Woodvale Park (Belfast)

A listed bandstand, a fountain and twenty-five acres

Woodvale is one of the Belfast parks that got its money back. Twenty-five acres of Victorian parkland off the Woodvale Road, it had drifted for decades before a £2 million refurbishment was completed in August 2013 — and the difference is the reason to visit now rather than ten years ago.

The centrepiece is the bandstand, which was granted protection as a listed structure in March 2016. Victorian park ironwork of this kind has mostly gone from Belfast, scrapped or left to rot, and having one restored and back in use is not a small thing. Beside it are the landscaped flower and shrub beds the park was laid out with, and a restored memorial drinking fountain that was put back on its feet as part of the same programme.

For families the park is well stocked: a children's playground with a separate toddler area, an outdoor exercise area, soccer pitches, a seven-a-side area and a bowling pavilion. On the quieter side there is a community garden and a set of allotment plots, which is what a park looks like when the people around it are actually using it.

There is also a pond-shaped absence. Woodvale originally had a large pond, and local people skated on it in hard winters. It was filled in after the Second World War and a children's playground put in its place — so the flat ground the swings sit on is where the ice used to be. Worth knowing as you walk past it.

Free, 25 acres Listed Victorian bandstand Landscaped beds and a restored fountain Play park with a toddler area Green Flag every year from 2014 Community garden and allotments

Before you go:

The park opens daily at 7.30am with a seasonal closing time — around 4.30pm in midwinter, up to about 8.30pm in high summer. Enter from the Woodvale Road or the Ballygomartin Road; Metro bus 11A–D runs from the city centre. Disposable barbecues are not permitted anywhere in the park.

What to wear & bring

👟Comfy shoesTwenty-five acres of gently rolling park with surfaced paths through it.

🧥A coatWest Belfast under the Black Mountain. The weather comes over the top and it always looks good doing it.

🧺A picnicGrass, benches and a bandstand to sit near. No café in the park, so bring the flask.

⚽A ballOpen grass, soccer pitches and a seven-a-side area. A hat and water finish a bright day.

Events at the park

The bandstand is listed, restored and back in use, and it is the natural focus for community events in the park. The Friends of Woodvale Park have been active in the park's revival, and the community garden and allotment plots run to their own growing calendar rather than a published programme.

Belfast City Council programmes events across its parks through the year — worth a look at their listings if you want to land on something. Woodvale has held a Green Flag award every year from 2014, which is the mark of a park that is genuinely well looked after.

Everything before you go

Cost

Free

Opening

Opens daily at 7.30am; closing is seasonal, from around 4.30pm in midwinter to about 8.30pm in summer

Best for ages

All ages — the playground has a separate toddler section, and the open grass suits everyone

Size

Around 25 acres

What's there

Listed Victorian bandstand, landscaped flower and shrub beds, a restored memorial drinking fountain, the Peace Tree, soccer pitches and a seven-a-side area, a bowling pavilion, a children's playground with toddler area, an outdoor exercise area, a community garden and allotment plots

Restoration

A £2 million refurbishment was completed in August 2013. The bandstand was granted listed protection in March 2016

Awards

Green Flag Award every year from 2014

Entrances

Woodvale Road or Ballygomartin Road

Parking

On-street around the entrances

Dogs

Welcome on a lead — Belfast City Council requires dogs to be on a lead in its parks, and they are excluded from play areas and marked pitches

Accessibility

Surfaced paths across gently rolling ground

How long to allow

One to two hours

Food

No café in the park; the Woodvale Road and Shankill Road have options nearby

Getting there

Metro bus 11A–D from Belfast city centre

Address

Woodvale Park, Woodvale Road, Belfast BT13 3BN

Questions

Before you go

Is it free?

Yes — Woodvale Park is a free council park.

What are the opening hours?

Open daily from 7.30am. Closing is seasonal, from about 4.30pm in midwinter to roughly 8.30pm at the height of summer.

What is special about the bandstand?

It is a Victorian bandstand that survived, was restored as part of the £2 million refurbishment completed in 2013, and was granted protection as a listed structure in March 2016. Very little park ironwork of this age survives in Belfast.

Is there a play park?

Yes, with a separate toddler play area, plus an outdoor exercise area for adults.

Was there ever a pond?

Yes. The park originally had a large pond that local people skated on in winter. It was filled in after the Second World War and replaced with a children's playground.

How old is the park?

The land was sold to Belfast Corporation by Reverend Glover in 1888, and the park opened on 18 August that year. It was nearly called Shankill Park — the name was changed shortly before opening.

Are there toilets or a café?

There is no café in the park. Facilities are limited, so plan ahead with younger children; the Woodvale and Shankill roads are close.

Can we bring the dog?

Yes, on a lead. Dogs are not permitted in the children's play area or on marked pitches.

Getting there

Woodvale Park is on the Woodvale Road in west Belfast, BT13 3BN, with entrances on the Woodvale Road and the Ballygomartin Road. Parking is on-street around the entrances. Metro bus 11A–D runs from Belfast city centre.

Official website Directions on Google Maps See it on our map

Nearby

Make more of the day

Falls Park101 acres under the Black Mountain, across the way Colin Glen Forest ParkWoodland, waterfalls and the zipline Belfast CastleThe castle and estate paths on Cave Hill Bog MeadowsAn urban wetland nature reserve nearby

The story

About the park

The land was sold to Belfast Corporation by the Reverend Glover in 1888, and the Corporation intended to call the new park Shankill Park. The name was changed to Woodvale shortly before it opened.

The opening itself is the best story the park has. A ceremony was arranged for 3pm on Saturday 18 August 1888. By 3.35pm the dignitaries had still not arrived, and a large crowd was waiting outside the gates. A park ranger took the key, opened the gates, and let everyone in. Woodvale Park has been open ever since.

For its first century it had a large pond — a proper one, big enough that local people skated on it when the winters were hard enough. It was filled in after the Second World War and a children's playground put in its place, which is why the play area sits on such a conspicuously flat piece of ground.

The park went through the same long decline that hit most Victorian city parks, and then, unusually, it came back. A £2 million refurbishment was completed in August 2013: the beds replanted, the paths remade, the memorial drinking fountain restored, and the bandstand — the thing that most Belfast parks lost — brought back. In March 2016 the bandstand was granted listed protection, and the park has held a Green Flag award every year from 2014.

That combination — a Victorian park, a listed bandstand, allotments, a community garden and a play park, all free, off the Woodvale Road — is worth an hour of anyone's Saturday.