Black Country park opened after six-year £6.4m revamp
It has been six years in the making and has cost £6.4 million.
But on Saturday users and friends of Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, were finally able to celebrate their new and improved open space.
The park had its official opening at the beginning of the day with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Derek Rowley, before the fun and festivities began.
The drizzly weather didn't stop hardy supporters of the park enjoying stalls, rides, fairground games and bands.
A dog show, falconry and BMX displays and Punch and Judy were also amongst the free entertainment on offer.
The park's revamp was launched six years ago by Sandwell Council, which secured a £4 million Lottery grant with the help of a newly formed Friends of Dartmouth Park Group.
The council match-funded that amount with £2.4m of its own cash, and work began in earnest.
Carol Hartill, secretary of the Friends group which now has more than 200 members, said: "Before the work the pavilion was burnt down, the boat house was burnt down, and the new Expressway had cut off the tennis courts and bowling green, so the park just went into decline.
"It was very uninviting, a no-go area - I wouldn't have come in here."
Since then the park has become a showpiece for the town once more, with a new pavilion, pools and play areas, and a sensory garden for the visually impaired. A replica fountain to match the original 1800s model was also created.
A new fence and pillars were inserted around the perimeter of the park, as well as the Lower Pool, which has also had new benches.
Amongst the other work, flowerbeds have been replanted, platforms have been installed around the Upper Pool, and the old bowling green area has been turned into a space for picnics.
The war memorial has also been cleaned up, and in the summer the new £150,000 splash pad, featuring water jets, sprays and troughs, was opened by the Mayor.
Mrs Hartill, who used the park as a child, said: "It's wonderful, and it's so exciting to be part of it.
"It is a shame about the weather but we still had people coming - the carousel did very well because it's dry on there."
Also in attendance for the official opening was 'Blind Dave' Heeley, who has a room in the new pavilion named after him, and Tom Farley, whose great-grandfather Reuben Farley wrote to the Fifth Earl of Dartmouth to request that some of his land be offered up as a public park.
It was from this letter that Dartmouth Park was opened on June 3, 1878, with an estimated 40,000 people through the gates on the first day.
Other invited guests included visitors from Morley, near Leeds, which also has a Dartmouth Park thanks to the same Earl.
The Friends group now hopes that the New Square shopping centre, opened last year, will also help bring visitors to the park, as it is easily access from the shops.
Graham Saunders, aged 70, from Birch Tree Gardens, Aldridge, was amongst the visitors on Saturday with his wife Chris, also 70.
Mr Saunders lived near to the park as a boy, and is also a member of the Friends group.
He said: "I think it's great now, because it had got very run down with a lot of vandalism.
"When I was a child it was a pleasant place to come to, but it then got to the stage where it wasn't.
"The opening event has been great, but it's a shame about the weather."
Mavis Anderton, from West Bromwich, was also at the event with her family.
She said: "We are born and bred West Bromwich so we know the park well, and it's fantastic what they've done.
"We remember the park from when we were small, and it did go down, the park was dreadful, but it's unbelievable now how they've built it up, it's just a beautiful place."
