Latest news with #RoyalParks
Scottish Sun
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
One of England's most popular children's playgrounds is about to get MUCH better
Plus, the award-winning English attraction with a 'one-of-a-kind' indoor play zone and its own campsite PLAY TIME One of England's most popular children's playgrounds is about to get MUCH better ONE of the most famous and loved children's parks in the country, will soon be getting a £3million upgrade. The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens, London, which is regularly named among the best play parks in England, is having some of its most popular parts replaced. Advertisement 4 The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens will get a £3million upgrade this year Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay 4 It will include a new treehouse encampment and tunnel slide Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay 4 There will also be greater accessibility in the park Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay According to Royal Parks - who manage the playpark - the improvements will retain "the characteristics of the existing Peter Pan-inspired playground". The much-loved Galleon will be replaced will be a new ship in the centre of the park with an additional lookout platform and a tunnel slide. The Galleon will also feature interactive play elements such as a 'Captain's Wheel', and musical and sensory features. There will also be a new treehouses encampment, with three climbable towers, talk tubes, a tunnel slide and a see-saw bridge. Advertisement The Treehouse Encampment will include social and interactive features such as musical equipment. The park's Mermaid Fountain will also get a redesign, with a sand play area and dams and gates for kids to play with in the water. The new equipment will be made out from timber from sustainably managed forests. The site will also have improved accessibility, with wheelchair-friendly spaces in both the Galleon and the Treehouse Encampment. Advertisement Andy Williams, park manager for Kensington Gardens, said: "This free-to-access playground has a special place in millions of children's hearts across the globe, and it's about to get even better. "Working with play specialist providers, our own landscape teams, and the local community we have developed proposals that will continue to make this playground an experience like no other. Lilidorei is the biggest adventure playground in the UK "The planned accessibility improvements will mean that the playground is open and welcoming to all children." Work will start in autumn of this year, and is expected to be complete by spring 2026. Advertisement The park originally opened in 2000 to commemorate Princess Diana, who once resided in Kensington Palace nearby. In total, the park welcomes over one million visitors a year. There is also the National Trust's largest adventure playground that mums say is 'a day trip in itself' and is also a Hollywood film set. Plus, the award-winning English attraction has 'one-of-a-kind' indoor play zone and its own campsite. Advertisement
The Irish Sun
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
One of England's most popular children's playgrounds is about to get MUCH better
ONE of the most famous and loved children's parks in the country, will soon be getting a £3million upgrade. The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens, London, which is regularly named among the best play parks in England, is having some of its most popular parts replaced. 4 The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens will get a £3million upgrade this year Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay 4 It will include a new treehouse encampment and tunnel slide Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay 4 There will also be greater accessibility in the park Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay According to Royal Parks - who manage the The much-loved Galleon will be replaced will be a new ship in the centre of the park with an additional lookout platform and a The Galleon will also feature interactive play elements such as a 'Captain's Wheel', and musical and sensory features . There will also be a new treehouses encampment, with three climbable towers, talk tubes, a tunnel slide and a see-saw bridge. Read more on playparks The The park's Mermaid Fountain will also get a redesign, with a sand play area and dams and gates for kids to play with in the water. The new equipment will be made out from timber from sustainably managed forests. The site will also have improved accessibility, with wheelchair-friendly spaces in both the Galleon and the Treehouse Encampment. Most read in News Travel Andy Williams, park manager for Kensington Gardens, said: "This free-to-access playground has a special place in millions of children's hearts across the globe, and it's about to get even better. "Working with play specialist providers, our own landscape teams, and the local community we have developed proposals that will continue to make this Lilidorei is the biggest adventure playground in the UK "The planned accessibility improvements will mean that the playground is open and welcoming to all children." Work will start in autumn of this year, and is expected to be complete by spring 2026. The park originally opened in 2000 to commemorate Princess Diana , who once resided in In total, the park welcomes over one million visitors a year. There is also the Plus, the 4 It is expected to be complete by spring/summer 2026 Credit: The Royal Parks/Timberplay
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
One of England's most popular children's playgrounds is about to get MUCH better
ONE of the most famous and loved children's parks in the country, will soon be getting a £3million upgrade. The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens, London, which is regularly named among the best play parks in England, is having some of its most popular parts replaced. 4 4 4 According to Royal Parks - who manage the playpark - the improvements will retain "the characteristics of the existing Peter Pan-inspired playground". The much-loved Galleon will be replaced will be a new ship in the centre of the park with an additional lookout platform and a tunnel slide. The Galleon will also feature interactive play elements such as a 'Captain's Wheel', and musical and sensory features. There will also be a new treehouses encampment, with three climbable towers, talk tubes, a tunnel slide and a see-saw bridge. The Treehouse Encampment will include social and interactive features such as musical equipment. The park's Mermaid Fountain will also get a redesign, with a sand play area and dams and gates for kids to play with in the water. The new equipment will be made out from timber from sustainably managed forests. The site will also have improved accessibility, with wheelchair-friendly spaces in both the Galleon and the Treehouse Encampment. Andy Williams, park manager for Kensington Gardens, said: "This free-to-access playground has a special place in millions of children's hearts across the globe, and it's about to get even better. "Working with play specialist providers, our own landscape teams, and the local community we have developed proposals that will continue to make this playground an experience like no other. "The planned accessibility improvements will mean that the playground is open and welcoming to all children." Work will start in autumn of this year, and is expected to be complete by spring 2026. The park originally opened in 2000 to commemorate Princess Diana, who once resided in Kensington Palace nearby. In total, the park welcomes over one million visitors a year. There is also the National Trust's largest adventure playground that mums say is 'a day trip in itself' and is also a Hollywood film set. Plus, the award-winning English attraction has 'one-of-a-kind' indoor play zone and its own campsite. 4
Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Telegraph
More walkers hit by cyclists than cars in royal parks
Cyclists are more likely than motorists to hit and injure pedestrians in London's parks, new data reveal. Nine pedestrians were struck by cyclists in the capital's Royal Parks, which include Hyde Park, Regent's Park and Richmond Park, between January 2024 and April 2025. There were a reported 18 similar near misses across the eight outdoor spaces. In contrast, no pedestrians were struck by cars and there were only two reported near misses involving vehicles, accident logs held by the Royal Parks show. The data was obtained after the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) responded to a parks campaign encouraging cyclists to obey 20mph speed limits by insisting: 'The biggest cause of road danger to anyone inside a Royal Park remains drivers.' The only motorised vehicle to hit and injure someone over the 16-month period was a motorbike, according to accident logs released through a Freedom of Information response. Meanwhile, nine cyclists collided with other cyclists and two cars collided with other cars. On eight occasions, cyclists rode into moving or parked cars, including one who hit a vehicle after ignoring a red light. In total, seven cars hit cyclists in incidents where the motorist appeared to be at fault. There were a further three near misses between cars and bikes. Cars also struck trees, walls and lampposts on seven occasions. And cyclists were logged as running over and killing a squirrel, and hitting two dogs and a deer. In April, the Royal Parks charity launched a 'considerate cycling' campaign after Hilda Griffiths, 81, died after being hit in Regent's Park by Brian Fitzgerald, a Credit Suisse director who admitted he was travelling at 29mph in the park's 20mph zone in a 'pace line' formation with other club cyclists. An inquest heard he could not be prosecuted because speed limits do not apply to bikes. Mrs Griffiths died from her injuries two months after the collision in 2022. Tom Fyans, the LCC chief executive, responded to the campaign by saying: 'While cyclists riding too fast are annoying and can undeniably be dangerous, the biggest cause of road danger to anyone inside a Royal Park remains drivers.' Gerard Griffiths, the son of Mrs Griffiths, who has campaigned for a review of cycling laws, said the latest data show bikes put people at greatest risk in parks. 'The attitude of some cyclists – whose need for speed and bragging rights on GPS fitness apps like Strava – needs to change,' he said, referring to YouTube films of cyclists in Regent's Park exceeding 30mph. 'It's about time that sections of the cycling community realise that riding at excessive speed is dangerous.' An LCC spokesman said 'historically' through roads in the Royal Parks have had 'significant issues' with speeding and dangerous driving. He added: 'Many of the Royal Parks have no or few motor vehicles but lots of people cycling. That is likely to explain some of the data presented here. 'Regardless of that, no one should be injured walking or crossing the road in a park, and as we've hopefully been clear on, every single park user – cyclist or driver – should behave sensibly, legally and pay close regard to others, their surroundings and their speed.' A spokesman for the Royal Parks said it welcomed considerate cyclists, adding: 'Unfortunately, we have seen too many collisions and near misses between speeding cyclists and pedestrians or wildlife, which is why we recently launched a 'considerate cycling' campaign, asking cyclists to slow down, stay within the maximum 20mph vehicle speed limit in the parks and respect others.' The parks' new code has already been mocked on social media by some cyclists, who suggest that it unfairly targets them. The Royal Parks spokesman added: 'We believe that reminding cyclists to watch their speed will improve safety in the parks for everyone and will give cyclists more time to react in the event of a possible collision.'
Time Out
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
London's Princess Diana Memorial playground is getting a £3 million upgrade
The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens is one of the most famous and beloved children's parks on the planet. It first opened in 2000 and is visited by more than one million children a year. Naturally, all those years and all those kids stomping, sprinting and crawling about has taken its toll on the play area, and lots of equipment is in need of replacing. Now, planning permission has been granted for a £3 million transformation of the park. It'll still look like the playground that millions of people know and love, with the Royal Parks charity promising that the makeover will 'retain the characteristics of the existing Peter Pan-inspired playground'. The current galleon will be replaced will be a new and improved ship in the centre of the park with fresh features, including an additional lookout platform and a tunnel slide. Kids can also get excited for the new treehouse encampment at the playground, which will feature three climbable towers, talk tubes, a tunnel slide and a see-saw bridge. The park's Mermaid Fountain is getting a redesign, too, with a sand play area and interactive dams and gates for the little'uns to play with in the water. The new equipment will be made out of equipment from timber from sustainably managed forests. The area will also get improved accessibility, with wheelchair-friendly spaces in both the galleon and the treehouse encampment. Andy Williams, park manager for Kensington Gardens, said: 'This free-to-access playground has a special place in millions of children's hearts across the globe, and it's about to get even better. Working with play specialist providers, our own landscape teams, and the local community we have developed proposals that will continue to make this playground an experience like no other.' 'The planned accessibility improvements will mean that the playground is open and welcoming to all children.'
