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Drama in the Park
Taylor Park - A Chapter in Our Own History
May Day Event
Victorian Day
The Beginning
A Walk with Samuel Taylor
Research Through Drama
Legacy of Samuel Taylor Portrait Gallery
Taylor Park - The Legacy of Water
Regatta Day
Visit to the Archive Library
Image Library
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Regatta Day
Location: St Helens
Each year The Friends of Taylor Park host a Model Boat Regatta in and around the Big Dam.
The Regatta gives the members of St Helens Model Boat Society an opportunity to display their boats in action; the Friends, a chance to highlight the amenities of the park and offer the people of St Helens a day of fun.
It was a fine September Sunday. The boats were displayed along the length of the waterfront like a scaled down version of Olympia but with a better selection of crafts.
In the lake, different categories of craft manoeuvred around obstacles, cutting through the water like the geese and ducks who now lingered off-shore eyeing the interlopers on their waters.
On the lawn outside the boathouse, the Friends had provided a small fairground where young and old could test their skills and gain enjoyment at the same time.
Beyond the lawn were a number of stalls and entertainment.
The Friends and the Model Boaters had kindly allowed Samuel Taylor and friends to pitch their 'pavilion' to provide traditional playground games and a gallery of photographs for public viewing.
The 'Taylors' strolled through the crowd explaining their presence and inviting members of the public to 'Drama in the Park' the following weekend.
They shared a joke with gentlemen of the model boat club.
Mrs. Taylor witnessed a fight between an itinerant entertainer and young Harry from the Workhouse.
Through re-enactment, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor discussed the sad fact that poor folk did not have the same benefits as themselves. While they were able to stroll through fresh parkland, the less fortunate had only the benefit of a backyard and narrow cobbled streets.
The words of a young workhouse lad demonstrate the plight of St. Helens workers who lived and worked in conditions which often led to disease and early death.
Encouraged by his friend Mr. Pilkington, Samuel Taylor comes to realise that he has the means to give St. Helens people a life-saving gift - Taylor Park.
The new park presented the public with an opportunity to leave behind the dusty streets and acrid atmosphere of the town and breathe in the fresh woodland air. They could walk, swim, paddle or just lie in the sun or shade.
The air would be filled only with birdsong, the sound of running water and occasionally the strident melodies of brass bands.
The hillside is a sea of picnickers and young children, more used to squatting in gutters or swinging from lamp-posts, are now paddling in water and swinging from trees.
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