Rowntree Park

York Rowntrees Park Scarecrow Trail

I thought I would do the Scarecrow Trail in Rowntrees Park today which was put on by the volunteers of the park who do such great work at the park. There was a small charge to do the trail which goes to the volunteers work at the park.

Rowntrees Park was created in 1921 to commemorate the Rowntrees employees killed in the 1st World War. The first thing that hits you are the beautiful 18th century gates given by the company as a memorial to the people of York that died in the 2nd World War.

When we first came to York in 1961, Rowntrees Park was the first park that I visited. I can also remember swimming in the Rowntrees open air swimming pool which was closed in the 1980's and which was such a pity as it was popular.

It was also the park that I took our sons many many times when they were young as also grandchildren on a Sunday afternoon. And one visit which still stands out is with Robin when he was about 2 years old to sail his small motorised boat in the lake when he got excited and literally fell/dived into the lake. I was not popular with his mum when we got back.

I started from Walmgate Bar and walked along the Bar Walls to Rowntrees Park. It promised to be an interesting afternoon, as on the Walls was a pretty young Chinese girl and her fiancé who got engaged on the Bar Walls and they wanted some photos taken, so I duly obliged.

I picked up the trail sheet from the Cafe and my first scarecrow was to the "Tussock Caterpillar "which munches on oak, Birch and other trees and hedges. I then visited a few in the park, but many of them scattered all over the streets of South Bank near the park, also one in Trafalgar Street, our first house in England. I remember passing the house that my friend Derek lived in Bishy Road in 1961.9

Spoke to numerous people on my 5 mile walk picking out over 25 scarecrows, including a volunteer who works in the park and telling me about the flooding in the park this winter. There was also a retired policeman who was stationed in Whitby and was asking me about my Leki sticks, and I said it was great and helped me not to fall. When he then said to me that in all the sudden deaths that he was called out to, that over 50% were from falls.

I finished off with tea and sausage rolls in the Angel on the Green cafe on the popular Bishy Road.