Since I posted about the state of the old rocking horse in Hermitage Park, there’s been a lot of campaigning by locals to get the park brought up to standard. The council, it seemed, were embarrassed into taking action and gradual improvements have been made over the last couple of months.
The vandalised “softcrete” beneath the swings has now been replaced, all of the apparatus has had a lick of paint, and a new child-containing fence has been placed around the perimeter of the park.
The fence around the horse came down, but he was still in a bad state the last time we visited. So I was surprised and delighted to see he’d been restored to his former glory when Elisha and I stopped off this afternoon as part of our Swing Park Challenge. The horse now has striking red and black paint and his side rails have been replaced – it really is a fantastic job and I’m really happy the effort has been put in, rather than scrapping him.
The Swing Park Challenge – an attempt to visit and play on every piece of apparatus in all of the local parks in less than 90 minutes – did highlight the disparity between all of them. Kidston Park has just a set of swings and an ancient spider climbing frame, which is in much need of some paint. Meanwhile, the park at Rhu is filled with modern equipment, and the kids there told us that there’s more on the way.
Still, I’m glad to see that Hermitage Park is now a fit place to take my daughter again – hopefully there’ll be enough care and attention given that it’ll still be in good condition when I take my future son there.