Thornes Park Reviews Summary

Recreational Activities

Pros:

• "Plenty to do, kids playground, skate park, mini steam train, pitch and putt golf, tennis, duck pond, aviary, wooden exercise equipment scattered around the park."
• "Best park in the world. Lots to do. Golf course, tennis courts, children's play area, rock music stage site, and a walking path all the way around the park."
• "Superb gardens, miniature railway, athletics track, sports facilities and playground for kids with ample parking and regular events throughout the year."
• "Home to a duck pond, a skate park, a miniature railway and more, AMAZING for walking dogs."
• "Great all round Park, really well kept gardens and an aviary."
• "Usually some kind of event going on in the school holidays. Miniature railway, ice cream van and plenty of space for the young ones to burn off energy."
• "This park has a play area for kids of all ages, a large play field, a miniature railway in the summer that you can ride on for 50p each."

Cons:

• "Pond does need cleaning up quite badly which is sad to see."
• "The ground area was tired and could be updated."
• "This park has an enormous potential but unfortunately it has not received any investments from the local authorities in the last 10 years... Very disappointed playground dirty and rusty."
• "Slides are great for the little ones. Could do with being a bit more secure as on one side there is a big gap where a kid could quite easily run out onto the road."
• "The play area is a mud pit when it rains, it was covered in graffiti and rubbish strewn all over."
• "Needs some updating. Steps to slide dropping to bits. And needs handrails. Public toilets dirty. Not cleaned well enough. No soap to wash your hands."
• "The flower beds are now empty and the place has a tired feeling about it."

Park Maintenance and Cleanliness

Pros:

• "Love Thornes park for a good walk around. Go to the duck pond, enjoy the scenery."
• "The rose gardens and plant areas are well maintained and a very relaxing area."
• "Loads of lovely things to see here, from the Victorian greenhouses and rose gardens to the duck pond, model railway and their wonderful aviary."
• "The park is almost fully open now and has been kept in a really clean and family friendly state."
• "The friends of the park volunteers do a fantastic job."
• "It is looked after by 2 volunteers who are doing a fantastic job without any council funding."
• "Well kept and clean. Well used by all ages from the local population."

Cons:

• "Told by police officers in the park that 'it's not a safe place to be alone, especially on a night and if possible to avoid at night at all. It has to be policed regularly.'"
• "But unfortunately I am a little upset that the toilets are not open all the time."
• "Sadly we had to witness 2 lads riding through a pool frightening the ducks and they thought it was funny."
• "It's a shame about all the litter and a few of the older kids were smoking around the younger children and lighting fires in the woods."
• "With it being a park be careful not to leave food as it does attract rodents."
• "The duck pond stinks and is filthy all around..looks like there hasn't been any maintenance carried out around it for years."
• "Visited here a lot of years but just a lately I find it dirty full of puddles mud everywhere bigger kids swearing bad mannered dog poo on grass beer cans that was 9.30 in morn it's a shame it's not well kept for locals and monitored."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "The park also has acres of grounds to walk and even a light railway."
• "There's three carparks connected to the paths, each with a lot of spaces, very rare that they fill up."
• "Small cafe which only taking cash."
• "There is lots of space for little ones to run and a huge playground."
• "Great park with free parking, a gym an athletics track and wide space for running or cycling."
• "Nice smooth pathways around the outside allow access by people of all abilities, as well as well maintained grassed areas which are mowed throughout the year."
• "Really peaceful getaway, wheelchair accessible pathways."

Cons:

• "No toilet facilities or onsite shops etc but not too far from city centre."
• "The only downside, there is no toilets and the cafe won't let you go to theirs unless you eat or drink inside whether you are a paying customer or not."
• "Be careful though at the top end nr Holmfield Arms as there are quite a few strange characters that come out of the bushes and prey on kids."
• "The icecream van prices are just ridiculous!"
• "Shame the park is always full of children that aren't being supervised by their parents."
• "Car park can have unsavoury types in on occasion so be careful."
• "However the lack of toilet facilities limits our time at Thornes park."