The Memorial Gardens

This small park on the Trent Embankment is Nottingham's principle War Memorial and is still a very pleasant area in which to stroll and relax.  Whilst the ornamental pond and fountain were recently restored and returned to working order with funds from a private benefactor,  the park still needs very substantial additional funding to bring it back up to the high standard it once achieved.  However, on my last visit it appears that more time is now being allocated to the actual garden maintenance, and the beds, borders and rockery looked much improved and very colourful. The City Council has an excellent team of gardeners, it's just that they are not allocated sufficient hours to keep on top of the needs of this park.  Unfortunately, due to the recession, I fear that we will have to wait several more years before the memorial terrace with the seating and toilets underneath are restored and made accessible again and the ugly green fence surrounding it is removed.

 The park is also the home of the Queen Victoria statue that  was banished from its original site at the bottom of Market Street near the Old Market Square in the City Centre. She too is surrounded by an ugly green fence no doubt to deter the vandals that have inflicted some damage on the beautiful bronze panels on its plinth, as well as the actual statue.

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During the planning stages, fears were expressed that the proposed new flood wall along the Victoria Embankment would detract from the visual appearance of the Memorial Gardens and in particular to the memorial arch itself.  As the works in this area now near completion I believe that these fears will be set to rest.  All the walls are now built and only the fitting of flood gates remains to be done.  For most of its length the wall is constructed to a high standard in beautiful Nottingham Bulwell Sandstone which as it approaches the memorial changes to what I believe is off-white Portland Stone that very closely matches that of the monument itself.  The design of the wall as it passes the monument is so good, that in years to come, after a little weathering, I'm sure it will look as if it was part of the original design.  I do however feel that the new wall would have looked less intrusive at the Wilford end, had been placed the other side of the line of trees and not along the road side.

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