World’s Scouts Meet At Beautiful Sutton Park

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28346, 3 August 1957, Page 10

World’s Scouts Meet At Beautiful Sutton Park

[By EVELYN MACEY]

IT ■ fe' doubtful ' wKether many . Nqw Zealanders had heard of Sytton Park, in the heart of England, before the announcement of the World Scout Jamboree, now in progress. Possibly they may imagine it as green park lend, similar to Hagley Park in Christchurch. On a radio programme it Was as typical English woodland, but this is not strictly correct. An area .of about 10 square miles, it was originally part of a< chase—wild, open hunting country —and it was granted to the people of Sutton or Colefield as it was spelt then, by King Henry VIII, so that for all time the citizens of the town may enter and enjoy it as freejy as they like. All non-residents must pay to Jo in at one of the many gates that dot the circumference of the park. They pay gladly, for this open space, of woods, marshland, streams, pools and gentle slopes covered in bracken, gorse and heather, is one of the favourite week-end haunts of the people of , the vast industrial city of Birmingham. A bus ride from the centre of Birmingham to the park takes half to threequarters of an hour, depending which entrance one wishes reach. The whole way is through a built-up area, -first the grey slums, then the red brick suburbs. Reaching the boundary of Sutton, one sees a notice board, attractively designed and painted, proclaiming “The; Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.”

The people of Sutton are proud of their park. Their eagerness to preserve its natural beauty, which led to a Friends of the Park Association being formed, in no way lessens their sefise of the honour of their park being chosen as the site for the World Jamboree. . The accommodation of thousands of visitors means the erection of temporary buildings on a large scale, i”ith all their attendant pipes) and wires; but it is to be hoped that the visitors will find their way and the time to appreciate the park’s normal amenities. From the main gate, where there is a fair ground,, there are tar-sealed roads to many of the pools, among which there are a swimming pool, a boating pool, and a larger pool for yachts,

used also by sea cadets. One .of , the most beautiful pools -is more , secluded, reached by walking i through wcods>of both’ deciduous , and evergreetiftrees (at Christmas > the citizens are allowed a bundle i of holly for a nominal fee). Along I this small lake's banks are many : ducks waitihg to be fed with tit- i bits from the pleasant tea garden. i The wild life of both birds and i plants is another source of in- ' terest, particularly the white i swans which nest on a small island in one of the smallest and m ?t s \s Pl ! ait it is called, that Whether temporary camp was Vuilt, the beginning of the last war. It was an interflmeiit camp for enemy ' aliens, and liter it tyas used for Czech Soldiers, but now the walker will fifid no trace of it at all, though he would sdon reach the faint track that is all that remains of an- old Homan road. But whatever remains to remihd future generations that the World scout jamboree was held jn Sutton Pprk in 1957, it will be a reminder of goodwill and hope, hot war and grief) and when the scouts return to the far corners of the earth, perhaps they’ will tike with them some precious memories of the gift Henry VIII bestowed on the people of Sutton Coldfield.