Opening of the new Chatteris pocket park is delayed but visitors are still enjoying the quiet oasis

A new pocket park in Chatteris was due to be officially opened on Saturday (25) but the opening is unsurprisingly another victim of the coronavirus crisis.

However all is not doom and gloom because the pandemic has actually resulted in an increasing number of local residents discovering the little oasis in the Fens.

Little Acre Pocket Park has seen visitor numbers steadily increase as Chatteris residents on their daily exercise find the park which is at the end of West Street and Blackmill Drove and adjacent the Old Railway Line Footpath and Bridleway (which runs from Huntingdon Road to Somersham).

The park has been created on a disused sewage works site by Chatteris Town Council and is now being developed by the volunteer group the Friends of Little Acre Pocket Park (FLAPP) and maintained by the council’s gardening contractors R J Warren Ltd.

Visitors can enjoy the wide open skies of the Fens from a viewing mound, visit a bug hotel and dry pond and see the impressive Fen Tiger statue (created by Stainless Metalcraft apprentices) emerging from the reeds around the pond. In future there are plans to allow pond dipping from the special dipping platform.

The official opening will still take place when restrictions are lifted but in the meantime residents are very welcome to keep spreading the word about Chatteris’ latest virus-friendly attraction.