Friday 18 April 2014

Lister Park

Last Saturday, we visited a park which we hadn't been to before, Lister Park in Bradford. This is where I saw the ducklings that I wrote about in my Twelve Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day... post. There were lots of other lovely things to see too, so let's take a look.


There's a huge boating lake, we could see it shimmering through the trees.


I don't know what these pigeons had found on the grass but it must have been a tasty treat judging by the amount of birds which had landed.


My mum and dad are keen bowlers, they'd love these Crown Green bowling greens.


We could see the boating lake again through the hedges surrounding the bowling greens.


A fabulous bandstand which has recently been restored. There are concerts here on some Sunday afternoons.


As we walk by the bandstand, we can't help but see the back of Cartwright Hall which houses Bradford's civic art gallery. Admission is free. We would have loved to go inside, but we had Archie with us so that was out of the question.


A side view of the front of Cartwright Hall.


What a beautiful building.


Torsos by Sophie Ryder. Minotaur and Lady-Hare. I love her work.



Statue of Diana the Huntress. This is a replica of Diana of Versailles, a marble statue in the Louvre Museum in Paris.


A bronze Stag by Pierre Louis Rouillard.


The formal gardens outside Cartwright Hall.


We decided to have a walk down to the lake, passing this fabulous tree on the way.


These lions guard the entrance to the playground. There's some wonderful equipment to play on which looked very well maintained. There were quite a few people in there otherwise I may have tried a few things out.


Plenty of boats for hire and a cafe for a cuppa or an ice cream.


An island in the middle of the lake.


Another family of ducks. So cute.


But how do the ducks get on and off the island? This is how, their own little ramp.


Lister Park is very well kept and a lovely place for a stroll. We also visited the botanical gardens which you can read about on my Garden Visiting In April - Part One post over on my The Good Life blog.

This is another lovely park which I'm sure we'll return to.


18 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous park! I don't think we have anything like this where I live. There are big old parks with statues and monuments in large cities in the US, though. I would love to visit this one you shared, thanks for sharing with us. Happy Easter to you and your family.

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    1. We have lots of parks like this dotted around cities, we're very lucky with our green spaces. Thank you, Happy Easter to you and your family too.

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    1. It's fabulous, isn't it? I'd love to visit when a concert's being held.

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  3. It's quite good fun to try a new park out in a different town. We're spoilt in Liverpool with about 7 decent park areas in the city.

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    1. It's the same in Leeds, we've got some fabulous parks. We're very lucky really.

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  4. That looks a lovely day out. The boats would be great to go on and what a joy to have a cuppa whilst watching others in the boats. Just love that cute "duck ramp". Take care and hope the Easter break is a good so far.

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    1. It's a long time since I've been on a boating lake, I wonder what Archie would have made of it had we taken him on a boat. I love the idea of a duck ramp, I'd have loved to have seen it being used.

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  5. That's looks to be a lovely place for a stroll round, with lots of interest to photograph. I like the look of that tree. Flighty xx

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    1. I was pleasantly surprised by the park, a lovely place for a stroll. I think the tree's fabulous, though I'm not very good at identifying trees so I don't know what kind it is.

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  6. Looks lovely Jo. There are some lovely parks around aren't there. Unfortunately not so many around the fens. I've not seen any ducklings yet. Having seen your post I even made a special trip with four paws down to the duck pond to investigate but all I could see was a whole load of drakes sitting around and on the pond which either means the ladies haven't arrived yet or they are up on the island sitting on eggs so maybe there will be some little balls of fluff soon. Hope you're having a good Easter.

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    1. We have some wonderful parks to visit nearby, we're very lucky. I saw more ducklings yesterday, they must be taking their time around you but all good things come to those who wait, I'm sure you'll see some soon. It's a busy day here today, Daniel goes back to university tomorrow so I'm washing, drying and ironing as well as doing a bit of baking for him to take home with him. What's he doing? I hear you ask. Hmmmm, playing cricket!

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  7. I LOVE Lady Hare! Off to google! I want one! lol! Happy Easter.

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    1. Me too. I love this sculptur's work. You can see more by her at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Thank you, Happy Easter to you too.

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  8. I've never been there Jo but it looks a lovely place to visit. The rabbit sculpture looks similar to the ones I saw the other year in the Sculpture park at Bretton.

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    1. Sophie Ryder does have work on display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, I think her hare sculptures are quite well known now.

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  9. Wow, I loved the Minotaur and Lady-Hare....and that stag is wonderful. I did like the park too and always love to see the old band stands, they bring back so many childhood memories.xxx

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    1. My favourite sculpture is the Lady-Hare. Some of Sophie Ryder's work is on display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, in fact, her Lady-Hare sculptures were my favourite there, especially Sitting, which has the head of a hare and a body which is modelled on Ryder's own.

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