By Katie Isham.
Of all the parks in the city of Southampton, St. James’ Park in Shirley may be my favourite. Don’t tell the others.
But there’s a certain something about this one that makes it impossible not to love. Maybe there’s bias in the fact it’s home to some of the best free tennis courts in the area. Maybe it’s the beautifully landscaped gardens. Maybe it’s the serving of cake and community in the café. Whatever leads you there, it’s the perfect place to indulge in a safari within the suburbs.
Approaching the park is a special feeling. St. James’ is a sunken space of recreation. Once dug out as a gravel pit, it now has the look of a slightly shallow amphitheatre of leisure pursuits. Descend into the bowl via the café entrance and the surrounding palm trees invoke a feeling of being on a tropical adventure rather than within the streets of Shirley.
There’ll be time for café sitting later, but let’s safari first.
To the left, a vast array of slides, ropes and much woodchip will keep wee ones occupied for hours. Watch out for the zipline as you pass through, even if only as mere custodians of small daredevils.
On the opposite flank of the park shines the diamond in the leisure crown: two wondrous tennis courts. The trouble is, they are so well loved, there’s often a queue to use them. Alternatively, there are tables for the smaller version of tennis as well as a range of gym equipment. A basketball hoop and climbing wall rounds off the sporting offerings. There’s so much to indulge in that Lycra is almost essential.
If a more sedate form of exercise is more to your liking, a good stroll around the perimeter will never be a waste of time. Take in the sights and characters of the park; pass scooters and trikes on the path; dodge the dogs careering across the field for wayward projectiles; smile at the bench dwellers and maybe even decide to partake in that particular pastime – a good vantage point for observation is one of the benches along the hill on the far side.
Or it might even be time to wander back for that cake patiently waiting at the café counter.
Sure, they have the usual goods: hot drinks, cold ice creams, warm welcomes and the suchlike. But there’s something more here too.
Parklife café is part of the Shirley community, and its name could not be more apt. It literally provides life to people through its presence in the park. A social enterprise, it has a community room offering space and support to so many facets of society from individuals to families, autistic adults, those struggling financially, the elderly, victims of domestic abuse and Friend’s of St James’ Park’s group for those struggling with loneliness and pretty much anyone who walks in looking for help or a friendly face.
Alongside Friends of St James’ Park (FOSJP), it offers information, work and volunteering opportunities, gardening club, history club, community events, clothes sales, games to play, a take what you need pantry, toilets and of course a café when your most pressing need is a cup of tea and a table in the most beautiful park in the city.
A suburban safari is about the walk. The stretch of the legs and the participation in the existence of our city: watching the life and being the life around our suburban streets. But Parklife Café, FOSJP and the ground of St. James’ Park shows just how far the life of a park can reach.
This safari goes beyond the walking time. It’s a place that will inspire and provide. Long after the zipline’s zipped or the sun has set beyond the palm trees and autumnal leaves on the turn, there is always life in this park. It’s not hard to see why it’s a favourite place for so many people.
Cost: Free to visit the park. Limited free parking available in the area. Some small cost possible in a visit to the café. FOSJP twice weekly community club (Mon and Wed) is free.
Accessibility: Reach the park via one of many bus routes that stop around Shirley. The park stretches south into the suburb of Shirley from Winchester Road. Some entrances have steps but the main one by the café, at the south end is fully accessible, as is the community room. Smooth paths and grassland throughout the grounds.
Facilities: Children’s playground, gym equipment, tennis courts and the world famous Parklife café with associated community room and various clubs and groups.
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/people-places/parks-open-spaces/parks/find-a-park/st-james/
https://www.facebook.com/parklifecommunitycafe?locale=en_GB
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Photos: Black Businesses, Art and Music Festival – Southampton