Upcoming Talk - January 2026
7.30pm at Harwood Methodist Church
Thursday 22nd January 2026
Speaker: Carole O'Reilly
Public parks are one of the most treasured elements in the urban landscape. However, the history of their emergence and development is a long and complex one and reflects changing priorities and assumptions about leisure time, personal habits and public health.
Based on the primary research from Carole's 2019 book, The Greening of the City: Urban Parks and Public Leisure, 1840-1939, this talk looks at the many different agendas and controversies involved in the creation of public parks. It examines the earliest attempts to buy and layout parks and at how they developed in response to changing patterns of leisure, public taste and demand and municipal concerns.
