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The winners were announced at Thursday’s AGM. They are:

Congratulations to all our winners and thanks to everyone who took part!

A very big thank you to LandGuard Alarms for their generous donation to Friends of Preston Park. We were able to buy much needed tools for the gardener volunteers who work on the various flower beds in the park, weeding, pruning and hedging all year long. Here is Ross Lang holding one of the diamond shaped hoes purchased, a new tool which volunteers are keen to put to use as these are the cutting edge of hoe technology.

Donations for tools are always welcome.

The central urn of the Rotunda pond has been filled with lavender and scented daffodil bulbs by the gardening volunteers. We are hoping to reinstate two urns that previously adorned the pond.

The second phase of the planting in the Coronation Garden took place last week. Daffodils bulbs were planted to add fragrance and colour to the new lavender walk. The two varieties chosen will ensure there will be beautiful blooms from early to late spring, as one is early flowering and one late flowering.

On a sunny morning 17 volunteers planted 9,000 daffodil bulbs along the tennis courts in the Park. Our Head Gardener, Mr Andy Jeavons, chose two highly scented varieties, Martinette and White Lion. Martinette is lemon yellow with an orange base and White Lion has cream petals and a pale yellow centre.

The History Walk, due to take place on Sunday 6th November, has been postponed until the same time on the 13th, due to predicted bad weather.

Saturday 29th October 2022

Halloween in the Park was back after two years of absence. Little zombies, witches and wizards bopped along to the sound of Danica’s disco and followed the lantern walk into the heart of darkness…

Lots of prizes were given to children who went to extraordinary lengths to look the part, wearing face glitter paint and halloween theme costumes. Parents were not excluded from the fun as our raffle ticket sale proved very popular. Cakes and sweets were enjoyed by all and we are looking forward to seeing you all again next year.

We would like to thank Sussex Police for monitoring the area, The Chalet Cafe for providing refreshments and Brighton and Hove City Council for keeping the toilets open for the duration of the event.

Many of you visit the Coronation Garden situated at the north side of the Park but few know the origin of the name. In 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, it was laid out as a scented garden for visually impaired people and was known as the Coronation Garden for the blind. As time passed the fragrant shrubs and sweet-smelling flowers died down, and the circular garden has been left abandoned and overgrown for years.

Fortunately, in May 2022, the park was the lucky recipient of both the Brighton and Hove Jubilee Planting Scheme and a substantial donation from Friends of Preston Park, which enabled the purchase of lavender bushes and the start of the replanting of the Coronation Garden in keeping with its original purpose. Volunteers worked hard to clear old plants and invasive weeds and now you can admire the lovingly-planted lavender alley. We aim to incorporate more aromatic shrubs in the near future and we hope our planting scheme will provide a good place for all to sit and enjoy.