Peasholm Park Scarborough, North Yorkshire > Reviews (3)

I have been visiting Scarborough virtually every year since I was a child and one place I usually end up during my visit is Peasholm Park, with this year being no exception.

~Location~

The park is located in Scarborough's North Bay, not far from the beach. The park is well signposted as you head towards the North Bay, but should you wish to do the modern thing and use Sat Nav, enter postcode YO12 7TS.

There is parking close to the park, but as with most parking in Scarborough it is pay and display, and is not cheap. I asked my boyfriend how much we paid and he thinks it was £3 for 2 hours, although how accurate that is I can't be sure. There is a park and ride service in Scarborough, which we would have used at the time had we known about it, so I would recommend checking that out if you can.

~About the park~

The park was actually opened in 1912, making it 100 years old next year. What makes it stand out from other parks is the fact it has a Japanese theme. Yes, you did read that right, a Japanese themed park in North Yorkshire! Perhaps not exactly what you would expect to find, but it certainly makes the park stand out from any other I've been to.

As mentioned, I have been visiting this park for many years, mainly in the spring/summer months. This year I visited in late May. The park is free to enter and open 24hours a day. Dogs are welcome and in fact when we went the park was packed with dog walkers...we even saw one dog having a bit of a paddle in the lake!

If mobility is an issue, it should not stop you from enjoying most of the park, however some of the wooded areas can be a little bit steep and involve climbing steps, but certainly the area around the lake should be manageable for most people as it's mainly flat.

~My Experience~

As you enter the park, you are greeted by the lake, which the park was built around. The most spectacular part of the lake is the pagoda, which is on top of a hill. This has a waterfall effect cascading down the front, although the last few years I've visited it has not been switched on. There are also pedalos shaped with dragon's heads on the lakes, and again I don't recall having seen them in use for a number of years now.

There are little rivers running through the park with red and yellow bridges over them in keeping with the oriental theme. The rivers actually have little lights and Chinese style lanterns over them, which I assume must light up at night, and there are various little oriental style sculptures dotted around on small islands in the water.The plants also follow an oriental theme, I am no expert when it comes to plants but there are a few pretty little flowerbeds dotted around the place.

As you continue your journey around the park you end up in a more wooded area with lots of little twists and turns, you can literally spend hours exploring. One of the things I enjoy about the park is that wherever you go, there always seems to be something to see. There are lots of sculptures and carvings throughout the park, as well as little features such as wishing wells - we of course threw a penny in and made a wish, just as as I remember doing 15-20 years ago as a child.

Some of the wooden sculptures are particularly impressive, we saw a dragons head, an owl, and a fish amongst others. I think the most striking of the sculptures was a Japanese warrior (at least that's what I assume it was) carved from the trunk of a tree still rooted into the ground.

The park is also home to lots of wildlife. There are lots of ducks, swans and geese around the lake, I must admit I'm not overly keen on geese (I find them slightly scary!), but we did see a mother with lots of little baby geese which were quite sweet. There are also a huge amount of squirrels in the park, and you can get reasonably close to them as they are obviously used to people, and I have seen people feeding them in the past.

~To Conclude~Everything seems to cost a fortune these days whether you are holidaying in the UK or abroad, so it's nice to go somewhere that you can have an enjoyable day out without having to spend any money (expect that penny in the wishing well!). The park is suitable for all ages, and should provide a few hours of entertainment as you look around and explore. If you're in the Scarborough area, I would certainly recommend Peasholm Park as somewhere worth checking out.

• Also posted on Dooyoo
• I have added photos to the review, annoyingly I don't have one of the big pagoda and the waterfall, but I took a few of the sculptures...