Northern Ireland embraces a lot of amazing cities that you wouldn’t want to miss. There are many places to head to for an outing or to spend a nice evening with friends. However, if you are up to spending a nice day with your family, Antrim should be your next destination. There, you will find the Portadown People’s Park; the perfect place for a fun family day out. The park actually offers a lot of events, fun activities, and amazing attractions. It recently underwent a lot of expansions and renovations to be suitable for everyone’s entertainment.

The History of Portadown People’s Park

Thanks to Lord Mandeville, he was the reason we have the People’s Park today. He was originally the owner of Tandragee Castle. Legends have it that the landlord of the Obins Castle was the same one as the Tandragee Castle. There are a lot of documents in the archives hidden in the castle that contains information about Lord Mandeville. Those documents recorded that he handed over the 17^th-Century Castle’s gardens to the Council. They took it as a public area that the Community shares. It was just at that time that the garden received the name “The People’s Park.” The documents also contained excerpts that state Lord Mandeville’s belief in the gardens’ ability to bless the town.

Portadown People’s Park of the Modern Times

The park that people see today is an impressive 12 acres. It possesses a lot of fun activities that are perfect for children and those that enjoy sporting activities. These included playgrounds for children, a Bowling Green, an area of toddlers, and tennis courts. There is also a Pavilion and a dam where you can watch the swans and ducks swimming around. The park offers quite a relaxing atmosphere that you can stroll around and admire the beauty you’ll find there.

Facilities at Portadown People’s Park

The Portadown People’s Park has a lot of features suitable for all ages- especially the young ones for sure. There are entertainment facilities for toddlers and all the way up to teenagers. Physical challenges for kids like digging in the sand, racing down sloppy slides, going for a thrilling spin, and more. For adults, you can take a walk around the park and enjoy the barbecue facilities when the nice weather is here. Perfect summer combination!

State-of-the-art Play Park

Portadown People’s Park provides great fun for children of all ages. There are educational riddles where children get to solve interesting questions about fairy tales located at the Park. Upon entering the welcome gate, children will receive maps that read “Enchanted Park Trail.” The map guides them through the park along with the signs that read quotes from popular animated films. For purchasing toys, there is a shop specialised in that field; Kentucky Derby. You can find it somewhere along the paths of the gardens, it will be hard to keep the little ones away. Moreover, the children will bump into people dressed up as some of their favourite Disney characters along the way. They can take pictures with them and have fun meeting their favourite cartoon characters. Kids can even go fishing and catch toy fish. In a certain spot, kids gather to watch a fun puppet show.

Themed Gardens

There are many gardens within Portadown People’s Park where you can sit and enjoy the tranquil silence. All of them are provided with benches for people to sit and talk, read a book, or eat something.  Trees surround them from everywhere, creating a scenic sight. Not to mention the amazing shrubs and plants that make the environment pulse with life.

Bridges and Ponds

Yes, greenery is amazing, but they are not complete without the presence of water around. That is why there is a new area at Portadown’s People Park known as the pond area. It has been around since the beginning of the park that people even consider it a historic feature. This section has undergone some new renovations, adding a new spot for educational groups to learn about nature. Over and beyond, there are some fascinating activities, including mini-beast hunting- sounds a lot of fun and pond dipping. Along with the renovations that took place, two new bridges came to life.

Sports Facilities for the Gurus

The sporting facilities are plentiful in Portadown People’s Park. It works as the perfect place for sports lovers and athletes. There are areas that cater for different kind of sports, including American Football, Soccer, Rugby, and Gaelic Games. The latter is actually a sport that Ireland plays with the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA, sponsoring over them. For those that aren’t from Ireland here are the top Gaelic games that are popular in the country.

Gaelic Football

This kind of football is a bit different than the one the world is accustomed to. The players are in two teams with fifteen people on each team. They play on a rectangular grass pitch, the goals on each end are in H shape. Like any sport in the world, the aim of the game is scoring by driving the ball into the goals. Each goal is worth three points. However, there is another way to score and it’s by kicking the ball high over the goal posts, scoring one point. Needless to say, the winner is definitely the team with the higher score. There is also a version for ladies; it is quite similar to that of men but has slightly different rules.

Hurling

Hurling is another Gaelic game; In fact, it is one of the major sports in Ireland. It has been around for thousand years and is still going strong. Besides, this game is deemed to be the fastest field game in the world. It combines several skills from a lot of other sports, including baseball, hockey, and lacrosse. Hurling game is played with both a ball and a stick. The female version of this game is called Camogie.

Rounders

This one is popular in both Ireland and England. A bit close to baseball; the players with both a ball and bat. Although being one of the Gaelic Games, it is not as popular as their counterparts.

Gaelic Handball

This one is basically similar to the popular American handball. It involves two players where each of them uses their hand to return a ball against the wall. The game has more than one version, but the most popular one of One Wall. People consider the latter as the international version since most of the world’s country use this one in particular.

Other worthy reads:

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