Alexandra Gardens was opened by H.R.H. the Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 15th July 1902. The plaque on the gate continues, “It was largely owing to the generosity of Sir Francis Tress Barry BArt: M.P. that the Corporation have been enabled to lay out these pleasure grounds.”
I wonder what Sir Barry would have thought of the ferris wheel, ice rink and funfair taking over the beautiful calm & tranquil gardens for 6 months of the year for the benefit of a few?
The council is in financial stress and it releases a huge area of Alexandra Gardens for what seemingly amounts to be a peppercorn rent when it should be there for all residents and visitors to enjoy all year round.
Mental health is a massive issue in 2025 with social media demanding our attention every 5 seconds… we need Alexandra Gardens for the community, for the people of Windsor to get away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy some mindfulness.
Random weekend usage for big events that pay a full licence fee, or no fee if a community event, is great but constant tacky use of such a beautiful space should be discouraged and discontinued.
Show your support by taking the following actions:
- Windsor Past & Present Facebook Group currently has the monthly vote for best photo. The main photo above is portrait, they wanted landscape, so the image I submitted has less impact but makes a point.
- And vote on the “Give Alexandra Gardens Back to the People” poll on I Love Windsor CIC Facebook Group.
Thank you.
Jon Davey
Community Champion
Absolutely 100% stop using our beautiful gardens for unsuitable unwelcomed commercial venues.
I saw it recently and despite the “fun fair” having been and gone for some weeks now the area looks like a muddy wasteland and completely inaccessible for the residents and anyone else enjoying the lovely gardens it’s such a shame and i wholeheartedly support this.
It is such a shame that year after year the Council see fit to allow Alexandra Gardens to be used in such a way. It is of very little use to the residents and apparently given away at a peppercorn rent, so the Council are not even making any money from it. As you say, it is tacky and a total waste of what was once a beautiful, calming space. Pity we haven’t got a present day Doris Mellor.
How about the other end with the sad little rides that are hardly used? Who owns/rents that space? Perhaps that could potentially be a vibrant community space for local markets, businesses, small scale traders to hire little huts, like a traditional christmas market which is so popular in other european cities and can become a tourist attraction in its own right? Could be trialled at christmas and if successful could run weekends (every weekend/once a month)…?
The rides the other end as you put it are open from March to November during the winter months they are closed for servicing and maintenance we used to open over Christmas and New Year but since the ice rink and funfair it was not viable. And we have been operating here for 60 years
So perhaps some community initiatives or a locally run christmas market could be run on that space alongside those small rides? Could be mutually beneficial then to encourage locals as well as tourists? Kids go on the rides while parents can browse local arts/crafts/produce/businesses? I did not mean to be critical just trying the think of creative uses of the space to benefit locals and visitors as the article suggested. It never seems very busy or enticing so perhaps potential to expand/evolve a bit to bring success for another 60 years? 🙂
We try to work with what ever event is happening in Alexandra gardens we have already offered to give certain concessions to the pride event as we have with other events over the years we are quite happy to welcome any new ideas to bring the park back to it’s former glory