West Bank Park

In the 19th century, the botanist James Backhouse owned a nursery in Holgate which covered 100 acre, and was known worldwide, having the nickname of the "Kew of the North". During the second half of the 19th century, Backhouse had several large greenhouses built to grow ferns, with the Backhouse family being credited as "Britain's leading cultivators of exotic ferns." Part of this land became West Bank Park in the early 20th century, and now has grassed areas and woodland. The northern part of the woodland had previously been the site of a small lake, which archaeological evidence showed had silted up by the time the area was converted into a park. The land was converted into a park between…