Over the weekend of the 16-18^th June Wimbledon Park did its bit to celebrate the millennium with a number of different events.

An exhibition was held in the Church hall of Christ the King, which reflected on how Wimbledon Park has developed as a community, with the arrival of shops, houses and later religious buildings. Stephen Chaplin provided an excellent exhibition, which showed, through the use of paintings and other media, his perceptions of Wimbledon Park. Children from Wimbledon Park First School also provided an exhibition reflecting their views on Wimbledon Park's future. I must admit it will be interesting to see if they are right.

On the Friday night, Richard Milward gave a fascinating illustrated talk on the history of the area. On Saturday night there was a very interesting bat walk led by David Dawson, which covered some of the exciting items of natural interest in the park. As dusk approached a large number of bats could be tracked through the use of bat detectors.

A large number of people helped to put this programme together and many thanks go to all of them.

The exhibition showed how Wimbledon Park has changed, notably with the loss of banks and the library. Recently at a local meeting a large number of people came together to look at how we can continue to make Wimbledon Park a great place to live in. I wonder if by chance we were to be transported forward one hundred years what decision we wish we had taken in the year 2000. Central must be safe green environments with easy access to schools, places of worship, eateries and other shops. Maybe the focus will need to move towards a community growing and developing by groups such as the Residents' Association and others acting as facilitators and implementers as we seek to ensure that our community remains dynamic and reflects the diversity of all members within it. 

Ken Ball