My husband and I visited Preston Park on a beautiful sunny morning. It's only just outside Brighton and is very well served by local buses. At the entrance there's a large information board with a map and giving the history of various of the interesting buildings in the park. It covers a large area and is very well tended, with rose gardens and flower beds. Plenty of space for strolling, picnicking and playing games. There are bowling greens and tennis courts and cafes and toilets too. There was an excellent children's playground and we were sorry we'd not got any of our grandchildren with us!
We then crossed over the main road to explore the Rockery that's built on the side of a railway embankment. Apparently the rock for it was brought by train from Cheddar Gorge. It was originally opened in 1936 and is a real delight, with winding stone paths, steps and a rustic bridge. A lot of work has been done on it over the past few years and gardeners have been busy replanting it – it looked really beautiful in the sunshine with the spring flowers.
Having climbed right up through the trees we could look out over to Preston Park, St Peter's Church next to it and then Preston Manor. We carefully came down beside a stream and rocky cascade and crossed the lovely pond by means of large stepping stones – definitely somewhere else the youngsters would enjoy! And all for free!!
