Bourne Park — Attraction in Ipswich

Bourne Park is a very extensive grassy space with many mature deciduous trees, growing throughout. It's suited to dog walkers, joggers, nature lovers, & those who wish to enjoy a breathtaking, panoramic view of the Orwell Estuary from its highest point. This is probably the best spot to be sited on the outskirts of Ipswich, if you want to witness the daily sunrise over the Orwell Bridge. A large children's only play area is fenced off from the main path at the eastern corner of the flat field section, keeping the new facility dog free. The older play area is still accessible, on the other side of the hill, closeby Bourne Park Car Park. Also nearby the car parking space is the Public Footpath access into Bourne Park Reedbeds. For such a big park it's quite pathetic that the local authority has closed the on-site public toilet block as part of its cost cutting policy. Bourne Park has several different narrow access spots for walkers, but none of them are obvious as such from outside. So unless you know it's there, it's a beautiful facility quite easily bypassed without even knowing about Bourne Park's existence. Another easily missed feature here is the memorial to local industrialist, philanthropist, Quaker & Labour MP, Sir Richard Rapier. The stone monolith bearing the brass plaque in his honour, is located near the main gate aside the Wherstead Road entrance. (It was formerly sited at the main works of the Ransomes & Rapier foundry, but was relocated when the dockside...

I have been here before with my grandchildren and I already knew it was a nice park. This time we were exploring, looking for hidden treasures at the top end of the park. There are quite good views there and a second set of childrens play equipment which is average at best. Earlier last summer when it was a really hot day, we had previously seen the pool and knew it was there, so we took their swimming kit and gave it a try. Big mistake, there should be a sign saying that really it's only suitable for pre school kids. My grandchildren are all older than nine years old, they were disappointed to put it mildly. The pool is nice and clean and new and tidy but... it's only about three inches deep. It's just a big puddle, only deep enough to wet their feet. The play equipment next to the pool saved the day though, it...

I visited Bourne Park on the hottest day ever recorded. Which is a shame as we spent most of the visit picnicing under a beautiful oak tree, so didn't see as much of this beautiful park. However, we did enjoy the flower beds and the children with us loved the excellent play equipment especially the zip wire. Lots of people made use of the paddling pool, which I have very happy memories of visiting as a child. You could easily spend a whole day here with lots of different areas to explore. It's a genuine pleasure to see such a well maintained park. It's so clean and tidy, including the free to use public toilets. Which are very basic, there was no soap or toilet paper, but it was very clean on a busy Bank...