OLD BANDSTAND AT BUSHY PARK – IN A SORRY STATE WHEN I VISITED
Towards the east of the park, not far from the duck pond, there is a bandstand. It’s fan-shaped in plan and opens out at the base of a slope, like a natural amphitheatre set into the landscape.
Back in 2019 the structure was transformed by street artists but it looks a bit worn and sad when I visited on the morning after Christmas [2021]. Recently I came across the following online review “This defunct bandstand is the stage in the park’s natural amphitheatre. In recent years it has unfortunately become a haven for drug addicts and alcoholics from nearby Crumlin and Mount Tallant.”
Dublin City Council Community, Culture, Recreation and Economic Services has commissioned Howley Hayes Architects to develop a design for a contemporary tearoom with careful consideration of placement, scale, materials and proportions and its relationship within Bushy Park, the proposed Dodder Cycle way and the wider Terenure/Rathfarnham/Rathgar areas. In addition, the development of a design for the currently redundant bandstand.
Bushy Park covers a 20.5 hectare (51 acre) site that lies approx. 7km (4.3 miles) south-west of Dublin city centre. Owned and operated by Dublin City Council, it is located in Terenure and borders the neighbouring suburbs of Rathfarnham and Templeogue. Irregularly shaped, it lies between Templeogue Road, Springfield Road, Dodder View Road, Rathfarnham Road and Rathdown Park / Avenue. The River Dodder flows along the park’s boundary from west to east, with its southern bank forming part of the Dodder Valley Linear Park which stretches discontinuously from Glenasmole in the Dublin Mountains to Ringsend, where the Dodder flows into the River Liffey.
NEW PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE CONNECTING DODDER VIEW ROAD TO BUSHY PARK
The Dodder Valley is the latest section of public land to be developed into a greenway for pedestrians and cyclists and to the best of my knowledge there are three pedestrian bridges. One of the bridges is located in Rathfarnham and crosses the Dodder from Dodder View Road into Bushy Park.
Approximately 14km in length, the greenway travels along the Dodder Valley from Orwell/Terenure, through to the outer suburbs of Tallaght and up into the rural and upland community to the entrance of the Bohernabreena reservoir at Glenasmole.
The scheme includes a number of elements, including the widening and upgrading of existing paths, bridges, underpasses and junctions – and the construction of new paths and bridges.
Improved landscape treatment is also on the cards alongside ecological enhancements including species rich grassland management, the planting of native trees and the provision of bat boxes and bat friendly public lighting.
New entrances to the greenway now exist.
The pedestrian bridges mentioned above are located over the River Dodder at the Tallaght Bypass and to the rear of the Bolbrook Enterprise Centre, which links the eastern part of Tallaght the N81 to the Greenway. The second bridge passes over the Dodder from Kilvere to Riverside cottages, linking Templeogue Village with the greenway park while the third bridge is the one shown in my photographs.
You must be logged in to post a comment.