Otterspool Promenade is a riverside walk and accompanying area of parkland in the

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Toxteth and Dingle to the north, Mossley Hill to the east, and Garston to the south, with the River Mersey forming its western boundary. Desc ...

and

Grassendale Grassendale is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is in the south of the city, bordered by Aigburth, Garston and Mossley Hill. History The hamlet of Grassendale was acquired by Robert de Blackburn, the lord of the manor of Garston, ...

districts of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. The promenade runs along the bank of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

from just north of

Garston Docks The Port of Garston, also known as Garston Docks is an enclosed tidal dock system on the River Mersey at Garston, approximately from Liverpool City centre Liverpool, England. It is operated by Associated British Ports who are the Harbour Auth ...

to Otterspool Park. A narrower footpath and cycling lane continue north along the riverbank to the city centre, ending at the Albert Dock. The promenade adjoins the former private parkland estates of Cressington Park, Fulwood Park and Grassendale Park. It is notable for the excellent views it gives of shipping in the Mersey and over the river to

the Wirral The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool ...

. Opened in 1950, it was built by landscaping a site that had been used for disposal of household waste, and for spoil from excavation of the

Queensway tunnel The Queensway Tunnel ( signposted as the Birkenhead Tunnel or B'head Tunnel) is a road tunnel under the River Mersey, in the north west of England, between Liverpool and Birkenhead. Locally, it is often referred to as the "old tunnel", to disti ...

under the Mersey in the 1920s. The stated desire of the local authorities was, "Firstly... provide a place where the citizens of Liverpool can enjoy their leisure in pleasant surroundings on the banks of the Mersey estuary. Secondly... for providing a large area where the essential need to the community for the disposal of its refuse could be met economically and by the use of hygienic and up-to-date methods." Renovations of the promenade were undertaken in 2006 and 2007, including the creation of a children's playground. The renovations were opened in 2007 with a plaque commemorating Liverpool's 800th anniversary. After several years of campaigning by skateboarders, rollerbladers, and BMXers, the promenade had a concrete skate park installed, which was completed in May 2015. To the north of the promenade on the riverbank was the 1984

International Garden Festival The International Garden Festival was a National Garden Festival, garden festival recognised by the AIPH, International Association of Horticultural producers (AIPH) and the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was held in Liver ...

site. Toward the end of the Otterpool promenade stands the ''Sitting Bull'' sculpture by

Dhruva Mistry Dhruva Mistry (born 1 January 1957) is an Indian sculptor. Biography Mistry was born on 1 January 1957, Kanjari, central Gujarat in India and studied Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University of Baroda in 1974-1981 and the R ...

, commissioned for the 1984 International Garden Festival.

References

External links

Mike Royden's Local History Pages

Mersey Gateway: E. Chambré Hardman Archive

Steve Roden: Sunset at Otterspool Promenade
Parks and commons in Liverpool Urban public parks 1950 establishments in England {{Merseyside-geo-stub