It's Your World: Environmental exhibition to celebrate Wirral’s landscape

Sep 2 2009 by Jade Wright, Birkenhead News

BIRKENHEAD Photographic Association will be celebrating their year of the environment with an exhibition at Birkenhead Park.

Running from September 12-26 in the gallery of the visitor centre, it’s open from 11am-4pm each day.

The park is the perfect place to draw inspiration for your own environmental photographs.

Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, it was built as an idealised countryside landscape of open meadows and naturalistic woodland belts. The lakes are shaped to appear as sinuous rivers with views across them to features such as the Boathouse and Swiss Bridge.

Paxton incorporated surrounding land into the park which was sold at an enhanced value for housing to help pay for the building of the park.

He also provided a separate perimeter road for traffic which allowed the park interior to be enjoyed by pedestrians.

Birkenhead Park was one of Sir Joseph Paxton's most important works.

In 1843 he wrote to his wife: "It is not a very good situation for a park as the land is generally poor but, of course, it will rebound more (to my) credit and honour to make something handsome and good out of bad materials".