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Buiilding in Bingham Park/Whiteley Woods


Bayleaf

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Can anyone help with this query please? There's a building by the main path between the Rustlings Rd entrance and the first dam that looks like a pavilion but for years it's been closed up and used as a store. Does anyone know what it was originally?

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Hi

this park was playground from mid 60s until late 70s. I presume the building you are referring to is the one about 200 meters from the entrance. If so, round the back it was the park keepers hut where they stored equipment and had breaks etc, the front was just an open shelter with seating.

 

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On 11 March 2017 at 11:21, Edmund said:

Does this extract from the 1923 OS map cover the area you're interested in?

58c3dd893f8d7_WhiteleyWoods1923.png.8296efc970fbc077c0aec4c660f9a79d.png

I think the building referred to is just to the left of this map where the old tennis courts use to be. So prior to my days it was probably the tennis pavilion, but maybe in a different form.

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Thanks for the replies, sorted! I also got this from someone born and raised around there, interesting detail about how many park keepers there used to be, I think there are 3 rangers now for the whole valley from Hunters Bar to Fulwood Lane.

The shelter in the woods was built about the sixties the year I am not sure of ,as youths we used to listen to radio Luxembourg in the new shelter on transistor radio,s.
It was built as a public shelter and a rest room for the park keepers who also had lockers in there.
As far as I recall the lock up store was used for mowers and other machines. They used to have a snowplough on two wheels to clear the paths.
I believe that at that time there were nine park keepers based there(Porter Glen) in the summer long daylight hours , two men would work on the Bingham park golf course, two on the top tennis, two on the bowling greens and two on the bottom tennis alongside Oakbrook road.The head park keeper lived in the lodge that has been sold off.
There was also two men permanently at Forge as they had to patrol as far as Fulwood Lane. 
In Endcliffe the number could have been even higher.
In the shorter days when the games were not in use the men would work on major tasks for the winter planting trees ,laying paths building steps and digging out Forge.
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