Calderstones and Sefton Park are lovely, but if you take the time to rediscover this beautiful green space you’ll find so many good things going onWalton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)Liverpool has many fine parks, some of them are truly spectacular green spaces, beloved by people across the region, but for me, Walton Hall Park is the best in the city.It was officially opened by King George V in July 1934, when he visited Liverpool to open the Queensway Tunnel, and its origins are believed to date back to Henry de Walton, steward of the West Derby hundred in 1199. The land once belonged to some of Merseyside’s richest residents, and the park site serves as one of the last reminders of Walton Hall, which was demolished around the turn of the 20th century.In its current incarnation, Walton Hall Park is replete with lush green spaces, mature trees and blooming foliage. It also contains various leisure facilities, including a bowling green, professional-standard football pitches, a fitness centre and outside exercise activities sited along its various pathways.For families, there’s also a children’s playground, which is subject to extra funding by Liverpool City Council, as part of the planned installation of new equipment.The 130-acre park also contains two lakes. The smaller pond is used to sail model boats, and the larger one has two islands. The waters are inhabited by several large carps, bream and tench fishes, as well as a large number of skimmer breams, roaches and perches.Man fishing in Walton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)On a recent visit to the park there were dozens of anglers, all set up to fish the lakes, and during the last few days, relaxing in the haze of early evening sunshine. It all looked like a little piece of heaven.There’s also something for the ramblers and cyclists with a path circumnavigating the entire park, as well as a few carved out walkways among the greenery, the latter of which is accompanied by the buzz of summer insects and the serenity of birdsong – you’d be forgiven for believing you were in the deep wilds of the countryside.For those yearning for a place to relax, listen to a podcast, some music, read a book, or for an afternoon snooze in the sunshine, there are at least five large open spaces, with well tended grass. Some people use them for picnics and family get togethers, while others use them for a bit of recreation, or wellness activities.Beautiful green spaces in Walton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)For full disclosure, I grew up in Walton, and although I used the park to play football, and run about with friends, I was never a frequent visitor, and preferred hiking over to Croxteth Hall Park, a place many consider to be the best in Liverpool.Which speaks to the central theme of this piece, the fact is that these things are always subjective. Some will say Sefton Park, others will extol the virtues of Calderstones Park – and they would all be right in one way or another because they’re also wonderful and beautiful in their own way.Part of the reason I want to platform Walton Hall Park is because, like a few other parks around Merseyside, it’s largely unheralded, but if you take the trouble to rediscover the park – or even visit for the first time – you will find so many good things going on, and so many things to enjoy.Walton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)We recently covered the work of Scouse Flowerhouse, an organisation dedicated to bringing wildflowers and creative ecology projects to areas across the city. Through the cultivation of wildflowers and facilitating seeding projects, it aims to connect people to the land around them.It is part of the wider Northern Flowerhouse group, started in 2017, and led by Richard Scott, who we met at the Abingdon Fields site, approximately 100 metres away from Walton Hall Park. As you approach the fields, you can see a large patch of green space, filled with some of the rarest flowers in the whole of Europe.It is a two minute walk from the wildflower blossoms running throughout Walton Hall Park, which are now flowering, and bringing an assortment of beautiful colours to a landscape dominated by green grass and assorted foliage.Wildflowers in Walton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)This is also complimented by the Walton Community Garden, at the far end corner of Walton Hall Avenue, and where the park sits just opposite Blackthorne Road. It is tended to by the Friends of Walton Hall Park volunteer group, taken over by Jimmy Byrne after his wife, Chrissie, sadly passed away in January 2023.Chrissie had saved the garden, and was given an honorary Citizen of Honour award for her passionate campaigning for green spaces, and determination to protect parks from development.Asked what makes the park so special to him, Jimmy told us: “Our Walton Hall park means everything to me, not only because my late wife spearheaded the fight to save it but all the park’s in Liverpool.”I promised her I would continue to save and look after it while she lay in a hospital bed knowing she had only day’s left.Walton Hall Park(Image: Liverpool Echo)”The park means so much to not just me but all the local community and all that visit it. As my late wife Chrissie use to say, Walton Hall Park is the gem in the crown of Walton.”We also reached out to Liverpool City Council to ask about the evolution of Walton Hall Park, the work that goes on there and the partnerships it leans on to ensure engaged community involvement.A spokesperson told us: “Our parks and greenspaces – of which there are more than 100 across Liverpool – are a huge part of what makes this city beautiful. Walton Hall Park is no exception to that and, as is the case with our other parks, is looked after all year round.Walton Community Garden(Image: Liverpool Echo)“We have recently refurbished the bowling green pavilion and the play area, as well as making improvements to the car park. Bins across much of the park have been replaced with a new one to help keep it litter-free.“The resource for the lakes team has been doubled meaning we’ll be able to make more frequent visits to a very popular part of the park, and we will be undertaking repair works to maintain the water levels early next week.”A new grounds management approach means we can prioritise mowing and cleansing of the key areas in the park, on top of keeping hedges, shrubs and vegetation in check.“As with many of our other parks, we are lucky to be able to work with a passionate and dedicated Friends Group who make a massive difference for the community.”
Unheralded city park that might just be the best in Liverpool
