South Liverpool: Sefton Park

	Sefton Park Liverpool's largest park and very fine it is too. It is laid out like natural countryside rather than formal gardens, though with boulevards, curving drives and an artificial lake. It originally formed part of the 2300 acre (930 ha) Royal Deer Park of Toxteth, King John's hunting domain, which was already in existence in 1207, when Liverpool received its first charter. 375 acres (152 ha) were purchased by the city council from Lord Sefton in 1867 for a reputed price of £250,000. The design of the park is the work of Lewis Hornblower, a Liverpool architect who worked on the gates, bridges and lodge houses, and Edward André, a highly regarded Parisian landscape architect. The lake was formed by damming at the confluence of two streams, the Lower and Upper Brooks, the remnants of which are still in the park. Sefton Park was opened to the public in 1872.
	Daffodils I wandered lonely as a ... you know the rest. In early spring a magnificent carpet of daffodils covers a large area at the southern end of Sefton Park. One million bulbs were planted here in 1991 by the Marie Curie Foundation for Cancer Research, which has the daffodil as its logo.
	The Lake in Winter My thanks to Dave Steel for this picture.
	Sefton Park This is the avenue from the Eros statue to the Samuel Smith Obelisk as it is today. The bronze and aluminium Eros (currently removed for restoration) designed by Sir Alfred Gilbert is a second version of the one in London's Picadilly Circus; so many paths meet here that the concept is not inappropriate. The obelisk is a memorial in red granite to the Liverpool MP and philanthropist.
	Avenue of Elms This picture has, I suppose, historical or nostalgic value. It was taken in 1978 and shows the avenue of elm trees linking the Eros statue to the Samuel Smith Obelisk. As it happens, Sefton Park has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first places in Britain to be subjected to the ravages of Dutch Elm Disease. These trees are no longer there, though their replacements are maturing nicely.
	The Lower Brook The Lower Brook once originated near the Botanic Gardens on Edge Lane and flowed near the present Willow Bank pub on Smithdown Road. It was one of a number of streams that used to flow across southern Liverpool, most traces of which have disappeared as a result of building expansion and the associated drains. A pleasant, almost static, stretch remains in Sefton Park, where it flows into the lake.
	The Upper Brook The Upper Brook used to rise near Wavertree Playground and flow past the present Brook House pub on Smithdown Road and on through what is now the lake in Greenbank Park. It emerges in The Dell by Sefton Park and flows through the park to the lake. The Lower and Upper Brooks always met here before the damming to form the lake took place and flowed on down to Otterspool.
	The Dell This lovely little valley is the entry point of the Upper Brook into Sefton Park
	The Grotto A delightful feature, with rocks, a waterfall and a pond. Add a nymph or two and it would be the perfect classical idyll. It flows out into the Upper Brook in the Dell.
	The Palm House Completed in 1896 at a cost of £10,000 donated by Liverpool millionaire Henry Yates Thompson. The superb restoration of the palm house, including 3,710 panes of glass, was completed in 2001 at a cost of £2.5 million. It houses a collection of exotic plants and there are statues of various luminaries around the outside. The palm house now provides a first class venue for a range of events such as concerts and coffee and croissant mornings.
	The Palm House A View from the east.
	The Palm House Interior A little taste of the tropics in a Liverpool suburb.
	Family Outing at the Palm House My thanks to Dave Steel for this picture.
	Peter Pan Statue The restored Peter Pan statue has at last been reinstated in Sefton Park alongside the Palm House, although it may be resited at its original setting alongside the watercourse. The bronze figure stands on a tree trunk incorporating a variety of animals. Sir George Frampton (1860-1928) was commissioned by James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, to create the original statue as a gift to the public. It was introduced into Kensington Gardens (London) in 1912. The Sefton Park replica, commissioned by George Audley of Southport as a gift to the children of Liverpool, was installed in 1928. There are further replicas in Brussels, Newfoundland, Toronto, New Jersey and Perth (Western Australia).
	Statue of Christopher Columbus at the Palm House Columbus scans the horizon for a glimpse of the Mersey. He is known locally as the Maker of Liverpool because the early growth of the city was so dependent upon his discovery of America. A Thanksgiving Day ceremony used to be held here in his honour, attended by the American Ambassador and American soldiers from the base at Burtonwood. Other statues here of individuals linked to Liverpool's historical dependence on maritime exploration and mapping are Cook (discoverer of Australia and New Zealand and explorer of much of the Pacific), Mercator (cartographer) and Henry the Navigator (Portuguese prince and patron of explorers, especially of Madeira, the Azores and West Africa).
	Statue of Charles Darwin at the Palm House Darwin (I don't think he needs any introduction) ponders the meaning of life in Sefton Park. Other statues here of figures associated with gardening and botany are le Notre (designer of the gardens at Versailles and St. James Park, London), Linnaeus (Swedish botanist and taxonomist) and John Parkinson (apothecary to King James I).
	Statue of Gerardus Mercator at the Palm House The Flemish cartographer and mathematical instrument maker became famous for his shape-preserving projection of the globe that allowed compass courses to be marked as straight lines. He also coined the word atlas.
	Pine Trees near the Palm house