Another interesting recurring issue across the three Hull public parks (s.p.b.) in the 1880s and 1890s was that of anti-social behaviour (although, of course, that term was not used) as recorded in the minutes of the Parks Committee. Wilful damage to park property, usually pulling off of flower heads or damage to shrubs and trees, was much frowned upon, as was the riding of bicycles on the pedestrian footpaths (ok on the ‘carriageways’, – this a reflection of the growing trend for cycle ownership) and the new problem of litter. Perhaps a reflection on Victorian society was the fact that the park keepers could often name the culprits and when instructed, by letter from the Parks Committee, to attend their next meeting the culprits and their parents usually did! Gangs of ‘roughs’ were a growing problem, particularly after dark when the Parks were closed.
If today’s public parks were as full of plant beds as their late 19th century predecessors they (the plants) would be struggling in this seven week long hot, dry spell of weather. The fact that the problem is replicated across parts of the Northern Hemisphere – Greece, Japan, even northern Finland and Latvia (near the Arctic Circle!) – invites comments such as ‘problem of Biblical proportions’ and ‘armageddon’, certainly it cannot surely be the product of just one wayward jet-stream. Conditions in the south-east must be even more oppressive.