I lived in the Park house at number one Bradfield Road from about 1946 to 1960, situated inside the park just before the main gate. Sadly the house was demolished in the late 1960/70s.
My Grandfather Mr Lesley Fisher was the head gardener. He had two or three gardeners working under him, all working in the park full time. Near the park house was a large wooden building used as changing rooms for the football teams who, in season played most Saturdays. There were two tennis courts, a bowling green and a putting green.
In those days there were a lot more houses and people living in West Silvertown area, because of the thriving Docks and local industry that went with it. A lot of Silvertown people used the Park, you could always find the local bobby in the gardeners hut, calling in for a cup of tea and a chat, I remember the the park cat (wild) that the gardeners looked after, it was the only cat that I knew chased dogs out of the park!.
There were always people playing on the putting green, or sitting up by the river front watching the ships on the river, It was always busy with ships, tugs towing laden barges, I even remember seeing the old sailing barges working the river. Behind the park house were some cold frames where flowers were grown for use in both parks, my Grandfather and gardeners worked hard and they also looked after Silvertown Park just under a mile away, also roadside tree planting in the area.
At the river front there was Bandstand and a small building where you could sit and watch the ships on the river. We never did buy any coal for our fire, a couple of times a week after the park closed my uncle and i used to collect the drift wood which was in those days in abundance from the river front at the park, we stored it in our shed to dry before cutting it up for our fire.
When you visit the park now it seems to be deserted by the locals and has no resident gardiners, no great flower displays, the bowling green and putting green and flower beds now mainly contain only bushes that require no looking after. The football changing room building, the cold frames, bandstand and building at the river front have long since gone, the place has lost all its charm and seems to be deserted, I think every body now visits the Barrier Park just up the road, I wonder how long Lyle Park will survive.
I remember my grandfather telling me that during the second world war an unexploded bomb had fallen on the football field, top left hand corner I think, he said that it was too far down to be removed and the area was filled in, if true I think that it must still remain there today. Does anybody have any old photos of the park?
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Lyle Park
I lived in the Park house at number one Bradfield Road from about 1946 to 1960, situated inside the park just before the main gate. Sadly the house was demolished in the late 1960/70s.
My Grandfather Mr Lesley Fisher was the head gardener. He had two or three gardeners working under him, all working in the park full time. Near the park house was a large wooden building used as changing rooms for the football teams who, in season played most Saturdays. There were two tennis courts, a bowling green and a putting green.
In those days there were a lot more houses and people living in West Silvertown area, because of the thriving Docks and local industry that went with it. A lot of Silvertown people used the Park, you could always find the local bobby in the gardeners hut, calling in for a cup of tea and a chat, I remember the the park cat (wild) that the gardeners looked after, it was the only cat that I knew chased dogs out of the park!.
There were always people playing on the putting green, or sitting up by the river front watching the ships on the river, It was always busy with ships, tugs towing laden barges, I even remember seeing the old sailing barges working the river. Behind the park house were some cold frames where flowers were grown for use in both parks, my Grandfather and gardeners worked hard and they also looked after Silvertown Park just under a mile away, also roadside tree planting in the area.
At the river front there was Bandstand and a small building where you could sit and watch the ships on the river. We never did buy any coal for our fire, a couple of times a week after the park closed my uncle and i used to collect the drift wood which was in those days in abundance from the river front at the park, we stored it in our shed to dry before cutting it up for our fire.
When you visit the park now it seems to be deserted by the locals and has no resident gardiners, no great flower displays, the bowling green and putting green and flower beds now mainly contain only bushes that require no looking after. The football changing room building, the cold frames, bandstand and building at the river front have long since gone, the place has lost all its charm and seems to be deserted, I think every body now visits the Barrier Park just up the road, I wonder how long Lyle Park will survive.
I remember my grandfather telling me that during the second world war an unexploded bomb had fallen on the football field, top left hand corner I think, he said that it was too far down to be removed and the area was filled in, if true I think that it must still remain there today. Does anybody have any old photos of the park?
Posted by: David Boxall