Leighton Buzzard author celebrates the history of parks in his new book

A Leighton Buzzard author has updated one of the most influential books on the history of parks and public spaces.

Paul Rabbitts’ new book People’s Parks, out today (Tuesday November 14), builds on the work done by Hazel Conway in 1991 which recognised the design and development of Victorian parks in Britain.

With the endorsement of Hazel’s family, Paul offers a thorough update and expansion of the original edition. With a new sub-title to represent the extended timescale, the book identifies the principal national and international influences on park development from the nineteenth until the current century, to include the war years, the impact of the Garden Cities movement, and the decline of parks dating from the 1970s.

The influence of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s urban parks programme from the 1990s is covered, as is the more recent impact of austerity followed by the global pandemic, when the role of parks and their importance for physical and mental wellbeing reawakened the interest of many and increased usage and pressure on facilities. The book concludes with an appraisal of the future of our public parks, and a call that their continuing importance be recognised and adequately resourced.

Hazel’s book became recognised as one of the most influential books on the history of parks and public access spaces.

Municipal parks make an important contribution to the urban environment, and they developed within a social, economic and political context which affected people’s attitudes to recreation – what became known as ‘rational recreation’.

Long out of print, occasional copies of the original book which appear in the rare books market command high prices.

In 2019 Paul published Leighton Buzzard in 50 Buildings, celebrating local architecture, from All Saints Church to the new buildings that are modernising the town.

Paul combines a career in parks management with being a Trustee of the Gardens Trust, and is Founder and Chair of the Parks Management Association, and a fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Historical Society. The author of over 30 books, he lectures widely on public parks and has a particular fascination for the Victorian and Edwardian bandstand.