My Four Greens
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My four greens
Green spaces in cities are sites of glorious exhales. Of staring out at expanses of green. Of relaxed eyes. Of escaping anxious cycles of thought. Sites to see and spend time with my local community. To share and practice culture, democracy. Sites for playing games, For being more relaxed, more vulnerable in my body: for laying down and taking shoes off. They are also, and the shift often comes at night, sites to be avoided. Sites of quickened footsteps, of fear. This is a zine about the four green spaces that surround where I live. It is my thinking through them and of them. Through conversation, observation, exchange and doing.
It is about care, curiosity, mental health and the everyday.
SITE 1 // CENTRAL PARK A circular public park with paths that run around the edge and four into the centre, dividing the space into four quadrants. A low gate lined by trees runs around the perimeter of the park, creating a barrier from the surrounding roads. The park includes many sports and leisure facilities, a cafe, paddling pool, ample benches, several maps and well used notice boards. It is well used by the local community. A local group Friends of Central Park support events and improvements to facilities in the park. Protect our Park is scheme underway that encourages people to report suspicious activity they see in Central Park. Origins: Opened in 1877, the park was built by Peterborough Land Company as a private enterprise, with an initial fee of 5 shillings to enter. In 1908 it was transferred to the council as a leisure facility. The design was typical for the time, with avenues of tall, and some exotic trees and pathways for promenading. The original design contained a miniature boating lake, now a sunken garden, and a bandstand where the willow tree now stands in the centre.
CENTRAL PARK
G E T T I N G T O K N O W YO U I c an’t d is ent ang l e t he j ou r ne y f rom t he sp a c e it s el f. As s o on as t he rhy t hm of t he l i me t re e s pi ck s up, it b e g i ns . Tu m , tu m , tu m t he g r ande u r of t he b ou l e v ard, t he c ol ou r p a l e tte is de e p g re e n , w it h a c c e nt s of r ust y or ange b ark. Tu m , tu m , tu m d ic t ate s a c e r t ai n rhy t hm . I spend months, a year, slowly, getting to know looping on my bike, barely placing my feet on the floor :I move through: L
ER
PING
OVER
OO
D OV AN
Trying to ascertain what the space is, what it could be, what it was meant to be It doesn’t come to me for a long time. It changes and morphs again again and
e s I L AP A N
D
st
P, the lappin g
m
tim
LA
ght at th es e hou
FULL. Buzz. The only picnics I see in Peterborough. Dedicated morning walkers. Daily cross word puzzler. Eid in the Park. Gospel choirs. Dance groups. A
stiff straight-laced Victoria park, that offers one mode of engagement: one route. An exotic zoo of trees: that tells: look do not touch me.
I RUN HERE
c imi
s my anx iou
HOW DO I GET LOST HERE?
But, over time, I learn to run figures of eight here. Learn to take my shoes off here and drape around those 4 quadrants around those 4 quadrants draped in grass consumed in a circle a green sanctuary that gets clearer over time
: and I go to.
A GAME OF PING PONG IN A GAME OF MENTAL PING PONG INSIDE MY MINDwalls
A GAME OF PING PONG INSIDE MY MIND...
ceiling walls
Ball bounces up down, confined to the internal walls of my mind Occasionally reaching out to these concrete walls - ceiling - walls Nothing new to be found, it repeats walls- ceiling - walls - walls
A GAME OF MENTAL PING PONG INSIDE MY MIND
NSIDE MY MIND
I am outside. My vision has a soft green frame. The ping-pong finds air, wind, leaves: gets lost in trees. I am here.
RUMINATION AS SELF-HARM
GET OUTSIDE,
IF YOU CAN
DISRUPT THE CYCLE.
Inquisitive, playful, nimble, bold:
We are hosting a Central Park squirrel photo competition!
SITE 2 // BURGHLEY SQUARE A triangular green site situated on a busy crossroads, lined by tall trees. Contains no features or amenities. Origins: Established as part of the expansion of the northern part of the city in the late 1800s. The site was initially connected to Broadway Fields which ran to the South and was developed into offices in 1970. This left two triangular green spaces facing one another with a road running between. In 1960 the second triangle was developed on and boarded up, leaving the one that remains today.
BURGHLEY SQUARE
Burghley Square, now just a triangle, was once lined with benches. Now removed, there is no encouragement, no invitation to look, linger, pause, rest. No suggestion that this is a place to go to, to spend time.
What makes a place?
Is this a place?
ENACTMENT OF CARE_PART 1
EN_ACT_1 An exercise in colour
The planting of a ring of deep violet violas around the base of one of several rusty-orange barked Wellingtonia trees that line the site.
Planted to highlight these trees and space - well loved by some local residents - to more passersby.
“It looks like a wedding ring” Local person
Four months later:
SITE 3 // Stanley Recreation Ground A recreation ground with a children’s play park contained within. A wide tree-lined path runs through the middle of the site, with narrow paths running round the edges. One busy road runs along the northern edge of the site, the remainder is set back from the roads and quite protected from traffic. Contains several benches, and picnic tables within the play park, a notice board, drug disposal boxes and the remains of a fountain. Origins: Opened to the public in 1860. The site was once part of the Stanley Estate, donated by Jane Stanley on the passing of her husband, specifically for the recreation of children. The site, originally larger initially contained a cricket and quoits pitch.
STANLEY RECREATION GROUND
G AT E WAYS A N N O U N C E , T H E Y WELCOME
THEY FRAME T H E Y S E E K TO T E L L YO U S O M E T H I N G O F P L A C E B E F O R E Y O U E X P E R I E N C E I T. S E E K TO T E L L Y O U O F I T S C H A R A C T E R , I T S N A M E . I like gateways, but wonder: who should be designing them?
W H O G E TS TO S P E A K O F P L AC E ?
Notes on design overleaf: Mow the grass: the placard design inspired by the activist history of Stanley Recreation ground which has played host to the Suffragettes (1913), the Celta Mill Strike (1928), PRIDE (2018+). The gateway speaks MOW THE GRASS: the demand of a present day resident. The grass currently only being mowed 8 times a year, making it hard to be used for sports such as football and other recreational activities. Rainbow shapes reference the site as a starting point for PRIDE in 2018 and 2019. Linseed: William Stanley was an ironmonger, specialising in agricultural implement and winning, at the Great Exhibition in 1852 an award for a Linseed crusher he had designed. Jane: A reminder of Jane, who chose to donate the space, and a reminder of the original intention for the space and reason for it being gifted: for the recreation of children. How can this original intention be preserved and protected today?
STANLEY RECREATION GROUND does not have a gateway.
Instead you enter through an unassuming, bin laden path. Residents of Cathedral Green retirement home, that overlooks the recreation ground, were asked what they thought it could say.
A with
baggy a skull and crossbones? Cigarette butt? London Plane leaf? Sweet wrapper Pigeon’s feather? I I
wonder wonder
how
they
who
Looking around who is and for Who is and what is not
got dropped using
the
happening
I
wonder what all this tells tells us of the role played by green spaces tells
Made by items found on the floor of Stanley Rec: What does the litter on the floor of your local park tell you? Inspired by Contemporary Archaeology walks, Finsbury Park (2NQ)
us
of
society?
there? them? space what? missing, here? us, today
ENACTMENT OF CARE_PART 2
EN_ACT_2 Linseed Repainting of a forlorn piece of play equipment. Swedish 1960’s design with a mock kitchen (complete with hobs) on the ground floor and a ship’s steer on the top floor. Well loved by local park users. Repainted in an attempt to repair, restore and avoid removal - of which there is a stated risk from the local authority. Paint used: compostable toy-safe linseed oil paint.
“To remove it would be to cut people off from their childhood” Local resident
SITE 4 // BROADWAY CEMETERY A gated cemetery now closed to burials. The site is sandwiched between residential streets. Enter off two of the city’s main northern arteries, both congested with traffic. The site itself is set back and secluded. Site includes one bench, inactive notice boards at both entrances and two needle disposal boxes. The site is a designated nature reserve with over 150 species of flowers and plant. Friends of Broadway Cemetery were once active. Origins: Built in 1857, the site initially contained two small mortuary chapels that were demolished in 1960.
BROADWAY CEMETERY
ENACTMENT OF CARE_PART 3
EN_ACT_3
Bringing the inside out
Decorating the gates of the cemetery with gold silk leaves: to bring a sense of what is inside this secluded cemetery to the street. A designated nature reserve, the site is rich with plant life and full of decades old gravestones, some beautifully carved and ornate in nature. A peaceful site for reflection,being with nature and enjoying a respite from the street.
“The cemetery is a true oasis amidst city streets, home to many species of flora and fauna� Former poet-in-residence of cemetery
This is a zine about the four greens spaces that surround where I live...
...what about yours?
Made by Katy Hawkins with the support of great mentors, friends & local historian Hazel Perry. Peterborough, 2019 - 2020 katyghawkins.com Funded by the Arts Council of England as part of Developing Your Creative Practice