History of Hammond's Pond.
The
History of Hammond's Pond.
Over a hundred years ago the site
of Hammond's Pond was a brick pit. Clay was excavated by hand and
shovel, formed into bricks which were either fired there at the
site or at a nearby kiln, for use locally.
These clay pits or brick pits
naturally filled with water, forming a lake.
Archie Hammond, a market gardener
on Upperby Road saw the potential of the site, and created
'Pleasureland'.
When the park first opened to the
public on Whit Monday 1923, there were pleasure boats, tennis
courts, a cafe, and animal enclosures. On Saturday nights, people
danced on the open air wooden dance floor. Sadly the Cumbrian
weather got the better of the dance floor and it was removed.
Archie Hammond died in 1928, three
years later in 1931, the City Fathers bought the 28 acres of
Pleasureland for £1,850 with borrowed money - to be repaid over 80
years. The Park became known as Upperby Park, and a plan for a new
layout was drawn up by Percy Dalton the City Surveyor for the
Carlisle Corporation.
In 1949 the Carlisle and District
Model Engineers Society built the small gauge railway track on the
island at Hammond's Pond, using concrete railway sleepers and
building blocks. The Society was started by an engineering lecturer
from Carlisle Technical College in 1936, and is a reminder of the
great engineering heritage that Carlisle City has.
Through the eighties and well into the nineties, Upperby
Park as it was known then passed through a period of decline
because of compulsory competitive tendering reducing the quality
and level of resources that once maintained the park. Vandalism and
neglect were very much in evidence, so too was pollution in the
pond, with toxic blue green algal blooms being commonplace.
Thanks to a Parks for People grant
from the National Lottery in 1998, Upperby Park was developed to
provide much improved access and park facilities. New oxygenating
pumps were installed to reduce the threat of blue green algal
blooms and the water fowl returned. The café was refurbished, new
footpaths and car parks were laid and Upperby Park was renamed
Hammond's Pond in honour of its founding father
Archie Hammond.
Ten years on and we at Carlisle
City Council are continuing our commitment to provide a quality
park for the people of Carlisle that is Cleaner, Greener and
Safer.