Kelsey Park Beckenham

4 1 Reviews

Parks & Squares in Beckenham
Manor Way , Beckenham, (London Borough of Bromley), BR3 3LH

This large town park is an ornamental pleasure ground with natural woodland and lakes.

The main entrance is in Manor Way. There are also entrances in Wickham Road and Stone Park Avenue.

Facilities: Café, Children’s play area with equipment. Friends information centre and noticeboard. Mini golf course (contact Maria on 07981 822364) Tennis, courts & Toilets (Toilet by café has baby changing unit in the ladies)

Tags: childrens playgrounds, crazy golf, parks, wildfowl

Kelsey Park Beckenham Reviews

Alan M.

9 reviews

An idyl near a high street - Kelsey Park is part of what was once the grounds of Kelsey Manor, now only a memory except for some small steps that led down from the house into the large lake and I am told some features left in local back gardens. If you look carefully among the trees between the top part of the lake and the children's playground, there is a funny brick building that I guess could have been the top of an ice house or something. I don't think many people know about it.

I am not an expert on garden history, but wonder if someone like the famous landscape gardener Capability Brown might have had an influence on its design.

It has two lakes, one large and one small fed from a waterfall in a large rockery area. These are actually part of the River Bec that meanders its way through the locality, sometimes hidden behind buildings but here making a real haven for ducks, geese, swans and herons, (they keep a count of the herons at the information hut run by the Friends of the park by the way). These are sometimes joined by seagulls, who eagerly try to steal the srubbishs of bread that many people bring their toddlers to feed, even if the bread, if not eaten causes serious pollution problems. The poor Canada geese are there in abundance, in spite of protests by some in the area and their attempts to get rid of them. (I would rather the angry people who much malign them would go away themselves :-). For those who love waterfowl the lake is an ideal place to sit and drink in the lovely scenery on a nice day. I live nearby and love to see the Canada Geese in batches suddenly decide to go for a fly, preceded by their cawing, or whatever one might call it, as if to say, "We are off for a fly around, come and join us", then almost as one, they suddenly begin to run, even across the water, managing better than St Peter perhaps, than just as suddenly they lift up into the air and over the neighbouring rooftops calling to one another all the time. I hear them from my house very often and it is wonderful to see them in formation calling to one another all the time, as they fly overhead.

There used to be an aviary of very colourful exotic birds at one time near the mid-Manor Way entrance. I used to love watching them, but for some reason they were removed, which is a great shame and the site is now covered in some anonymous looking bushes.

Oh yes! and I must mention the squirrels. There are plenty of them around, although they seem to be on the make very often, only interested in people if they think they will spare some bread of nuts for them to gamble off with. If you are lucky, you might also see one of the local foxes, although they are rather shy. I once saw someone making friends with one and feeing him sausages, which were clearly being very gratefully received.

Before I married I used to like visiting this lovely park and it was a "must" to bring my girlfriends here. Since marriage, I remember taking our young son to play in the children's playground, which is very popular and with a refreshment place on the edge.

When the children are not playing in the playground they are to be seen walking with their parents enjoying the flowers, trees, lake and general scenery. Sometimes they come with roller skates or little bicycles, (but why do all the little girls have to have pink ones all the time, and pink coats and trousers, I hate it! I am far from politically correct, but this seems like seriously sexually stereotyping them from an early age :-).

If you come into the entrance half way up Manor Way, after the pathway in you will be greeted by a steel cat sculpture, last time I looked he was peering out of some rushes. He is in the middle of one of the flower beds which dot the park fairly casually, but adding a splash of colour to the scene. The gardeners really do a good job of laying them out and replacing them when they have past their best. On the Manor Way side, where the old manor house used to stand there is also a lovely herbacious area, which adds a nice contrast to the whole totality of the park.

One warning finally - unless you are able to climb park railings, be careful not to miss realising when the park is closing. My wife and I were once locked in and the people who live in the old park lodge, which has a gate out into Manor Way, were most inhospitable in not allowing us our that way. (I guess that they had probably got rather tired of the park keepers not being careful enough and locking people in). As a result we were stuck in the park for at least an hour after closing until a kind passer- by outside the gate rang the park emergency service who came to let us out.

Well, I have had my moan, and to finish on a more positive note - If you like crazy golf, by the way, a lovely lady called Maria provides for this near the children's playground, which is near the Wickham Road entrance. Ring her, (phone no. above) to make sure the area is open.

So come, young and old to Kelsey Park and enjoy yourself on a warm summer's day, (or at least not when it is cold dull and raining). You will not regret it. If you can also give your car or Chelsea Tractor the day off as well, so much the better, because adjoining roads can sometimes get rather full with visitors to the park. 04-05-09

Tags: childrens playgrounds, crazy golf, parks, wildfowl

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Kelsey Park Beckenham

Kelsey Park Beckenham Reviews

Alan M.