Right of passage?

A report about to come before St Albans District Council's City Neighbourhoods Committee concerns the entrance to Clarence Park by the Midland Railway bridge, sometimes known as the embankment steps.  It appears that the steps-and-ramp structure installed 12 years ago needs to be replaced, and four options are to be considered, the most drastic of which will be to close that park entrance, possibly permanently, if the money cannot be found to replace the structure.

The 'embankment steps' entrance to Clarence Park from
Hatfield Road railway bridge

The un-asked question so far is, why has this structure only lasted 12 years?  The original railway sleeper steps lasted one hundred years; and boardwalks in country parks, often with mesh walking surfaces to guard against slipping, last for decades without being replaced.  Was it the wrong timber, or was it not prepared properly?  Answers are needed!

So, let's start with why the park entrance is here in the first place.

The embankment entrance pre-dates the park, and even pre-dates the railway (although the access to the field would  probably have been nearer the present Lemsford Road).  Before the park was opened in 1894, the field against Hatfield Road was known as the Fete Field because of its occasional use for public events (at other times cattle were grazed there).  When there was a fair or other entertainment, people from the city gained entrance to the field at the first advantage point from the road (possibly a gated gap in the hedge).  

                                                     

The west section of the former St Peter's Farm.  Fete Field is in green, with the footpath drawn across it.

When the railway was built in the 1860s the Midland Railway company was required to reinstate the field access. This required moving it, and as the road had been embanked to bridge over the railway, the new access involved a series of steps down to the level of the field. This would be the reason why the original steps were made from railway sleepers.  The embankment steps, or its equivalent, have therefore given public access to a public place for, possibly, 160 years or more.  That must count for something when considering access to footpaths in other contexts – and the St Peter's Farm map drawn in the 1870s clearly shows the footpath from the road, still twenty years before the park was created.

One point which may not be obvious to all is that there used to be two entrances in Hatfield Road.  The other was opposite Granville Road.  This location suited the residents of Hatfield and Granville roads when the park was new, but was closed when the original fencing was replaced.  Commentators have suggested this might be a better entrance than the embankment steps as no ramp would bet needed.  However, this is not the case.  A proper ramp would need to be re-instated and the photo below shows the difference in level, even at this distance from the bridge.

There is a safety issue to be considered too.  Since it is a city park, many users – which will include children –  will approach on foot from the city direction.  Using the embankment entrance is therefore much safer than walking along Hatfield Road to the Crown, where the entrance through the cafe is not very wide and is at times busy with cafe activity.  With the embankment steps closed there would be three entrances on the east side, and only one small entrance, via the stepped and therefore non-accessible York Road bridge, near the north west corner.  Does that make sense?

The former Granville Road entrance viewed from inside
the park – a ramp would still be needed.

I would treat consideration of of this issue exactly as I would a Safer Routes to School scheme, or a Walking Bus route.  Forcing everyone from the city approach to walk a less safe route to the park is probably not very intelligent.

And while we are talking better and safer access, a pedestrian phase on the Station Road/Hatfield Road traffic lights might be helpful, since for many park visitors arriving by bus the bus station will be their obvious destination; they will walk along Station Road, not Beaconsfield Road.

The report suggests that the group of park users most affected will be commuters, but this is not so.  Commuters are just one group; but what about the rest of us?