As a photographer, Queens Park has been a godsend for me during lockdown. That said, however, it has been the ONLY place I can go because of travel restrictions and limitations on public transport.

Don't get me wrong, Queens Park has an abundance of wildlife of varying sorts and, if you know what you're doing or where to go and when you can get some stunning photo opportunities (like the kingfisher or the owl). But it also needs to be said that these are wildlife and they are in NO WAY a feature of the park, they just happen to be residing in or visiting the park. Of the included photos, only the rareish Barnacle Goose can be considered MAYBE semi-resident in the park.

What lets the park down is numerous little things.

If you're near the north end of the park, the bin frequency is fine, but when you get to the rest of the park the bins are only right next to the exits and it means you're required to carry your rubbish around with you everywhere you go. Of course, many people don't. It doesn't bother me too much on a personal level, I take a backpack with me and I have a space for my rubbish, but it explains why litter is an issue at times.

The security aspect is another issue...police are only ever in the park if someone's gone missing or something like that, plus the "dogs under control" rule is rarely enforced as they only have volunteer staff doing rounds as and when they're able and many times I have seen potentially dangerous encounters between dogs and the resident swans and geese. NO-ONE seems to want to follow social distancing guidelines, many want to stand in the middle of the paths (and they're narrow paths often, barely enough for two-way traffic with spacing) and natter on with their friends, totally oblivious to the world around them and the bottlenecks they're causing.

And if you're looking to avoid the crowds, AVOID weekends...it seems everyone feels like visiting at weekends, and few of them give two hoots about the rules.

Ultimately, the park's beauty (its one saving grace) is let down by the mismanagement by the local council, as is always the case. The moment travel restrictions are lifted I will be travelling further afield, but sadly I don't currently have that choice as I don't drive. And that beauty is solely to do with the evergreen trees in the park, which are slowly but surely disappearing.

Seriously, what park closes an hour after sunset one month but an hour or so before sunset another month? In late February, the sun has set completely at about 6pm, but the park closes at 4:30pm...the weather was bright and sunny with the sun high in the sky, yet they were closing the gates? Someone's chosen these times, and ultimately it's their responsibility. People need consistency, no wonder they have problems trying to close the park if they can't maintain consistency and have the park closing at sunset each day.

As I said above, lots of little issues are a blight on the beauty of Queens Park...it's worth a visit, but don't get too comfortable or you'll spot the flaws.

This is coming from someone who has spent up to 10 hours a day some days in the park, taking photos of various wildlife and enjoying the peace and quiet...and who zones out and concentrates on the wildlife when that peace and quiet is ruined by groups of up to 10 walking past noisily talking about whatever.