works on site for 3 days next week. This will be the last and largest bridge to be positioned estimate end of Feb. Footpath links will need to go in to facilitate all bridges.
Coronation Bridge - Completion is expected by the end of January - together with Burma Star Bridge.

Problem areas:
• Access roads require improving.
• Weather implications.
• Design modifications and approvals.
• Correction of Wrekin works where required.

BANDSTAND
Slight slippage of works largely due to discoveries on site and additional higher quality finishes which have been agreed. Matching of sandstone to closely match the original has been very successful.
A detailed update and explanation of how these structures are restored will be given by Domenic of Lost Art. The completion date will now be end of January 2010.
NB. Ian will be providing a detailed update on the Lake and Bridge works and progress with the bandstand.

PLAYGROUND
Rocking horse and spider's web removed due to safety implications see above.
An exciting consultation took place involving the Sir William Stanier Community School and their feeder school's i.e. children talking to younger children. The selection and design process is well underway. Additional monies via ex Mayor will be allocated specifically for the disabled element. A contractor will be selected early spring2010.

COUNTY LANDSCAPES
Curved railings are to be completed early in the New Year and the Gates will be the very last item due to heavy construction vehicles accessing the park to install the bridges.

EVENTING
A very successful community Youth Christmas Lantern Procession took place last Sunday. It attracted approx 300 people; we were very pleased with the response. Pupils of Pebble Brook, Monks Coppenhall, Edleston Road and Wistaston schools all participated.

Band Stand

Lost Arts the people who are rebuilding the band stand have provided us with some pictures of the work and band stand. Above you can see the state of the roof and dome before they started
The dome has now been restored at their factory with all new copper
The picture above shows the wood that holds the roof and this has given them a lot of problems as our bandstand was built by Baker which is rare normally they can remove the roof to rebuild it but our design makes this impossable
The main cast post that hold up the bandstand have been removed and some were rotten as water runs down the middle of them and this had blocked so they filled with water. A mold has been made so new one can be cast
Here is the final product the new cast post good as new
The vents from the top of the band stand have all been renewed and spaces have been left for the Bats to come back in as bats were living in the top in the past. All approved by the Bat conservation society
The ceiling rose which has been repaired
Finally the top of the bandstand being removed by a crane to be repaired

Queens Park Bridges

Work on the bridges bases are progressing well at the beginning of the week the base that was concreted last week had gone off as above

They are now putting the final layer shuttering in so the base can be finished this is the bases on the main side of the park

The shuttering is also underway on the far side of Burma Island its hoped this will all be done by next week. The small bridge by Tipkinder is already done and the one by the fish pool has had to be redone but should be finished by next week