Coronation Park and Recreation Ground

Complete

Beamish visitors can enjoy even more 1950s fun with the opening of the playground and putting green in the new park.

The 1950s park and recreation ground, named in honour of The Queen, includes a 1950s-style playground, miniature golf course, sandpit, giant draughts board, football area and, later, a bowling green and pavilion.

It was officially unveiled by Mrs Sue Snowdon, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham, and representatives of Durham Amateur Football Trust.

Situated next to the 1950s welfare hall, the park is the perfect outdoor space for the young and young at heart, and helps to tell the story of the developing new estates during the 1950s. The play area meets all current health and safety standards.

The park includes modern reproductions of 1950s favourites such as the witch’s hat, roundabout, sandpit, slide, swings and horse rocker. Visitors can have a go at the miniature golf course, with holes inspired by North East landmarks and stories such as the Tyne Bridge, Lambton Worm, High and Low Force and Sycamore Gap. A giant draughts board from Riverside Park, in Chester-le-Street, has been recreated with the help of an archive image.

Beamish has worked with Durham Amateur Football Trust to develop the football area, which celebrates the golden age of amateur football in the 1950s. A pitch-side hut features football-related objects from the decade, such as programmes and tickets.

Coronation Park is inspired by memories, stories and images of 1950s recreation grounds and leisure facilities in the North East.

The park is now open, and the bowling green and pavilion, where visitors will be able to have a go at bowling, will follow at a later date.

History of Parks

The idea of providing open or green spaces, parks and recreation areas was not new to the 1950s. The 19th century saw increasing concerns about health, hygiene and access to open areas, particularly due to the effects of industrialisation. The result was the creation of municipal public parks as well as those developed by philanthropists.

In the North East, some of the parks we can still enjoy today were created during this period, such as Albert Park in Middlesbrough, Leazes Park in Newcastle, Mowbray Park (previously called People’s Park) in Sunderland and Saltwell Park in Gateshead – the original bandstand from which is in the museum’s Redman Park in The 1900s Town.

Despite the interruption of war, the early 20th century saw a continuation and growth in the interest of ensuring people could access open space, including playgrounds for children. The National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), now called Fields in Trust, was established in 1925 and aimed to secure and save open spaces (particularly in “increasingly congested” towns and cities), sports grounds, adequate playing fields for all sections of the community and proper playgrounds for children. With Royal support and patronage from 1933, the organisation was successful in helping to create, support and save green spaces. Following the death of King George V, a number of playing fields were created as a memorial to his involvement in the organisation. Many of these King George V Playing Fields can be found across our region.

The 20th century also saw the development of smaller parks and playgrounds, often built near to new housing estates. The need for them became more apparent with increasing traffic on roads and the growth of towns meaning some traditional parks were becoming further away for children to get to.

Playground provision grew after the Second World War, with many grants towards layouts provided by the NPFA in the 1950s. The introduction of holiday pay before the war and increasing mobility and labour-saving devices meant people had more time for leisure. Local authorities and urban districts councils were aware of the need to provide recreational facilities for people that they could reach and enjoy. Parks such as the John Whitehead Park in Billingham, where our bowling green is from, and Oliver Henderson Park at Leam Lane were created in this period close to estates built in the 1950s.

And so fond memories for the children of the time were of local parks and playgrounds with swings, banana slides, see saws and the now retired ocean wave or Witch’s Hat. Recreational amenities such as putting greens, tennis courts and bowling greens were provided for adults as well. Joining our 1950s park later in the Remaking Beamish project will be a bowling pavilion and green based on what was the John Whitehead Park Bowls Club in Billingham (more information below).

Through local newspaper archives we’ve gained insight into some of the debates and concerns around playgrounds in the 1950s.

One of the most interesting debates appears to be about ways of playing and the emergence of “junk”/adventure playgrounds in the UK after the Second World War. The idea of “junk” playgrounds, where children would and could create their own play and play equipment with materials provided, had originated in Denmark just before the end of the war. Inspired by a visit to see one in Emdrup, and then from seeing how children played on bomb sites in London, Lady Allen of Hurtwood and the NPFA championed the idea in the UK, where they became known as adventure playgrounds. They were seen as an alternative to the slides and swings of more traditional playgrounds.