Rowney Green Park
In April 2022, the Rowney Green Peace Hall Trustees took over the stewardship of the Rowney Green Playing Fields and Pavilion (now renamed the Park and Green Barn) on behalf of the villagers according to a 15-year lease agreement with the Alvechurch Parish Council that runs from 1st April 2022. The Park Group (a sub-group of the village hall Trustees), are now responsible for the operation of the playground and fields.
Park volunteers meet every Saturday morning under the direction of Pete Jeffs. These volunteers include a number of Duke of Edinburgh participants at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. They have been invaluable in helping to maintain the park, and their enthusiasm, energy and commitment to progressing the park have been both refreshing and inspiring. If you would like to volunteer, you can just turn up on Saturday mornings from 10:30am outside the Green Barn.
During the warmer months, from April to October, we host community events, football training sessions and matches, and hire out the Green Barn for small private gatherings, all of which help to raise valuable funds for the park. Additional funds are also raised from the Village Fete, our 100 Club and the generous donations of local villagers and park visitors, whose continued support makes a real difference
We have been successful in our bid for National Lottery funding for additional children’s play equipment which will be installed in 2026. Since taking over the lease, other improvements include :
- Installing a second ladies’ toilet.
- Creating a kitchen area and populating it with kitchen equipment.
- Populating the main area with chairs and tables which were a generous gift from a local company.
- Replacement of leylandii trees (which had become very large and whose roots were damaging the tennis court surfaces), with a fruit tree orchard.
- Installation of a circular bench around the existing oak tree next to the green barn.
Rowney Green Park truly belongs to the community, and we are incredibly grateful for everyone who gives their time, energy, and support to help the park continue to thrive as a place where people can enjoy time in nature, children can play, people can gather, fun can be had, and memories can be made.
The park group and the village hall trustees are always keen to hear your comments and thoughts on the park.
The trustees can be contacted by email (RGPMHTrustees@outlook.com)
Park questions and bookings should be addressed to Jill Wallis (07931 868744 or thegreenbarnrgp@icloud.com)
Early History of the Park
The playing field came into being when in 1949 a compulsory purchase order allowed Worcestershire County Council to purchase the land on behalf of Alvechurch Parish Council for the sum of £250 (being its value as agricultural land). The Parish Council took out a sixty-year loan with the County Council to pay for the field.
Part was ploughed and seeded for a playing area, but the cutting of the grass became an insuperable problem. It was, in fact, cut once a year only – by kind co-operation of local farmers at hay making time.
It was not until the post war generation of children grew to its teens that a serious need for a football pitch particularly arose and the consequent need for regular mowing of the field. In 1963 a Local Parish Councillor begged a scrap set of 3 gang mowers from a nearby works sports club. At the same time a Pavilion was given to the football club by a local resident. For many years the playing field was cared for by the Tarver family in association with the Rowney Green football club.
On the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II a clump of conifer trees was planted in the N. corner.