The refurbished park has been open for a few months after a £500k refurbishment by Cardiff Council and this wet Sunday afternoon I went for a stroll to have a nosey.
The park closed in May 2022 and was closed until summer 2023. To read about the vision for the park, click here.
Firstly, the park isn’t quite finished. There’s a fenced off rectangular area in front of Ysgol Glan Morfa covered with tarpaulin that will eventually be a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA). A statement on the side of the fence reads:
The Multi Use Games Area is temporarily closed. A contractor will be returning shortly to complete the final surface which will consist of a green and blue polymer surface and line paint for different games. Unfortunately, this can only be laid in 3-5 days o continuous dry weather. Please keep out of the fencing to avoid damaging the base layer.
Other than that, the park is fully open, though could do with a litter pick. The area by the slide and swings was particularly messy.
But let’s not dwell on that. I’m sure the council will sort it (or Keep Splott Tidy will organise an impromptu litter pick to return the park to the pristine condition it deserves).
So to the park itself. I entered at the south entrance, near the gates to Ysgol Glan Morfa, on Lewis Road. This part of the park holds the play area, with swings and a slide, and the MUGA. It also has some skate / BMX ramps, which come with a handy set of guidelines on what can and can’t be used on the fixtures (skateboards, roller blades, scooters and BMXs = good, other bikes, electric scooters, scramblers and toy bikes = bad).
The skate ramps run along the road side of the park and are for adults and children over 8 years old. But not in the wet, ice or snow (so that’s winter out then!).
The park area is pretty cute, with a slide and swing set, though seems deliberately aimed at young children (maybe anticipating that anyone over the age of 8 would be busy zipping up and down the skate ramps on their scooters?).
The area around the swings was covered in litter and could do with some attention.
There are also lots of other features in the park for children to have fun with, like logs to climb over and balance on, wooden toadstools and wooden stumps to hop along.
There are also plenty of proper seats / benches and a few extra stone ones dotted around. What’s particularly great is how wide and accessible the pathways are.
The old trees have been kept and a few new ones have been planted, which is great.
There are also wild flower patches dotted around the park, and some metal blades (which may well have been there before; I can’t remember!). I really like the stone seat that’s located near them at the north end of the park.
The circular tiled area at the top of the park has an open, airy feeling and I love the steps leading up (or down) from the focal point.
It’s great to see the cherry trees resplendent in their usual place, standing sentry.
The photographs used to make a feature of the electricity box are a nice touch and a hat tip to old Splott.
That’s Swansea Street, in case you were wondering.
All in all, I think that the park is lovely. It will look great in spring if the wildflower beds flourish and the additional trees will bring welcome canopies to cool the ground. I’ve already seen a few skateboarders enjoying the wide pathways and skate ramps and am sure that children have enjoyed the little play park as a welcome addition. Hopefully the MUGA will be open soon and the full benefit of the refurbishment can be felt.
