History

Once upon a time,  in 2011, a small group of enthusiastic people started to imagine how fantastic Marine Park could be again. They reminisced about the great times spent there over the years , enjoying the fantastic open space and the facilities that it offered to the whole of the local community.
The tennis courts, where often the over exuberant beginner hit their ball over the fence and into neighbouring gardens !

The smooth sleek bowling green, where the clunk of a shiny black bowl on the smaller white jack encouraged great shouts of joy.

The huge putting area with its natural land undulations giving rise to some extraordinary putting techniques!

The giant draughts that were so large and heavy that you needed a wooden pole with a strong metal hook to lift them over eachother to make your crowner. If you were very successful you soon had a nice seat on top of the pile of your opponents draughts that you had acquired .

In the early days – in the 1950’s it was Nellie who handed you your hired putter or tennis racket and  looked after all visitors to the park Park. She was synonymous with Marine Park for decades! until she retired from her duties there in the late 1960’s

Later on ( in the 1970’s ) there were refreshments to be bought from the pavilion from the University students who took care of the daily running of the park during their long Summer break. There was a good seating area inside if the weather took an unexpected change, or just a good place to hang out with your friends.

Unfortunately the good old days came to an end.

This fabulous area had been neglected and left to fall into a state of total disrepair, without any regular finances invested in its upkeep.

The once immaculate bowling green had been for many years now used as a football pitch to local children looking for a safe area to have a kick about. The bowling green ceased to be used and up kept when the local authority no longer manned the Pavilion which housed toilet facilities along with equipment of bowls, tennis and putting equipment which all could be hired for a small fee.

The tennis court fencing had been deteriorating for years and the only ‘maintenance’ was the regular cutting away of broken rusted fencing. The posts and the one tennis net were in poor condition and then overnight one set of net posts disappeared – apparently to be used somewhere else and not to be replaced in Lossie.

The vast putting area continued to be mown by the local council , although the grass cuttings were no longer removed as was now common practice throughout Moray, in an effort to cut costs.

The Marine Park enthusiasts knew that there were many more who felt the same as they did and that if they could give the Marine Park an injection of the much needed attention that it deserved, soon it would be a safer, happier place to be enjoyed by all once more.

…..and so AMP was born, Action Marine Park …a group of local parents who wanted to revive the whole of Marine Park to the lovely local attraction in the heart of the community that could be enjoyed by all ages of family once again, and as it was meant to be.

When the Laird sold the park area to the Provost and Burgh of Lossiemouth in 1933, the sale was at a very favourable price and the duty was levied at just 1 penny,  in order that the community could look after this great area as ‘amenity ground for all perpetuity’.  The intention then , and still is, that the people of a Lossiemouth and the local area should all be able to enjoy this wonderful outdoor space as they always had done , from the early days when it was used for drying the fishermans nets through to the development of the park when the bowling , tennis and putting were established .

Action Marine Park group with the support of the local community are committed to reinstating these facilities that have been neglected or removed. Please support this project by attending our fundraising events throughout the year, and please enjoy Marine Park as often as you can. If you feel that you can add to the team in any way – suggestions, ideas, historical information, fundraising, etc please do get in touch by email, telephone or Facebook, – we welcome all information ideas and offers of support.