New outdoor gym coming to Priory Country Park

A new outdoor gym featuring seven pieces of equipment and a calisthenics centre is being installed in Priory Country Park.

Outdoor gyms have become increasing popular, and this new gym in Priory Country Park will bring a high quality facility to a popular and well-used, Green Flag award-winning park.

This new gym will be on the site of the current wooden labyrinth at Priory. The labyrinth has been at Priory Country Park since 2007 and has had several new features added during its lifetime with art project frescoes, a marble maze and a centrepiece in partnership with the public and students.

Sadly, it has now come to the end of its life and a number of its posts have had to be removed already due to decay and vandalism. All the timbers that are salvageable from the labyrinth will be kept and reused for future projects within the park.

The works to remove the labyrinth and install the new gym are scheduled to start on Monday 16 May and are expected to be complete by mid-June.

This new gym follows an upgrade to the deteriorating path around the lake at Priory Country Path to all-weather tarmac pathway, making the lakeside more accessible for buggies and those in wheelchairs. Both of these improvements have been funded through S106.

Mayor Dave Hodgson said "This new gym will be a great addition to Priory Country Park, providing outdoor workout space in this already popular local park. It is sad to see the labyrinth leave the park after 15 years, but I am glad that we are able to replace the labyrinth with a new facility for local residents while retaining as much wood as possible so we can reuse it in future projects in the park."