A park in a city is an area of open space usually enclosed to segregate it either physically or symbolically from the surrounding urban setting and set over to recreational use. It is usually owned and maintained by a local government.
Coppermill Park is no different in that sense from any other, except its main intended beneficiaries are children aged 7 and below and it has a play area so well designed its hard to see the deadening hand of kill-joy local government anywhere near it. Yet, in truth, it is so. Generous areas of the surface which are not paths or lawn are made up of bright red weatherproof play matting which is soft enough to absorb the energy of childish falls and tumbles. This is particularly so around the attractively painted climbing frame, which has no fence around it to discourage boisterous use as such apparatus has in many children's play areas. The chairs for parents are situated sufficiently far away that they either have to actively join their kids in playtime or sit it out and watch the risk takers take their falls from the climbing, crawling, sliding, squeezing, daring and encountering of other children that the red yellow blue and green metal equipment encourages.
There are also moving things, a four seater roundabout which is best when an adult is gently pushing - it does have a little health and safety fence round it to stop the over enthusiastic from charging head first straight into the path of one of the moving arms with seats attached. There is a similar small barrier around the six swings - five with chunky rubber seats and one with a small metal frame for the kind of babies who don't want to fall off. The sprung seat rides - a scooter, motorbike, horse and elephant are invitingly enough positioned and robust enough for plenty of adults to make fools of themselves on them as well as the kids who seem to find them such a good excuse to squeal.
Children who like to play with balls can make use of a grassed area on the other side of what to adults is a symbolic black fence through a sprung swing gate. This has a real goal post in it which gets plenty of use by local dads facing penalty shoot-outs from their offspring.
There are only three benches and a very low child height picnic table for the sedentary or childless among us. These are made of quite weathered wood but can still perform their functions and they have not been wrecked by other members of the public. Neither have the pleasant collection of trees which is slowly maturing around the outskirts of the little park- London plane (sycamore), beach, hazel, birch, japanese maple, hawthorne, oak, cherry and mountain ash (and a few I am not quite sure about).
Neighborhood groups around the world are joining together to support local parks that have suffered from urban decay and government neglect. This one has not been seriously neglected, though a section of the tall railing separating the small grass area from the street does need fixing back in place. Maybe regular visits by a care-taker, its proximity to the Coppermill Primary School and the fact it is well populated most of the time with children of the right age and their parents has helped preserve it from serious vandalism. Or maybe people in Walthamstow are better than we give ourselves credit for when we see something which is a genuine local amenity.
For whatever the reason I am not aware of a local group having formed feeling the need to support and defend this park (or St James Park on the other side of the railway) as yet, though such groups do exist at other nearby parks such as at Stoneydown Park, about 10 minutes walk way off the Blackhorse Road.
The entrance is on Coppermill Lane, opposite the T Junction with Morland Road. The park is open from 9.00am to 30 minutes before sunset.