History of the Western Park
The park dates back to the mid-19th century, and is considered
one of the city's most distinguished open spaces. It may be
considered Auckland's oldest park. The original park consisted of
only a coffin-shaped wedge going from Ponsonby Road down to
Beresford Street, with access to the park being gained from a very
narrow frontage on Ponsonby Road. Before, a stream had flowed
through the general area, called Tuna-Mau by the local Maori,
meaning 'the trapping of eels'.
In 1873, the Council decided to call for a new park design, and
declared that the sum of ten guineas/pounds (then quite a sum)
would be awarded as prize money to the creator of the winning
design. Out of 11 different concepts were submitted, the 'Lily of
the Valley' design of Hammond and Blackmore was chosen. The new
park was soon finished, at a cost of 200 pounds and in 1874 the
City Parks Committee did note that "upwards of 1100 deciduous and
coniferous trees of the choicest kind [were] to be planted in the
park." Vesting to the City Council followed in 1875 and in 1879 the
Auckland Star reported the city following the example of 'the
civilised world' with the official opening on November 17.
Recently various works have been undertaken, including tree
planting, improvement works followed the original design as well as
installation of artworks by sculptor John Radford near the Ponsony
entrance as well as park furniture by local artist and silversmith
Matthew von Sturmer. The three sculpture works represent pieces of
buildings that once stood in Auckland, artistically sunk into the
ground in the manner of ancient ruins.( Source:Wikipedia )
Cache Description & Contens
At the time of placement the following Items where in the
Cache:
- Logbook
- Pen
- Muggle Note
- Weather Proof Instant Cam* (please leave in
the cache)
- Plastic Frog
* I'm going to publish the photos that are
taken with the cam on this gallery. Please note in the logbook
which picture is yours and give me a note as soon the camera is
full. Would be great to see a few friendly cacher faces in the
gallery, wouldn't it ?
I have finally managed to setup a Flickr-Gallery for this cache.
Follow
this
link to get to the gallery !