Greenhead Park opened in September 1884 and has proved to be popular with the people of Huddersfield ever since. Only half a mile from Huddersfield town centre, the park is a world away from the hustle and bustle of the town. It is the perfect place to unwind, relax and enjoy the park's wonderful improvements which have taken place.

In 2009, with funding from Kirklees Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, a multi-million pound refurbishment project began. This restored and regenerated the buildings, landscape and infrastructure right across the park, which was officially reopened in September 2011. It has brought many new, and old, visitors back to the park since, with a great deal of positive feedback for the changes which have taken place.

In 2012 the park was successfully put forward for a Green Flag award, which is a national accreditation scheme where well managed parks can receive a green flag as a marker of quality. The flag is flying somewhere in the park, see if you can find it.

Around the park there are:

• Refreshment rooms
  The park's refreshment rooms pavilion, near the tennis courts, was built in the 1920's, and has now been fully refurbished, featuring the popular café, public toilets and the addition of a community room for hire by schools and groups. It is open between 10 and 3pm in the winter, and 10 until 5 in the summer. For more details please call 01484 223176 or email greenheadparkcafe@live.co.uk
• Conservatory
  This building was added to the park in the late 1920's and has now been fully reglazed and joins on to a new two-storey building which provides a wonderful restaurant and event space for the park. This is open between 10 and 4 during the winter, and between 10 and 5 in the summer. It is also available for private hire in the evenings. For more details please call 01484 223456 or email dale.omelia@kirklees.gov.uk
• Lake
  The largest of the park's five lakes has been reconstructed together and is proving to be a very popular spot, for wildlife and human visitors alike.
• Bandstand
  This restored timber design with chinoiserie detail dates from the 1890s and will be a key feature for musical events.
• Railings
  Railings have been installed around the 1 mile (1.7km) perimeter of the park along with replica park gates at the top and bottom of the park, as well as more simply designed gates at other entrances.
• Tree-Lined Avenue
  The avenue leading to the war memorial was originally lined with elm trees and small leaved lime trees have now been replanted.
• Footpaths
  Throughout the park path networks have been either rebuilt or resurfaced.
• Drainage
  A full scheme is now underneath the main events arena and problem hotspots have now been dealt with and improved around the park. During the terribly wet weather of 2012 the park suffered with the heavy and persistent rainfall, and it is hoped that 2013 will be a little drier.
• Two play areas
  When the park was being restored the old play area was removed, and replaced with a temporary playground, whilst a fantastic new play area, funded by Playbuilder and Kirklees Council, was developed. However, due to the increase in visitors to the park the temporary playground has been in use as much, if not more, than the new play area, and so it is still in the park. In the long term it will be removed, but this relies on being able to find the money to remove the existing equipment and landscape the site, and also to carry out sufficient improvements to the 'new' playground to cope with the demand.
• Sports courts
  The sports courts were fully refurbished in 2012, with new surfacing and fencing, providing 9 tennis courts and 2 multi-use games areas.
• Sports pavilion
  Working with the Friends of Greenhead Park and the Greenhead Park Veterans' Bowls Club the Council funded the construction of a new sports pavilion in the park, close to the bowling greens. Opened in October 2012, this will be a base for the Friends and Bowls Club to support more activities and events in the park.

We are currently working our way around the park carrying out some general tidying work - areas of overgrown or messy shrubbery, weedy patches, or other sites which would benefit from a little attention.

We are working on increasing the potential for nature conservation around the site, with new plants to go in the lake (which will provide a better habitat for wildlife) and also a more attractive site for everyone else. We have identified a number of other areas around the park where we will be carrying out some planting and other works to increase the potential for increasing the range of wildlife which lives in, and makes use of the park. The areas to start with are on the bankings around the lake, the lower end of the events arena, the area within the railway line, and a stretch along Park Drive South.

Whilst the project was underway there was a great deal of interest and support including:

• new glass for the conservatory donated to us by Ken Woodcock at NGN Novaglaze who used to be based just down the road from the park.
• 10 clay pots and 2 commemorative plates made by Peter Fisher from clay which was removed from the park due to the excavation of the lake.
• Huddersfield Cine Club attended the park throughout the project to film the restoration works and they are going to make a commemorative film.

Kirklees Council is committed to making sure that its activities and developments are as sustainable as possible. As a result, the 2 main buildings in the park now meet the latest criteria for insulation, in the walls, roofs, and floors. In addition, both the refreshment rooms and the conservatory have all their space heating provided by ground source heat pumps (with around 1.5kms of underground tubing) and benefit from underfloor heating. These are far more economical to run than traditional systems. Due to the nature of the conservatory glasshouse, there was very little that could be done to make it more energy efficient, but even with these limitations, and the cold winter of 2011 the temperature in the glasshouse never dropped below 5°C.

Local suppliers were used where possible throughout the works.

The restaurant in the conservatory, which is run by Kirklees Council, is also committed to local suppliers, and sources many of its ingredients from the Huddersfield area.

After almost 130 years the park is still going from strength to strength, and still plays a valuable role in the life of the town. Attracting over 300,000 visitors each year, the park is still extremely popular.

During 2012 there were many events held in the park - the first full year that the park was fully open again after the restoration project. Some of these were large, others were smaller, but all of them showing the importance of Greenhead Park in the social life of the town. From Mumford and Sons, to parkrun, from Concerts in the Park to health walks and the Friends monthly history sessions, there was something for everyone in the park.

2013 will be no different, with a whole host of regular events taking place. Each Saturday morning at 9am there's parkrun, the steam train runs (weather permitting) on weekend afternoons from early March to September, and then Halloween and Christmas specials, Nordic walking on Fridays, health walks on Monday mornings, Buggy mover on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and many more - for more details about any of these please contact Chrisl.smith@kirklees.gov.uk or Robert.whittaker@kirklees.gov.uk or check out the events pages on the Council's website, further up this page.

The park is managed by the Council's Parks and Landscapes team and relies on help and assistance of many others to make it a success, including:

• Streetscene's Action Team of Rangers and Enforcement staff
• Kirklees Catering
• West Yorkshire Police
• Huddersfield Society of Model Engineers
• Greenhead Park Veterans Bowling Club
• Kirklees College
• Greenhead College

The Friends of Greenhead Park was revitalised as part of the project, and they are working closely with the council to make sure that the popularity of the park continues to grow.

• Friends of Greenhead Park (external site)

The park is open daily from 7am and closes at:

• January & February: 6pm
• March & April: 8pm
• May, June, July & August: 10pm
• September & October: 8pm
• November & December: 6pm