The Deserted Park

If I had to choose, it would be wild countryside over formal gardens every time.

But I must say the Monet Garden at Roundhay Park in Leeds looked wonderful this morning:

So did Canal Gardens, which is also part of Roundhay Park:

And the Upper Lake looked fantastic in the sunshine with its fountains going:

And one of the glories of Roundhay Park is that you can also find places like this:

Yet there's something strange going on here. Glorious May morning, about nine o'clock, beautiful park - - where are all the people?

In the 2001 census Leeds had a population of 715404 and I certainly don't think the population has decreased since then. I'm often in the park first thing in the morning, and I'm usually surprised by how few people there are.

I know that a large proportion of the population will be at work at that time (my work doesn't start until ten) but where are all the others? I see the same relatively few people over and over again. I know the park is very large and can absorb a lot of people but even so, out of 715404 people you'd think there'd be quite a few of them out in the morning sunshine.

Where are they all?