Darley Park: Tree that prompts special memories for former West End youngster

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Prince George plants a cedar tree to mark the official opening of Darley Park in 1931

The cedar tree in Darley Park which was planted by Prince George in 1931

OUR city is blessed with many fine open spaces and parks, and of these the most delightful for me has to be the lovely Darley Park and I am sure, for others too.

I am also a frequent visitor to its atmospheric tearoom where on display is a permanent collection of photographs and documents relating to the history of the park and of the Evans family.

It was this family who, at the height of the Industrial Revolution built the Boar’s Head Mill, along with the rows of cottages and squares for its workforce that make up today’s attractive village.

When the last of the Evanses died in 1930, the estate was sold to Derby Corporation to become the town’s newest park.

Of the tearoom’s collection of photographs, one has a special meaning for me.

It never fails to take me back to a fine summer’s afternoon towards the end of June 1931 when I was one of 4,000 schoolchildren assembled on the park.

We sat in orderly rows on the freshly cut grass before a platform, specially built and colourfully decorated.

Aldermen of the borough, the town clerk and other top-hatted officials of the corporation were there, along with the chief constable and others in uniform.

My actual memories are not as clear as that, of course, but I do remember the excitement and our eager rehearsals for the cheering.

That day, Prince George, Duke of Kent, had come to Derby to officially open the town’s newest park and, accompanied by the mayor, Councillor W H Hoare, and the mayoress, he arrived about 3.30pm to wildly cheering crowds waving hundreds of paper Union Jacks.

After the speeches, none of which are remembered now of course, and as the picture in the tearoom shows, Prince George planted a tree to commemorate his visit and to mark the official opening of Darley Park.

In the intervening years, the tree, a species of cedar, cedrus Atlantica glauca, has fittingly grown to a truly majestic size. It can be seen to the right of the entrance to the park as approached from the tearoom, where the park sweeps gently and delightfully down to the banks of the river.

The royal romance of the decade came shortly afterwards, on November 29, 1934, when Prince George married Princess Marina of Greece and all the schools throughout the land were closed for the day making it another day to remember.

In August 1942, 11 years after that memorable afternoon of the planting of the tree, Prince George, as co-pilot of a Sutherland flying-boat, took off from England with his crew on a flight to Iceland.

The aircraft crashed and all on board died. The 39-year-old was to be the only royal to die on active duty in the Second World War. Seven weeks previously, he had celebrated the birth of his third son.

Now, each time I stand under the shade of my special tree, I feel again the warmth of summers past and momentarily recapture those magical times of childhood when days seemed so much longer.

Harold Richardson, Trowels Lane, Derby.

Did you, like Harold, attend the official opening of Darley Park in 1931? Or have you some of your own special memories of the park? Why not share your recollections with YesterdayToday readers? Details of how to contact us are in the final column on this page.

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