Friends of Preston Park

Get your diary out . . . It’s getting towards that time again: the Halloween Lantern Walk will be on Saturday 31 October. The event will start at 6pm, but we’ll begin the walk at around 7pm. We’ll meet as usual at the men’s bowls pavilion. In case you haven’t been before, the event is for families – and children can enter the best home made lantern competition, and the best fancy-dress competition. There’ll be a modest prize for each! We’ve got Camper Vanatics coming who will sell bratwurst hot dogs and hot drinks, and we’ve arranged for a story-teller to come and amuse the children. We do suggest you come along, whether you’re part of a family or not, the spectacle is memorable.

Next on the agenda is our scintillating Annual General Meeting which will be held in the men’s bowls pavilion on Saturday 28 November at 11.15am. Followed swiftly – at 11.30am – by an illustrated talk on the history of Preston Park. Those that came on the history walk will be familiar with the stories, but the chronological approach is new, and the wonderful old photos of the park are fabulous. We think the talk will take about 45 minutes. We’ll provide tea/coffee and biscuits.

Finally, we’ll be hosting our usual Christmas wreath-making event on Sunday 13 December. It’s a lovely, festive time where we’ll be using local greenery and will show you how to make a gorgeous adornment (or gift?) for your door. It’ll be in the men’s bowls pavilion from 11am to 2pm. There’ll be a small charge for each wreath. We’ll provide mincers and tea/coffee.

Yes, the Rookery (or Rock Garden) was entered into the annual South and South East small park category of ‘Cities in Bloom’ – and won gold, the highest of five standards. This is a tremendous achievement; Garden Manager Andy and the volunteers who have made the area so beautiful deserve our thanks. Denise Taylor, Chair of Brighton & Hove City in Bloom said ‘When there is so much focus on the withdrawal of funding in most sectors across the city it is wonderful to be able to celebrate areas where the importance of the environment we live in is acknowledged in this way’.

There are a few events happening in the park over the next few weeks which you may want to know about:

Wednesday 12 August: A walk around the park to draw or paint flowers. Free. Bring drawing or watercolour painting equipment. Meet at the Rotunda at 1pm.

Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August from 10am to 7pm: The Thai Festival,

Friday 28, Saturday 29, Sunday 30 August: Picture House pop-up cinema on Preston Manor lawn. Showing Whiplash, Birdman and Withnail and I respectively. Film start time: 9pm.

Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 11.30am to 10pm: Together The People festival. Big name bands, family-orientated event.

Saturday 12 September 2.30pm in St Peter’s church in the park: Short talk about the impact of Magna Carta by local historian. Free, donations appreciated.

Sunday 20 September: Brighton 100 bike event starts and finishes in the park.

 The Green Flag for 2015/16 has been awarded to Preston Park! Many congratulations to all the park staff who work hard throughout the year to make our park so beautiful and such a pleasure to play/walk/run/picnic in.

Video by Sally Goodwin

Here’s the map showing when and where areas of the park will be closed down for Pride. You’ll notice that, apart from the day of the event, the children’s playground will be open. As usual the clear-up is expected to be completed by end of day on Tuesday 4 August.

Please direct any queries to Pride, Their email address is below:

These two were the first to answer all the questions correctly and get their eggs:

The Punch and Judy show was packed out for all three performances:

And here are the winners of the drawing competition, Gemma (aged 12) and Elena (aged 5), receiving their prizes:

 

And finally a big, big thanks to our sponsors, Channel Glazing, Maslen Estate Agents, Sainsbury’s Local, NatWest and Sussex Electrics. Without their help we would not have been able to put on such a great event.

Click here to see a selection of this year’s entries to the drawing competition.

It’s Preston Park’s Easter-Egg Hunt time again, courtesy of the Friends of Preston Park!

Yes, on Easter Sunday, 5 April, from 11am to around 2.30pm in Preston Park near the playground we’ll be handing out questions about the park to all accompanied children up to the age of 13. The answers will be found on special information boards around the park. Complete the answers about its history and wildlife to win a choccy Easter-egg!

And there’s a drawing competition to be entered. We’ll provide the drawing equipment; the best picture of something interesting in the park will win a special prize.

There’ll be face-painting and Brighton’s fabulous Punch and Judy show.

It’s only £1 to enter, it’s fun, and full of fascinating facts!