With its stock truck, grain silo and other farm-themed play items, Hastings’ St Leonard’s Park playground has been missing just one thing until now – some animals.
Hastings District Council completed an upgrade to this playground in October last year, its
equipment a homage to the district’s agriculture sector, including the nearby Stortford Lodge saleyards that has been operating for 120 years.
It’s proved very popular with families since it opened and while the kids have been playing, over on the other side of the park, there’s been a lot of activity in the Hawke’s Bay Woodturners Guild’s workshop where they have rustled up a flock of five wooden sheep to add to the rural feel of the park.
During the redevelopment of the playground last year, Council asked the Guild if they could make some sheep for it. But finding the right wood for the job proved a challenge, said Guild member, Roger Mabey.
“We searched everywhere for the right tree and couldn’t find anything, and then we heard that the poplar tree in Frimley Park was being removed so we got a couple of big limbs from that,” he said.
After years of failing health, the famous 150-year-old Frimley Park poplar tree, renowned at one point as being the largest and oldest of its type in the southern hemisphere, was removed in September 2023.
At the time, Council identified the Woodturners Guild as a potential recipient for some of the wood, and now this historic tree has a new life in the quirky new playground characters.
“It’s hard, difficult timber to work with but it’s brilliant for the purpose. We’re pleased that this means the tree is still remembered in Hawke’s Bay, and that the sheep are being enjoyed by the kids,” said Mr Mabey.
