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Brookvale Park & Witton Lakes

The iconic building is one of the Birmingham Corporation Waterworks Pumping Stations. In the background is the Golden Cross.
 
Off the top of my head, I have heard it called Witton Pumping, Witton Wells and Perry Wells.

Its on my to do list to research it out, I do feel that the heritage of the water industry is almost entirely absent, despite its unarguable relevance to human health and wellbeing. Still A bit busy with my Lichfield Waterworks at the moment.
 
Birmingham Daily Post of 15 November 1865 gives a public notice of proposed works, this is the part concerning the
Witton Reservoirs.

72E2CDD5-A78C-4EBB-BEDE-EAD0CB5BFC4D.jpegFCF20CF4-029D-4C1D-98ED-367993083670.jpeg
 
That's a very interesting picture Two, with quite a few buildings I don't recognise. One of my queries was answered by the maps so thank you to Pedrocut. This was when did the church move from Turfpits Lane to Perry Common Road and the answer is between 1913 and 1938. The other building which has now gone is the white one which looks like public toilets. I presume the two storey building to the left of pumping station in the photo is housing for the staff.
 
Viv, your post #346 brought back so many memories. I remember the thatched boathouse (so easy to set fire to in later years). The pictures conjured up the smell of the the wooden floors inside when we went for ice creams (very occasionally) and I can even remember the sound our footsteps made. Lovely memories, thanks.
 
Witton lakes looked great in its time. It’s such a shame that people want to remove the park as a place for people to use and enjoy and return it purely back to nature. Some time back to remember those who died in the wars to mounds were dug to represent the trenches soldiers had to fight in. For one year it had poppies and looked nice. It’s been left to get overgrown and looks a mess now. It also stops again people using it for sport. There are plenty of places within the park to leave for nature but there are areas that need the grass cutting and put back to the park it was 30yrs ago. People trying to do what they think is best for them is not best for the many. People want to use the park not the walkways that are cut for us to use but we want to use the whole field without walking and falling over rubbish.
 
Are you referring to Naturally Birmingham ??
naturallybirmingham.org

Health and Wellbeing Pilot

Witton Lakes – Public Park, Perry Common, Birmingham. B23 7XA The FPA Health and Wellbeing pilot is being delivered by Witton Lodge Community Association. The pilot has tested a range of acti…
naturallybirmingham.org naturallybirmingham.org
 
Pedrocut said:
Are you referring to Naturally Birmingham ??
naturallybirmingham.org

Health and Wellbeing Pilot

Witton Lakes – Public Park, Perry Common, Birmingham. B23 7XA The FPA Health and Wellbeing pilot is being delivered by Witton Lodge Community Association. The pilot has tested a range of acti…
naturallybirmingham.org naturallybirmingham.org
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean. I’m referring to Witton Lakes. There are plenty of areas which are available to nature and wildlife it doesn’t need to be the whole of the park. Let’s at least have some areas where people can sit and enjoy a picnic without worrying what they are sitting on because of rubbish and the excrement of the wildlife that uses the park. As a dog Walker I will only have one attempt to pick up after my dog. After that it’s not healthy to rummage around to make sure it’s all up.
Then there are those youngsters that everyone moans and groans about. They haven’t got any areas that they could play a game of football or whatever. It just needs to be thought about for what it is and the us humans have needs as well and some don’t have the ability to go elsewhere.
 
As I grew up a spit away from Witton Lakes and was familiar with it for about 50 years, I was taken aback when you intimated that “people want to remove the park as a place for people to use and enjoy and return it purely back to nature.”

Google “Witton Lakes back to nature” and it comes up with the site quoted. It is purely a question whether you were referring to this group of people.
 
I too I grew up a spit away from Witton Lakes and most certainly have noticed over the years that there has been a steady decline in people using parks as they used to in the 50 and early 60. Witton Lakes and Perry Common Park had a number of football pitches that have fallen into disuse though lack of demand.

People just do not play park football in the way they did then. The same goes for the boating, the yacht club, the radio-controlled boats and a number of other activities the parks provided.

I am certainly liking how Witton lakes now look with the rewilding schemes, I cycle through the park on a regular basis, its quite a joy.
 
People don’t use the park as they used to because it is soo overgrown. I have today requested the Council to address the grass cutting if only on the opposite side to perry common so there are at least two of the fields where people can enjoy the park as a park is supposed to be used. For people to socialise, have a picnic, play games of sport or dog walk.
The majority of dog walkers will try to clean up after their dog and act responsibly however it becomes a different story altogether if dog owners are expected to search through long contaminated grass and on the same note you can’t expect people to sit with their kids when they can’t see what they are sitting on. Poo, rubbish or anything else that has been discarded and left.
 
Pedrocut said:
Some Councils have only had much restricted grass cutting in parks during Covid.
Click to expand...
They are able to give the park a good cut at least once a year. Other parks around Birmingham get the fields cut. I appreciate it’s less frequent to save money but the actual people who live near to the park want to use it as a park. They don’t want it all given over to nature as it stops people wanting to use it. People who don’t even live near the park should not be making decisions about how the park should be kept.
As a local resident it should be kept better than it has the past couple of years. Covid or no Covid. Perry Hall Park seems to manage to cut the vast amount of fields there so why not our local park. I shouldn’t have to drive to another park to enjoy being outside when I live opposite one.
 
For anyone interested, Birmingham City Council site’s information concerning upkeep of parks during Covid.

Litter dumped in Birmingham parks triples | Birmingham City Council

Litter dumped in Birmingham parks triples - People visiting Birmingham’s parks and open spaces are being urged to show their respect for the environment after it emerged that 1,280 tonnes of litter was cleared from such settings in the first five months of 2020.
www.birmingham.gov.uk www.birmingham.gov.uk
 
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