Dora Greenwood: A Pioneer for Play

Theodora Greenwood – ahead of her time as a play advocate?

Walking along the foreshore in Eastbourne recently, I came across Greenwood Park and the plaque in the photo. I was instantly intrigued and read the interpretive board alongside it (you just have to love a good interp board).

The abridged version of the board goes…Ellen Theodora (“Dora”) Greenwood settled in Eastbourne in the 1920’s and became concerned that new housing on Eastbourne’s sandhills was leaving local children with few natural play areas.

So, Dora gifted a piece of land to the local borough for the “purposes of children’s play for ever”. She made one stipulation: that the land be kept in “rough, natural condition so that children could play freely, using their imaginations.”

So many good messages in here...from so long ago. Sometimes the simplest spaces can be the most valuable.

Richard Linsday