On bank holidays in the early part of the 20th century up to 40,000 non-residents would pay to enter
Sutton Park.

 The majority of these visitors did not venture into the depths of the park. They reclined on the grass, and, in late afternoon, tucked into picnics and shared small fires to boil water for cups of tea.

Reinforcements from Aston were brought in to assist the police constables of Sutton in managing the crowds. Yet, in spite of such large numbers, there were very few episodes of disorderly behaviour.

On the bank holiday in May 1901 30,000 paid at the gates, but there were only seven arrests.

Ticket

A rare outbreak of unruly behaviour occurred in 1928 when a visitor, who was unable to produce a ticket, was alleged to have assaulted a police constable.

A park keeper reported that he 'let go right and centre' at the constable, but another witness claimed that the alleged assailant 'was' knelt upon until he was blue in the face:

A crowd of up to 300 gathered at the Wyndley entrance to express their anger at the police and additional constables were brought in to disperse them. The magistrates took no action against the defendant, stating that the park authorities should have been better prepared for such a large number of visitors.

Periodically, there were convictions for unacceptable behaviour.

In 1904 a young man was ordered to pay £1 and costs for using a catapult; in 1906 29 men paid 5s each plus costs for playing cards on a Sunday; in 1931 a man was fined 10s for taking rabbits and £1 for swearing and assaulting the park forester; and in 1933 a man was fined £1 for swearing at a female attendant at the entrance to Keeper's Pool entrance. There were regular reports of clothes and possessions being stolen from the banks of the pools, but the police struggled to make arrests.

When the crowds went home, they didn't take everything they had brought with them.

It would take a week for all the litter, orange peel and bottles - particularly the milk bottles used to make tea - to be cleared away.

"I saw Sutton Park on Monday evening", one journalist observed.

"My goodness!"                      .

Sutton Park: A Social History 1900-1950 by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon, £5;

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts