"Although The Walks are obviously beautiful I believe they're best appreciated among the context of Kings Lynn in a more general sense. The town, although steeped in wonderful history and architecture, has fallen the way of many suburban towns in England. Falling into an almost forgotten and slightly melancholic feel to the town centre. There's not any real reason for this aside from shopping habits changing from centralised town centres and communities generally being less connected and it's certainly not unique to KL, seems as if almost every town in England is suffering the same fate. With BIDs and councils left exasperated on how to rejuvenate as it seems no amount of money can ever relight the fire of localised community that things such as edge of town retail and the internet have all but snuffed out. There's an emptiness and a somewhat loneliness present while navigating the town centre as a visitor which is difficult to ignore but sadly not uncommon.
I feel it's important to keep that in mind while reviewing The Walks, I visited whilst on a short stay in the town late on a rainy midweek afternoon. The place is beautiful. The entrance from the town centre side is an immaculately arboured walkway with central lamp posts perfectly framed. The pathway was a little boring considering the surroundings but it conjured up memories of when England cared about uniformed preened beauty. An almost Richard Curtis-esque idealistic vision of what English nature in an urban space should feel like. I'm surprised I haven't seen it used as a location in cinema and wouldn't be surprised to now notice it in some God awful British romcom featuring an unlikely romance between an upper class widower and a young working class or American woman striving for better in her life or some such nonsense. Just walking along this pathway evoked ideas of stories and a sense of the potential for love to exist between these lines of perfectly spaced trees.
I entered the wider park through the gateway, I imagine much has been written on the structures so I won't bother, and was as good as blown away by the subtle but purposeful beauty of the park. The waterways with little bridges and ducks paddling along allowing tiny moments for individuals to cherish for their whole lives. On the ducks it brought a cracked smile to my usually miserable face to see the small ramps of wood made for them to more easily access the banks, kudos to whoever commissioned those. The place was empty due to the weather but I imagined so much life in this place happening. Dads showing their toddlers how to feed the ducks, lovers wandering hand in hand over the footbridges and huddling together on the benches, buskers on the bandstand drawing their first crowd of the season and children stopping to simply smell the flowers while their exasperated mothers try to hurry them along to school. The place was designed for life's unexciting but defining moments, I imagine there's been more than a few proposals upon those bridges.
The highlight for me was the collection of willows, which I have attached photos of, well kempt and numerous but still reaching out imploring to be touched by passers by. Reminding them that, although in this instant it has been curated, nature isn't simply there to be spectated but to be interacted with. On a sunnier day I'd have happily sat there reading a book for an hour or two in a stolen lazy moment. In this sense The Walks are a utopia, allowing and promoting the subtle simple beauty of life in England, it's the last remaining positive parts of a nationalism now seen as dirty, shameful and wrong. I'd argue it possesses this rare quality with institutions such as Kew and Wakehurst yet without the associated price tag. I'd love to visit in Spring and bring along a sketchbook to take in all the new life, perhaps I'll do that even though the journey is fairly long. To put it succinctly The Walks are a vision of idyllic England, a lovely letter to this great country and those who live in it. An absolute pleasure to visit."

Bal Camp

"Just walk through the park with excellent facilities for kids of any age got pitch and part and toilet facilities also a couple of local landmarks"

Daren Ashby

"Beautifully planted, well maintained park. Dog friendly, good play area, cafe is a bit disappointing but does its best in the limited space."

C