Ward End Park — Attraction in Birmingham

I have known Ward End Park for almost 65 years. Recently, with a friend, I walked through for the first time in many years, despite still living locally. I found it quite a depressing experience. I thought the place, though well used, was unwelcoming and shabby. What saddened me the most was the overt racism that I experienced. It was so bad that even my companion, an Asian, noticed, and commented about the attitude of a large minority of the park users. He was, frankly, disgusted by the reception that I received. He was also able to translate some of the comments directed at me, and basically it came down to the fact that I had no right to be in "their" park. I'm not surprised that I saw only one other white person if this is how people behave. I certainly would not feel safe walking my new dog there. It is very sad that people can spoil things like...

My claim to fame is that I actually added this Ward End Park Google map pin over 10 years ago. It has since had millions of views. I have always had a love for this park, right from when I was a child, when you could hire a boat on the lake. It was definitely a day out. Since that time, the park has been through so many changes, from when the boathouse was burnt down, neglect, and a haunt for local ruffians, to how it is today, with the lovely cafe (which is a great idea). It is great to see that there is a lot of community interaction now, and with the funds from HS2, some very nice additions have been made, like the walk by the brook and the woodland walk. If the community continues to engage, there is a lot less likely that it will fall into neglect. I encourage everyone who visits to treat this beautiful facility...

This a real community park with people of all ages using it throughout the day. The park is looked after a lot better than the past. The flowerbeds are well organised and look beautiful, the park is generally clean. At different times of the day you see cricket games, volleyball, cycling casual and serious walkers trekking around the park. The pond ha great variety of birds visiting but suffers from neglect at times as it is not regularly cleaned. The park also has some development plans which will make it even better in the...