Although Ipswich, a town of about 134,000 people, is not a large place it has some beautiful parks. Recently I went along to Christchurch Park for the first time. The so-called golden hour for taking photographs may be a great time for capturing a weak wintery sunset and the fabulous rich colours of the last leaves, but it was a bitingly cold afternoon.
Nevertheless, despite my fingers becoming stiff with cold, I managed to take a few interesting photos. As I have already mentioned previously my favourite park in Ipswich is Holywells Park, however probably the most well-known park is Christchurch Park.
Originally, this parkland was the grounds of the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity founded around 1177.
However, the land has changed ownership several times since it was seized by the Crown as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. The park is also the site of the beautiful, late-Tudor mansion, Christchurch Mansion.
The Mansion’s last private owner, Felix Cobbold, gave it to the community in 1895 on the condition that the Ipswich Corporation purchased the rest of the associated property within which the mansion was set. And, as an urban space open to the public, it has belonged to the people of Ipswich since 1895.
The park is slightly bigger than Holywells Park with more open spaces and vistas, and consequently feels less intimate and domestic than Holywells. It is more like a traditional urban park, but still offers a restorative green space within a five minute walk of the town centre.
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Agnes Ashe 
You’re right. You’ve shown us some fine parks in your part of the country.
Well, in all honesty I am feeling very garden deprived at the moment. 😟
I guessed as much. Still, if you have to be garden-deprived, this may be a better season to manage without one.
These look human sized and great for a contemplative walk. And, it does look cold in your photos!
Yes, I think sometimes we need human scale and others the truly big wide open country or seascape.
I agree. There is a time for both. I feel in the winter I want small spaces and to feel safe and enclosed. Maybe because the weather seems so much more threatening.