Fen Park was created in the early 1900’s. It first got a mention in the local papers of 1903, when the land and surrounding area was being considered for planning permission.
This was causing a bit of a problem for the local council in regards to what to do with the land as there wasn’t a park south side of town and residents north of the bridge already had two parks. Southwell Road stopped at the junction with Beaconsfield Road and the trail that led through to Kimberly Road was known locally as the ‘JU-JU Walk.’ You had to cross two small wooden bridges to get through the fen, which was a very wet and scary walk!
Moving into the 1920-30s the land was bought by a Mr Powell of the Lion Press, Lorne Park Road. He developed the area into a boating lake and also had a menagerie. Information from a newspaper report at the time said that Kensington Gardens was opened first with a lot of fuss and given a proper opening ceremony. Fen Park was opened a few weeks later but did not receive the hype or recognition it should have had as it was the biggest park south of the bridge.
The entrance fee was 2d old money. The park was mainly a grassed area which had monkeys in a cage with a tower, an ice cream stall and in the middle of the park, a pool with a small crocodile in it. Further down, there was the large pond with small swan shaped boats which people had to pay to use. The ponds were dug out as Mr Powell was a keen angler, and as far as I can make out the islands of today were mounds which the children of the day used to play on. References are made to the ponds being filled by the stream that runs past the Fen today.
The park remained very successful for a long time, until the Second World War came. After 1945 the park picked up again and lots of people enjoyed the Fetes and Beauty Contests which were held there. I was told that they could have been for Miss South Lowestoft or Miss Kirkley but I cannot find confirmation of this yet.
Moving on to the 1950s the only information I do know is that Fen Park Primary and Junior School used Fen Park for its sports days on, as they only had a paved playground area. The land that Kirkley Middle School is built on had previously been a Coal Merchants whose supplies were brought by the railway which passed close by. The railway line also supplied the then Co-op Factory, carrying on along the quayside, possibly taking goods to and from boats moored there. Also, near to where the schools entrance is now, there was once a Petrol Depot.
During the 1960s Kirkley Middle School was built. This was when the school system changed from Primary, Junior then onto Secondary Modern/Grammar, to Primary, Middle, and High School as we know it today.
In 1963 there were discussions by the council over the siting of the pumping station for Fen Park.
The area that was being considered and talked about at the time was the children’s play area. Thankfully though, the pumping station was re-positioned and put where it is today; hidden from the main view of the park, around a corner at the south side. This area has been improved by Anglian water.
In 1987 the Fen was badly damaged by the October storm in which lots of trees were lost. This took a lot of clearing up at the time; there was also a lot of damage in other places across the country. After the park was tidied up between 1989-1993 the difference was immense, the islands had flowers, the water was really clear and there was no rubbish; such a contrast if you went and had a look today!
Moving on from this time to 1995-6, another group got involved with the upkeep of Fen Park. I think by this time the park keeper had gone and park maintenance had suffered cut backs like everywhere else. This group were mainly involved in pond maintenance as health and safety was a major factor at the time. They worked with P. Warring from WDC and local councillors in improving this area. They worked hard for 2 years and then folded as they found co-operation with the council was not as forthcoming as we have found it to be today.
