Years ago public parks were often characterised by the sign ‘Keep off the Grass’. The reasons for this rather disappointing instruction were clear – in either very dry or very wet weather the grass could be so trampled that when the weather improved the grass was unable to grow again. Also discarded items might damage the park’s grass-cutter. The provision of benches would mean that here the visitor could rest without any need to sit on the grass. Such signs, in my experience, are rare today with park’s discipline becoming more liberal.
In fact the ‘keep off the grass’ attitude reflected an historical feature. Early parks, not necessarily fully public parks, were often referred to as ‘Walks’, the expectation being that the area would be used for perambulations, not only for the health benefits of fresh air but also to see others in your community and, indeed, to be seen by them, in other words an activity one would dress-up for. At such times signs might be unnecessary as the walkways were often fenced off from the grass areas, these often used for grazing.
As parklands evolved to municipal public parks the nomenclature of ‘walks’ fell away. However, one public park today (that I know of) retains the name ‘The Walks’, this standing between London Road and the B1144 in Kings Lynn, west Norfolk. The Park’s history reflects exactly the general point made above so I will return to it next time.