The Walks (Park) — Attraction in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Although The Walks are obviously beautiful I believe they're best appreciated among the context of Kings Lynn in a more general sense. The town, although steeped in wonderful history and architecture, has fallen the way of many suburban towns in England. Falling into an almost forgotten and slightly melancholic feel to the town centre. There's not any real reason for this aside from shopping habits changing from centralised town centres and communities generally being less connected and it's certainly not unique to KL, seems as if almost every town in England is suffering the same fate. With BIDs and councils left exasperated on how to rejuvenate as it seems no amount of money can ever relight the fire of localised community that things such as edge of town retail and the internet have all but snuffed out. There's an emptiness and a somewhat loneliness present while navigating the town centre as a visitor which is difficult to ignore but sadly not uncommon. I feel it's important to keep that in mind while reviewing The Walks, I visited whilst on a short stay in the town late on a rainy midweek afternoon. The place is beautiful. The entrance from the town centre side is an immaculately arboured walkway with central lamp posts perfectly framed. The pathway was a little boring considering the surroundings but it conjured up memories of when England cared about uniformed preened beauty. An almost Richard Curtis-esque idealistic vision of what English nature in an urban space should feel like. I'm surprised I haven't seen it used as a location in cinema and wouldn't be surprised to now notice it in some God awful British romcom featuring an unlikely romance between an upper class widower and a young working class or American woman striving for better in her life or some such nonsense. Just walking along this pathway evoked ideas of stories and a sense of the potential for love to exist between these lines of perfectly spaced trees. I entered the wider park through the gateway, I imagine much has been written on the structures so I won't bother, and was as good as blown away by the subtle but purposeful beauty of the park. The waterways with little bridges and ducks paddling along allowing tiny moments for individuals to cherish for their whole lives. On the ducks it brought a cracked smile to my usually miserable face to see the small ramps of wood made for them to more easily access the banks, kudos to whoever commissioned those. The place was empty due to the weather but I imagined so much life in this place happening. Dads showing their toddlers how to feed the ducks, lovers wandering hand in hand over the footbridges and huddling together on the benches, buskers on the bandstand drawing their first crowd of the season and children stopping to simply smell the flowers while their exasperated mothers try to hurry them along to school. The place was designed for life's unexciting but defining moments, I imagine there's been more than a few proposals upon those bridges. The highlight for me was the collection of willows, which I have attached photos of, well kempt and numerous but still reaching out imploring to be touched by passers by. Reminding them that, although in this instant it has been curated, nature isn't simply there to be spectated but to be interacted with. On a sunnier day I'd have happily sat there reading a book for an hour or two in a stolen lazy moment. In this sense The Walks are a utopia, allowing and promoting the subtle simple beauty of life in England, it's the last remaining positive parts of a nationalism now seen as dirty, shameful and wrong. I'd argue it possesses this rare quality with institutions such as Kew and Wakehurst yet without the associated price tag. I'd love to visit in Spring and bring along a sketchbook to take in all the new life, perhaps I'll do that even though the journey is fairly long. To put it succinctly The Walks are a vision of idyllic England, a lovely letter to this great country and those who live in it. An absolute...

My favourite park in King's Lynn, I've been visiting here for 50 years at some points daily as part of my walk to sixth form and work. A historic urban park located in the heart of King's Lynn, The Walks is the only surviving 18th-century town walk in Norfolk. A Grade II listed landscape. I love all of it, and it's just as beautiful at night as during the day. The formal gardens of St James Park adjacent to London Road are always stunning. A busy dog walkers, runners, and cyclists favourite. The wildlife has changed over the years with the ducks and geese diminishing to almost nothing, the Nuthatch and Treecreeper are there in very small numbers where once they were prolific and I took the daily sightings for granted. You'll see many small song birds, jays, song thrushes, various gulls, pigeons, and doves. There are plenty of grey squirrels to get up close to. They'll feed from your hand if you're patient. There's a good variety of trees, wild flowers, and fungi to look for. If you're lucky you might just catch sight of a deer. The Gaywood River flows through the park and, on occasion, will flood. Now The Walks hosts Park Run, a summer café/kiosk, toilets, Bandstand, MUGA, bmx track, skate park, children's playground, and parkour There are plenty of spots to picnic, good tarmac walkways, benches, the Historic Red Mount Chapel, Guannock Gate, and St John's Church. It hosts many of the towns large events throughout the year, too. A short walk from both the bus station and railway station, and close to pay and display car parks. At the rear of The Walks, you will find the football stadium, home to King's Lynn Linnets and the Blue...

What a beautiful open space! We visited here with our dog for a walk before heading back home to the East Midlands. Most of the park grounds were very well maintained and the public toilets were clean.

We did visit the park cafe for a mocha and a strawberry milkshake. Both of the drinks were okay but the strawberry milkshake was a cheap man’s Nesquik. The taste was not good and it certainly didn’t taste of strawberries. The cafe is a little expensive for basic food and drinks.

Whilst seating just outside the cafe we unfortunately encountered two men and a woman who were using remote controlled cars at very high speeds and they were noisy. They had no regard for anyone else in the area and were just a general nuisance. Our dog was a little scared of the remote controlled cars and there were other people with dogs and small children in this area that really didn’t appreciate them either. The woman commented to my husband as we walked past that one of the men is visually impaired, we were amazed by that because he was controlling one of the remote controlled cars! All it takes is a little bit of thought and everybody can enjoy...