Clitheroe Park Offers a Summer of Sporting Fun as Part of Major Investment in Sport and Recreation Facilities
A range of sports and recreation facilities in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle are offering a summer of sporting fun for all – for free.
The multi-use games area (MUGA) in the park surrounding the 800-year-old castle keep has been upgraded to offer improved facilities for use by people of all ages and abilities.
Meanwhile, an £100,000 outdoor gym has been installed next to it, and there are plans to improve the adjacent skatepark.
The outdoor gym features 13 pieces of equipment, including fitness bikes and seated presses, many of them fully-accessible.
The gym was installed by the Great Outdoor Gym Company, which has delivered some of the most prestigious outdoor gyms in the UK, including for the United Nations, COP22 and London Olympic Park, along with numerous councils, hospitals, schools, universities and prisons.
The improvements are part of a wider ongoing £2.3 million investment programme by Ribble Valley Borough Council to upgrade the keep and park for generations to come.
Councillor Stuart Hirst, chairman of the council’s community services committee, said:
“The castle park is a popular destination, not only for local residents but for visitors who travel some distance to enjoy it.
“The modernised MUGA is ideal for brushing up your skills at a wide range of sports, including cricket, football and basketball. New surfacing has been put down with markings for various sports and it is enclosed which makes it easier for users.
“The former tennis courts next to the MUGA have been transformed into a brilliant outdoor gym which features a range of equipment to train on, and the adjacent skatepark is also in line for some improvements. They all add up to a great sport and recreation facility in the middle of a beautiful park, all of which costs nothing to use.
“They are part of wider plans to promote Clitheroe and its landmark castle, and Ribble Valley as a whole, as somewhere that people want to live, where companies and businesses want to be, and where tourists want to visit.”
Work on other parts of the castle grounds, including the bandstand, will all be completed by 2027, which is being branded nationally as the Year of the Normans to mark the 1000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror. Continuing the French connection, the Tour de France which will pass through Ribble Valley next summer.
The council is planning a public party in the park event in spring 2027 to officially “launch” the “new look” keep and the other works. More details will be announced nearer the time.