From Francis Corbet.
I WRITE to support the excellent suggestion made by Anthony Gibb that Fort Regent should become the ‘Town Park’.

I am sure that some of your older readers will remember, as I do, the opening of the Fort as a leisure centre in 1970. The interior arrangements were striking but they were almost eclipsed by the beauty of the gardens created within the ramparts and on the eastern outworks. The rampart walk was stupendous with its commanding views over the town, Havre des Pas and the harbour.

The children’s play area in the inner moat was very popular and much enjoyed, even if the gigantic serpent-slide did take the skin off a few elbows and knees!

The dome and tented roof provided a striking modern touch to the skyline and the only jarring detail was the ugly profile of the swimming pool which could so easily have been enclosed within the inner moat instead of destroying the Glacis Field which, as Mr Gibb points out, was both an integral part of the defences and a link with South Hill and La Collette. La Collette Gardens were also beautifully kept in those days.

Access from the town to the Fort is a problem which could be easily solved by installing glass lifts at Snow Hill. The cable cars were futile as they did nothing to reduce the climb up steps and were not a strikingly visible approach, but the cable car station could conceivably be reused as an arrival point for lifts.

The Town Hill was the traditional promenade of our ancestors until the late 18th century. Why not spend money and provide work in the restoration of assets which we already have, and which stand neglected, rather than try to create something new in a restricted and unsuitable location?
La Rosière,
Clos de la Marquanderie,
St Brelade.