Bandstands : Penarth

Penarth is privileged to have two bandstands though one of them isn’t really a bandstand, more of a shelter from the rain or a covered place to sit. Let’s start with that one, which is in Penarth’s Alexandra Park.

This structure was installed in 1994 and actually replaced a wooden shelter that had previously stood in the same position but had been removed sometime in the 1950s.

The new construction is certainly elegant – I like the fine lines of its supporting posts but, unfortunately, it is no substitute for the original bandstand that once stood slightly further down the sloping site. You can see an old postcard of the original bandstand and wooden shelter on the Penarth Dock website here and a couple more old images on the same website here – note the amazing view at that time: it has since been obscured by growing trees and tall beach-side apartment buildings.   

The only real bandstand remaining in Penarth is the Victorian structure, shown above, in Windsor Gardens. Amazingly, it is the original bandstand, which probably explains why it is looking rather shabby these days.

The Penarth Parks website provides little information about this structure, except to quote an extract from the 1903 publication Mate’s Illustrated Penarth (W. Mate & Sons, Bournemouth):

There is a fine band stand, or shelter, and occasionally al fresco concerts are given, and sometimes of an evening the Gardens are gaily illuminated.

So, I looked back through the old Welsh newspapers to try to find more information. I found a reference to a Penarth Local Board meeting, held on 3 April 1894, at which a request for a band stand to be erected on the Promenade, made by the Cardiff Military Band, was considered and rejected. But, obviously, some people thought the idea had merit because I then came across the advertisement (shown at right), in the Barry Docks News of 20 July 1894, just 3½ months later.

The Windsor Gardens bandstand was duly opened on 25 July 1894. Here’s the following day’s rather brief report from the South Wales Daily News:

ILLUMINATION OF THE WINDSOR GARDENS, PENARTH.
GRAND MILITARY CONCERT.
Through the courtesy of Col. H. 0. Fisher, the band of the 2nd Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers, under the able oonductorship of Mr Paul Draper, gave a first-class military concert Wednesday night, in the Penarth Gardens. The occasion was the opening of new band stand, which is octagonal in shape, 20ft. in diameter, copper roofed, and recently erected by Lord Windsor, at a cost of £200. There were quite 1,500 to 1,600 present to witness the fairy-like appearance of the grounds, which were magnificently illuminated by Richardson and Company, Cardiff, with thousands of coloured lamps and Japanese lanterns. It is intended to continue a weekly (Wednesday) series of promenade concerts.

It almost sounds like the illuminations were more newsworthy than the band music, and, indeed, the trend for romantic illuminations continued. This is from the Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser of 10 August 1895:

A RARE MUSICAL ATTRACTION.
It has been left to private enterprise, in which however, the Estate has made important concessions, to give a fillip to the town's attractions by the series of nightly concerts now taking place in these charmingly situated grounds. To get Penarth to take an interest in herself is almost a Gargantuan undertaking, and it is therefore but a verification of this fact that these concerts have hitherto been but sparsely attended. There is nevertheless a rare musical treat nightly provided, and one has only to go once, to wish to go again. The artistes are of undeniable distinction in the musical world, the proof whereof it is easy and withal pleasant to verify by going to hear them.
On Bank Holiday, the weather unfortunately precluded a large attendance, but on Wednesday the numbers were more gratifying. The Orchestra gave magnificent renditions ... interspersed by solo singing by Miss Kate Hullett, G.S.M., whose classic and soulful rendering of "Kathleen Marvour neen” (amongst others), evoked pleasing applause. This soprano, although unused to al fresco singing, is heard quite 150 yards away and has a beautifully timbred, resonant, rich and mellow voice. The instrumental executants, par excellence, are Master Wm. H. Holden, and Master Chas. Holden, whose unique performances on the violin and cornet, respectively, are worth going a long way to hear.
To heighten the attraction, portions of the gardens are illuminated with fairy lamps, and guaranteed propitious atmospherical conditions, promenaders cannot fail to be charmed by the sense of sound and sight. The former almost goes without saying, and the latter is assured by the marine panorama below of gliding lights and shimmering waters. Such was it on Wednesday at any rate ...
If, then, any sentimental lad or lassie wish to test the veracity of this picture, let them hie themselves thither; and if the staid paterfamilias and his spouse desire to conjure up the courting days of yore let them also thither go – but, remember, Luna must be shining. Failing this fickle luminary one will then be repaid by the stars in the bandstand. Knowing the exclusiveness, the cliqueism and the setism of Penarth, the promoters of these Concerts have wisely determined not to impinge upon these idiosyncrasies and so have charged threepence for admission.

These days the bandstand is rarely used for its original purpose – in fact, such events are so rare as to be newsworthy: here’s a link to an article in the Penarth News of 12 July 2014, reporting on a concert being held ‘after a gap of many years’. It seems such a shame to me that this wonderful old bandstand isn’t better maintained and used – I rather fancy the idea of promenading through gardens illuminated by fairy lamps while listening to magnificent musical renditions.

Penarth : Alexandra Park

One hundred and seventeen years ago this week, on 25 June 1902, Penarth’s Alexandra Park was officially opened. What was once a steep-sloping field, with tree-filled dingles on each side, became a place to promenade, to admire the views, to sit and enjoy the music from a band performing in the bandstand, to marvel at the birds in the small aviary and the brightly coloured fish in the pond, to breathe in the fresh sea air amidst well-manicured gardens and mature trees.

The main entrance

And it still is some of those things – though I’ve yet to see a band using the bandstand, and most of the views have been obscured, either by growing trees or the modern high-rise apartment blocks that now tower over the streets below the park.

The land for the park was gifted to the town by Lord Windsor, and the local Town Surveyor already had his plan ready for submission to Penarth Council’s Parks Committee by March 1899. Tenders for the construction of the various paths and buildings and the planting of gardens, shrubs and more trees were issued in 1901, and by March 1902 work was well underway, as this article in the Evening Express of 4 March 1902 reports

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AT PENARTH.
A number of public improvements are now in progress at Penarth. A park, six and a half acres in extent, lying between Beach-road and the Dingle, and commanding a view of the Bristol Channel and the English coast, is being made. The natural beauties of the Dingles will be maintained, and the under portions will be laid out with footpaths and shrubberies. A large public shelter to seat upwards of 100 persons will be erected. There will also be an ornamental bandstand and a picturesque lodge for the park-keeper. The Dingle on the north side will be spanned by a rustic footbridge, and numerous seats will be scattered about.

  

Above, the bandstand; below, the bottom entrance and park-keeper's lodge

Alexandra Park was named in honour of Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, and the opening was timed to coincide with their coronation, which was originally scheduled for 26 June 1902 but had to be delayed until August as the King required surgery. There was talk of delaying the park’s opening too but, in the end, the Town Council decided to proceed. Here’s a report from the Barry Dock News, 4 July 1902:

NEW PARK FOR PENARTH.
The Park and Cliff Walk Grounds [a separate area], Penarth, which have been appropriately named Alexandra Park, in honour of her Majesty the Queen, were formally opened on Wednesday week last by Mr Samuel Thomas J.P., the chairman of Penarth Urban District Council. Three years ago Lord Windsor, who is the largest landowner in the district, generously offered various pieces of land, amounting in all to about sixteen acres, to the Council, who decided to lay out the most suitable and picturesque of these sites as a park to be closed at sundown, while the others were to be laid out as recreation grounds, to be left open at all times. The park is a decided acquisition to the town. It is charmingly situated between Beech-road and the Dingle footpath, and overlooks the Bristol Channel, and commands a. splendid and uninterrupted view of the Somersetshire coast. Being well wooded with full-grown trees, with rustic walks, excellently laid-out footpaths, and possessing an ornamental bandstand and numerable seats at convenient spots, the ground forms an ideal place wherein residents and visitors can spend a pleasant afternoon.

Of course, over time many things have changed in the park – some buildings and the original glasshouses have been demolished, small parts of its grounds have been sold off, a Cenotaph was constructed in 1924, but the park also retains much of its Victorian flavour, with its topiary yew trees and the annual plantings of riotous colour in its garden beds. And the aviary still houses a small population of budgies, canaries and doves, and the pond its goldfish, perhaps the descendants of their original inhabitants.

The aviary, above, and the pond, below

My photos were taken during a walk in the park earlier this week but you can see some wonderful old postcards and photographs of how it looked in its early years, and read more of its history, on the Penarth Parks website.