Compared to your average greenspace Crystal Palace Park is extraordinarily recreationally diverse. There's the top bit where the exhibition centre was, the middle bit where the sports centre is and the lower bit where the dinosaurs are, not to mention woodland, lakes, a farm, visitor centre, cafe, museum, sphinxes, ornamental garden, maze and whopping great TV transmitter. But over the last year large parts of the park have been out of bounds while undergoing what some would call 'a major glow-up', or more accurately a long overdue restoration and makeover. And now it's finished, near enough. [10 photos]
These are the Italian terraces at the top of the park, part of the pleasure grounds opened when the Great Exhibition's huge glass hall was moved to Sydenham in 1852. But they've been poorly preserved since the palace burned down in 1936, with most of the classical statues decayed or lost, and more recently resembled an extensive split-level wasteland. The plan has thus been to make the terraces a much nicer place to linger and also to add something the Victorians never considered - step-free access.
For the upper connection they've gone right to the far end - so far that initially I didn't spot it - and added a gentle all-weather slope. This changes direction four times on the way down, and in an impressively practical move includes two stepping-stoned shortcuts to stop able-bodied visitors trampling desire lines through the flowerbeds. They could alternatively get down quicker via the adjacent original staircase, a broad flight whose stonework has been fully scrubbed or jetwashed, as indeed have all the other staircases further along. It all looks good.
The lower step-free connection is more cunning, having been squeezed into a thin gap where a disused staircase used to be. Again it's a zig zag but this time much more concentrated with seven narrow ramps within the confines of the balustrade itself. Handrails wend all the way up and there are also two central benches tucked back in the shrubbery, perhaps better for taking a rest than enjoying a view. This modern ascent looks very out of place but only close-up, thus is an ingenious solution to finally making the split level terraces accessible again.
On my visit two workmen were standing halfway up the ramp, by the sound of it doing some last-minute snagging, while two more of their colleagues worked the earth in front of the balustrade. The lower slope is all due to be prettily wildflowered, as some of the indentations further along already are. But at present the path ends in three further zigzags across open soil, weedy in places, and there is no way people are going to stick to the tarmac on the two hairpin bends. Expect rapid denudation as thousands of feet cut corners before any protective plants grow next summer.
The middle terrace doesn't look great yet either, not helped by the extremely dry weather we've been having lately. The designer'ssketches show substantial areas of picnic-friendly lawn and a lot of wildflower meadow with grass paths weaving off to either side. It looks nothing like that yet, the entire terrace having been dug up over the last year to improve drainage and help prevent future subsidence. I turned up while a forklift truck was shuttling back and forth removing protective barriers so that visitors could finally wander in, and was only impressed by the barren expanse because I'd seen how much worse it looked at the height of the works.
The most impressive sight is perhaps the bust of Joseph Paxton, designer of 1851's Crystal Palace and the subsequent pleasure park, which was previously on a plinth down by the sports centre. He's since been spruced up with National Lottery money and now takes pride of place on the central terrace. It's a seriously outsized head for the location and thanks to the sideburns looks more than a little like Noddy Holder, but also in the perfect spot as he looks out across his creation. A rectangle on the front of the plinth appears to be awaiting a plaque, perhaps whenever the proper reopening takes place.
Further money has been spent doing up the Grand Centre Walk and also on a new Visitor Centre, more appealingly modern than before but not due to open until Saturday morning. But the biggest difference in the lower park relates to the famous dinosaurs and their lakeland surround where some long overdue rescue and repair has taken place. It's so good that initially I wondered why they'd replaced all the originals with modern facsimiles. But then I recognised the weird-eyed fish, the elongated croc and the lizard resting its claw on a treestump, and blimey I don't know what they've done to spruce up the outer surfaces but it's amazing.
Again it's not all finished, not quite, so I was treated to the sight of four hi-vis project staff sharing notes behind the megalosaurus like overkeen Jurassic Park employees. But it all looks seriously pristine at the moment, even down to beautifully arranged gravel at the lakeside and along a weaving path behind. The dinosaurs' island has recently been linked to the mainland via a crowdfunded bridge, providing access only for approved groups, but you do get a great view of the erroneous reptilian menagerie from the opposite bank. Throw in a new dinosaur-themed playground round the back, which is already getting heavy use, and it all looks unexpectedly impressive.
A good time to come and see the revamped park might be this Saturday and Sunday because the Crystal Palace Trust will be hosting a special reopening weekend. The Mayor of Bromley cuts the ribbon at 9.45am and then there'll be children's workshops, a streetfood market, outdoor theatre, hot air balloon ascents and a celebratory visit from the Pengenista Drummers. At the top of the park the Crystal Palace Museum will be open on both days, and we're also promised special illuminations round the dinosaur lake after 8pm each evening. Both the Dinosaurs and the Italian Terraces were previously on Historic England's At Risk Register and now they aren't, which sounds like an excellent reason to celebrate to me.
