Betty W, born 1927

An edited version of an interview made on 4 June 2008

Interviewer: Christine Wilson

We lived on Henderson Road and we used to come to the park as children and bring our tea. We had jam sandwiches and we used to make a bottle of lemonade with the powder, lemonade powder you dipped your finger in and Jack High was the foreman and Reggie was the park-keeper and he used to go round with a bell 15 minutes before he shut the gates. They were shut every night and one night we got stuck in the park when the snow was on the ground [laughs] and we had to climb over the gate up near the yacht pond, we’d all been playing in the snow. Going back, there was a German plane which was shot down, [the plane was shot down near Duxford and brought to Eaton Park] and then there was a barrage balloon stationed up there during the war. For the coronation [1953] they had a big fête up here, and there were stalls and dancing to celebrate the coronation. During the Wimbledon tennis they used to make a mini Wimbledon up here, they had all the tennis courts and had a tournament. The children’s playground on the opposite side was caged off, you couldn’t get in there. There was the cricket and the hockey. They were the people who were the elite. You know, really big teams played in there from other clubs. Down the bottom here, that was all waste ground, all rough ground, and then the circus came down there after the war. We had Bertram Mills Circus and the elephants used to walk down South Park Avenue. They came up from Thorpe station. We all watched the elephants. Saturday afternoons the park was full. All the football pitches were taken up and they played hockey, lacrosse, that was really good up here Saturday afternoons. There was something all the way round the park. My husband actually played football for the YMCA. I suppose that was the late ‘40s, beginning ‘50s I should think.

After Reggie the park-keeper, do you remember other park-keepers because there are only part-time ones now?

There were gardeners. My brother was a gardener here. Charlie Youngs lived in the little bungalow as you come in the gate. They had a lovely rose garden. When you first came in the big gates right at the top there was the fountain and the lovely rose garden and that’s what they used to tend. They weren’t part-time gardeners. They were up here all the time, you know, and the bowling greens and they used to look after, you see. That was a lot of work in the park.

Clem and Myrtle H

An edited version of an interview made on 28 May 2008

Interviewer: Christine Wilson

Clem – After School I used to go up the park to sail my boat. At times there was no wind and my yacht would be stuck in the middle of the pond and I used to get the park-keeper who had a long cane, about 20-30 feet long, who would come along and retrieve my yacht. My father was in the bowls club (St Ann’s) and I used to have to wipe the bowls for the men involved when they had a match, and especially when it was raining. They were very pleased! [laughs] I play bowls myself now but nowadays they don’t do that.

My wife’s uncle, he designed the pitch and putt green. The other thing was when I came out of church on a Sunday morning me and a few friends would go to the park and have a game of putting, that was about 1938 or thereabouts so the putting green was there then – quite a number of years ago. Also at the end of the yacht pond was a pavilion where the people who had yachts used to keep them until a few years later they got vandalised so they didn’t continue putting their yachts there … I should think that’s somewhere round about 1950-55ish.

Also on Sundays we used to come up and listen to the band which they had about once every fortnight, usually the Salvation Army. My mother used to come up the park on a Saturday evening, sit on one of the seats provided and take her knitting and watch my father play bowls. I can remember during the war there was a balloon in the car park, a barrage balloon, and also a German bomber. It was brought on the park during the war. I remember the balloons used to go up during the war when they had an air-raid warning. We used to watch on Sunday afternoons perhaps an odd cricket match or a game of football. There were quite a lot more [pitches] when the park was built.

We used to bring the children up to the swings on the park, usually on a Sunday afternoon and they would play on the swings and roundabouts. It wasn’t closed off like it is today. Myrtle: My uncle was head park-keeper and he lived in a little bungalow just outside the gate. He designed the pitch and putt, the big one. We used to play down there. [laughs] The parkkeeper, Reggie, you don’t have park-keepers today. You ran if you saw Reggie! They keep talking about having a park-keeper. Peggy (a friend): you weren’t allowed to ride a bicycle if Reggie was about.

Chris Carpenter

Chris grew up on South Park Avenue in the 1970s. His parents Pat and Peter still live there.

Interview: Helen Mitchell, October 2016

Chris used to ‘live’ in Eaton Park when he was growing up, spending evenings, weekends and school holidays playing there with friends and his cousin Jonathan, who lived next door.

In the 1970s you weren’t allowed to ride your bike in the park and if you did, you’d get chased and told off by the park keeper, or ‘parkies’ who looked after the park. You couldn’t play football either in the goal mouths, as this would spoil their beautifully prepared pitches. These and the many bowling greens and grass tennis courts – there must have been about twenty – were all kept beautifully. “During Wimbledon the park every court would be in use!” There were also gravel courts where players could easily slip. These were the last port of call if none of the others were left.

There were trains and a cafe but neither was open very often – it was quite random. The little putting green was incredibly popular and cost about 10p a round. If the parkie wasn’t paying attention you could sometimes get to go round twice!

In the 1970s the park used to close just before dark. The park keeper used to ring a bell – like a school bell – ten minutes before closing time, to give everyone time to leave the park. In the height of summer Chris and his friends used to climb back in and go and carry on playing, often by the boat pavilion.

At this time the boat pavilion was derelict, covered in graffiti, and had huge iron doors up to seal it off. As one of the more adventurous boys Chris used to clamber up to explore the building!

One of Chris’ favourite memories is of a summer, perhaps in the 1980s when local kids were invited to go fishing in the boat pond, their task ‘to catch as many fishes as you can’ – to clear it before the pond was emptied for cleaning. Chris remembers “we weren’t allowed to use a rod, just a line with a float – like going crabbing”.

The boat pond used to be swimming with fish – partly because when Chris and his friends used to go fishing on nearby rivers, they would come home with their catches and put them straight in the boat pond!

“Looking back, it’s not that I was a hooligan. We just had childhood adventures. A love of the outdoors and fishing has stayed with me ever since.”

Geoffrey Hanton

Memories kindly provided by Elizabeth Jack, daughter of Geoffrey Hanton, 12 October 2018.

Our dad, Geoffrey Hanton, worked at Eaton Park for many years, working his way up to be deputy park keeper. Until I was 10 (1962), we lived on South Park Avenue. Dad would come home for a cooked meal ar lunchtime (called “dinner”) as he worked long hours, especially in the summer months. On Sundays (and even Christmas Day) when he was working, we would often take him a cooked meal onto the park where he might be supervising the tennis courts, putting or bowling greens. The latter were his pride and joy and he kept them in immaculate condition.

When the circus came to town, it was set up on ground at the bottom of the park and employees of the park would receive free tickets. I hated circuses but we had to go as the tickets were free! We also paid 6 old pence to look the menagerie during the day. I hated that too!

We spent many hours, especially during the school summer holidays, playing in the park with friends and neighbours. I can still smell the painted, slightly rusting swings, slides and roundabout. We ran around the grassy areas and explored every inch of the park. The rose gardens were always immaculately kept as well as the bandstand. The beech hedge round the park was cut back every autumn and Dad would bring home old birds nests. The park also provided funghi for a printing competiton at Colman Junior School, for which I think I was awarded second place.

We moved to Trafford Road in 1962 and Dad continued to cycle to work, often taking Nona the dog with him at weekends. When he retired there was an article about him in the local press (don’t remember if it was the EEN or EDP) complete with photo of him by the tennis courts. Dad died in 2003. I have lived in Derby for 44 years now and don’t visit Norwich very often but I do retain very fond memories of Eaton Park.

Merryl B, born May 1951

An edited version of an interview made on 29 May 2008

Interviewer: Christine Wilson

When I was a child I used to live over at West Earlham and as a treat we were brought to Eaton Park to see the boating lake and the little train. It was marvellous to see the boating lake and all the gentlemen in striped blazers and straw boaters – I suppose they must have been club members. We’d come over and have a picnic and spend the whole day because where we lived at Earlham, Earlham Park didn’t have any swings or anything so that was such a treat to be brought to this one. There was a huge slide at the top and a smaller one for smaller children.

Also I used to love it when the circus came and even the most famous clown, Coco the Clown, would be down. He would have his dressing-gown on, like a Paisley dressing-gown. He always had his hair on for the children and he would make it stand up.

In later years I moved to South Park Avenue and a friend of mind was working in the community centre running the playgroup. She said to me, come and work with me in the park. I came over 1982 and I then really integrated into the life of the community centre. I was on all the committees and I ended up running the playgroup because the other lady’s child grew up and she wanted to move on. I was a key-holder for eight years and we had a very varied life. We did summer fetes, easter parades, you know, table top sales because they were popular at the time. There was also a discotheque of one sort or another, lots of things.

Were you involved in the fundraising?

No not for the actual community centre, no, but I was involved in the fundraising for the store which they built on afterwards, later. It’s still a really active community centre.

Shirley S, born 1936

An edited version of an interview made on 6 June 2008 – Shirley was closely involved in Eaton Park Community Centre.

Interviewer: Christine Wilson

To start off, we were collecting money. We’d have jumble sales in Eaton Parish Hall, before we had a community centre, then we wanted to start a junior club and Eaton Hall School let us have their hall on a Friday evening for the children. Then they got up a bingo session on Monday evening at Eaton Parish Hall, and I used to make cakes for them to sell with cups of tea and coffee. Two other people, Sam and Joyce, used to help with the bingo. Dennis B was a great help and of course my husband, Frank, used to do a lot in the community. He would go round on Sunday morning getting 50ps to start the actual community centre so people could go in when it was open. But they had to have a membership card. Frank used go all round South Park and North Park on Sunday morning collecting 50ps.

So was that money for the community centre?

Yes, I can’t remember how much that actually was but they had to raise so much money so they could prove that they could run a community centre. I think the Council still helps a bit with decorating and outside work, electricity, that sort of thing. We all mucked in together to raise that money.

Do you remember when the community centre was built?

Yes, that started in the end part of ‘81 and that was all finished by about March ’82. It was officially opened on 14 May 1982. We used to run the junior club on a Friday night. The children used to pay 10p to come in. There would be all sorts of games and painting and this and that – activities, they had football teams and then the girls wanted us to do something for them. Boys always got everything then! [laughs] So they came to me one day and said, we’d like to be majorettes. [laughs] I didn’t know anything about majorettes so I bought a book and read all about baton-twirling. Dennis, who used to help us said, tell you what we’ll do, we’ll buy some copper piping and I’ll paint it silver and we’ll get some knobs to put on the end. That was what we started off with, and because we didn’t have anywhere to practise we’d do that on the Park, weather permitting.

Once we got the centre going that was lovely. We used to go there on a Monday and a Wednesday evening. I used to run that with another lady Christine C. The girls won several trophies. We used to do displays which earned money. If you went to an old people’s home you’d only get about £10. We went to the Desert Rats reunion in Sheringham one time and they gave us about £50 or £60. We bought all the majorettes’ clothes, the fur hats, we paid for everything. When we had proper batons, their mums had to pay something towards them. Two pounds something they had to pay for the baton. We bought a big amplifier which we would take with us for the music. We had a drum major with the big baton-twirler right in front of the procession. We used to do the Lord Mayor’s procession on the Saturday night. That was a long long walk. [laughs] I should think seven or eight years I did that. I used to do all the washing for the majorettes’ clothes. [laughs] Once or twice kids would go home in their socks like when we’d been to a display and they’d come back and they’d look grey. And I thought we can’t have our kids going out looking like that, so I took everything home and washed it so they were clean and all right for the next time.

What about the junior club? When did that meet and how often?

Every Friday evening that was, right from when we started the community centre till about 16/17 years ago. People don’t want to carry these things on.

I think you told me you organised summer playgroups.

There are some pictures of that as well. I had several letters from different mums, which I thought was lovely, at the end of play schemes, saying how well that was run, how confident they were to bring their children and leave them. I had lots of cards of thanks, letters of appreciation, for having the children, how well that was run and how we took good care of the children and to thank all the helpers. I used to have so many mums come and so many teenagers so that you could have a mum and a teenager with, say, ten children, so if you went on an outing that way you got sensible people to keep that group together. That was every day for a month apart from Saturday and Sunday. That was tiring! That would be ’83 the first summer after we had a community centre. City Hall used to give you so much money to start with, to buy things, paint and paper and different toys and things. I finished doing that, I should say, about 1990. I used to enjoy it. We used to do a week at Easter, another week at Whitsun, and four weeks in the long summer holidays in August.

Were you working as well?

Oh yes, I worked in the fish shop on Parmenter Road. [laughs] I used to do that three evenings a week because that way there was always a grown-up at my house for my daughter. I had four children and my husband would be there.

So you did all this in your spare time?

Spare time, yes. [laughs] We always had a party on the last day.

Were you involved with other groups in the community centre?

No, only the junior club, the majorettes and the play scheme in the summer. I’m treasurer of Senior Citizens Club and I arrange all the outings and Christmas and everything like that. Can you remember anything about Eaton Park? I can remember coming to Eaton Park as a five-six year old when my mum used to bring me and my two sisters to the park on a weekend. That used to have a big jazz thing where two stood up and worked it and all little seats with a handle in front to hold on to, and another roundabout, a rocking-horse, a huge big slide and then a medium slide and a small slide. There used to be three slides in the park. Of course the swings and the baby swings were there.

Thank you very much, Shirley.

In February 2023, Chris Goreham of BBC Radio Norfolk sent Andy Trick along to talk to three park regulars about a bench they had sponsored in the park. The resulting interview is a reminder of Covid times in Eaton Park and the role parks played in people’s lives.  Here is a transcription of the interview.

Chris Goreham – I’m delighted to say we can solve one of the great Norfolk mysteries that we set running on this program a few weeks ago. You know, we asked you for your help to track down three people. Their names had been inscribed on a bench in Eaton Park in Norwich, along with the words COVID 19.

So we wanted to know what the story was. Why would you have your name and two of your friends, along with COVID 19, inscribed on a bench? It looked like an interesting story of people coming together over lockdown. And as it turns out, that is exactly what happened. With the help of the radio and of social media we have managed to get Elizabeth, Annie and Pam all together at their favourite place, the bench that now bears their name. Andy Trick has been to meet them.

Elizabeth – Hello, I’m Elizabeth Groves. I have a dog, so dog walking. And I’m in the croquet club as well. And I played table tennis as well outside.

Annie – Hello, I’m Annie Edmonds. I used to come here as a child.

Pam – And I’m Pam Granger. I played tennis here. I played for Home Tennis Club when they were all grass courts, actually. And I played golf and I played croquet.

Andy – Now, take me back to the first lockdown. Just tell me about how you used to meet down here.

Annie – I think Pam, for me, was the catalyst because she said, “Shall we meet at Eaton Park?” And I said, “Oh, great”. So that’s what we did and sat either side of the bench and chatted, under umbrellas at times, but it was very enjoyable.

Andy – And the bench you’re talking about is a slightly longer bench at the end of the pond just in the cnetre of Eaton Park. Why was it that bench, Pam?

Pam – Well, it was that bench because it was the right distance apart for us. I remember when I was sitting here on the bench the police came round on horseback and they told off two boys for sitting too close to each other and that was right at the beginning.

Oh and I had a special birthday sitting on the bench with a friend I can’t remember. Was it you Annie, or was it Elizabeth? (Noises off “Elizabeth”). Elizabeth we were sat either side of the bench and celebrated my birthday.

Andy – And the bench is what say two and a half, maybe three meters long? So you were able to keep your distance?

Pam – Yes. Especially on that end one we could sit and keep our distance, legally.

Annie – It was a normality in a very abnormal time. We saw people walking their dogs and we used to chat to them. It was lovely to meet Pam. I always met Pam on a Thursday and a Sunday morning. And we used to get a coffee, and I’d bring it down here, we’d sit, sip our coffee and it was just nice to be outside, and normal again.

Andy – And Pam, they were scary times. But do you look back with fondness at time spent, because we suddenly found ourselves having more time to chill and to take a big step back and spend time in places like parks?

Pam – I just found it very good because I live on my own to be able to come out and talk to people. We used to bring a plastic bag on the seat, a cushion to sit on and then a blanket to wrap round us and then we’d have our coffee.

Andy – So it was a bit of a life saver, really.

Pam – Absolutely. I often think I don’t know what we would have done without it. It was really, really good. I have a great fondness for Eaton Park because as I say I’ve played games here and my grandchildren went to the park and I live quite close.

Andy – It is a rainy day down here at the moment, and the sun is just trying to creep through the clouds. So it is a beautiful place – a lovely place to spend time. Whose idea then was it to have the bench installed?

Annie – Elizabeth

Elizabeth – Yes, it was me, Elizabeth.  I spoke to, I think Pam first, and you told Annie. And then we thought “oh, good idea”! Let’s the three of us go in, put some money in and order the bench.

Andy – A bench is a is a funny idea, isn’t it? Because you often associate benches with somebody that has passed, not, you know, through spending time in a park with each other. Elizabeth, where did the idea come from?

Elizabeth – I don’t know if you’ve heard of Friends of Eaton Park, but they helped us get the bench in conjunction with Norwich City Council. They’re very much keen to give the park a voice, and they’re very keen to have benches that aren’t just commemorating people or pets who sadly are no longer with us. They welcomed our idea with open arms.

Andy – And what’s the application process like? Is it difficult to have a bench installed?

Elizabeth – It takes quite a while (noises off – “be honest!”) if you want a bench, apply several months in advance. And then of course our bench matches the other benches, which it had to, around the lily pond, and the inscription had to be a certain length so we had the maximum length of inscription, and we particularly wanted COVID 19 on it as  you’ll see to mark that particular time.

Andy – And how much did it cost?

Elizabeth – I can’t remember exactly, but it was about £1,000 because the bench itself is £700 or £800. And then of course, they have to be fixed down so that somebody doesn’t throw them in the pond, which was another £200.

Andy – And just read the inscription for us, please.

Elizabeth – Well, our bench, with the maximum amount of letters, says Annie, Liz and Pam, a lovely place to meet and chat. COVID 19.

Andy – Lovely. And what was it like, Annie, the first time you got to see the bench and use it?

Annie – I was quite proud, actually, and I showed it to my family. They came down from Beckenham. We had a look at it, had our photographs taken on it and I’m very proud of it.

Andy – You had a grand unveiling?

Annie – We did. No alcohol, of course!

Andy – Of course not! And then is this a place that you still come to visit as a three?

Pam – I visit as a lot as I come to walk here.  I find it difficult walking very far on hard surfaces. So I come here so I can walk on the grass and it’s lovely. I don’t know what I would have done without it. I really don’t.

Elizabeth – And we have a very strong friendship between the three of us don’t we. (Noises off “we do!”).

Andy – Do you think the benches brought you closer?

Elizabeth – Yes, with lovely memories. And although they were difficult times, they’re happy memories aren’t they.

Chris – Wasn’t that great. We found them. We found the three of them. Elizabeth, Annie and Pam, unusually for people whose names are mentioned on a bench. We’re very pleased they’re still with us and still able to meet and chat not just about COVID 19, but about other things as well. We now know that Andy really should have taken them a Babycham each as well to officially open the bench!

Excerpt from Chris Goreham, Pub Talk, BBC Radio Norfolk, 27 February 2023. Transcribed by Helen Mitchell.

David Palmer wrote to tell us about growing up in Norwich in the 1940s and early 1950s. He went to school at Unthank College which used to be on the corner of Newmarket Road and Leopold Road. The original school building with its gardens, outside barn used as a gymnasium and play areas has long since been demolished and replaced by apartment buildings.When David was at school, Eaton Park used to serve as the school playing fields.

Unthank College School football team, winter 1950-51. (David Palmer is at the front on the left).

“I was born in Norwich in 1938 and started school on Newmarket Road 4 years later. Eaton Park provided us with our school playing fields for football and cricket every Wednesday afternoon.  Cycling down past the Jenny Lind Hospital we would arrive at the cycle sheds and make our way to the changing rooms.

For football in the winter this could be extreme weather, possibly freezing cold or pouring rain and that made no difference to our Sports Master – it was get out there and play!  After the game, in wet and muddy football gear, it was back to the bicycle sheds past the children’s play area with its swings and seesaw’s, then pedal home to get warm and dry.  Luckily I only lived on Ipswich Road so not too far to pedal.

In the summer the cricket pitches were fantastic and we could have two or three matches going on over the afternoon, be it School House games, or versus other schools, these could extend into very late afternoon if the match was close.

On other visits to the Park I would make my way there with a model boat or yacht that I had constructed (model-making being a favourite hobby) and spend happy hours sailing the models.

David Palmer beside the bandstand in Eaton Park 2018

Having just returned to the Norwich area having left almost sixty-years ago, it was fascinating going into the Park again and seeing many of the features unchanged, along with things that have been altered for the better over the years. The bandstand and changing rooms really take me back and I feel a young teenager again!

Hopefully this wonderful park, a superb feature of Norwich, will continue to look as it has for so many decades, the park workers are brilliant at keeping everything so beautiful.