Over 4,000 flock to Lydiard Park for a grand day out

Two days after Lydiard Park heard that it had been awarded £3 million to restore the park, over 4,000 people attended the free Grand Garden Party. Activities included live jazz, a children's archaeology dig, archery demonstrations, arts and crafts and much more.

Take a look at the event photos...

"The kids loved the hands-on opportunity at the archaeology"

"The whole atmosphere of the party was fantastic"

"The jazz band were fun, feel-good and marvellous!"

As the park looks forward to a £5.3m Heritage Lottery-funded restoration, announced on Friday 1 July, visitors to the Grand Garden Party had a fantastic day enjoying the wonderful park on their doorstep. They had a taste of what the park might have been like in the past through the free, interactive activities, whilst looking to the future and anticipating what the park will be like once it is restored to its former glory.

Denys Hodson, Chair of Friends of Lydiard Park said: "What pleased us the most was the keen interest expressed by visitors in the plans for Lydiard. People were genuinely excited about it - or perhaps I should say shared our excitement."

One of the most popular activities amongst young visitors was the dig organised by Wessex Archaeology, which saw children getting their hands dirty and uncovering parts of the Georgian path that originally led through the walled garden, which will be restored as part of the Heritage Lottery-funded restoration.

A real crowd-puller was the medieval archery display, which saw costumed archers demonstrating their skills under the direction of a jovial King Edward II. Young visitors had a taste of what it would have been like to be a medieval child as they were regaled with tales of what life was like 700 years ago.

Activities on the lawn were altogether more genteel, with a jazz band entertaining the crowds as they enjoyed tea and cakes and watched the croquet, maypole and country dancing.

Local, traditional crafts were brought to life through interactive demonstrations of spinning and wheel wrighting. A wood turner, using a traditional foot-powered pole lathe, drew crowds all afternoon as people watched, fascinated, as pieces of wood were transformed into beautiful goblets.