William Clarke Park

After the Kemp Town branch line closed in 1971, the former railway cutting—a long and narrow area of land between Hartington Road and Elm Grove—became available for redevelopment. Labour councillor and former Mayor of Brighton William Clarke led a campaign to lay out a recreational area to serve the Elm Grove and Lewes Road areas, which are underprovided with open space. Landfill was used on the cutting to create the park. In March 2017, the park had a £53,000 makeover, which forced it to close for a few days. It replaced lots of fencing, resurfaced paths, and improved drainage systems, as well as giving the park better play equipment. == Patchfest ==

Patchfest is an annual community festival in the park, which is run by volunteers and organised by the Friends of William Clarke group. The festival has live music and many stalls which contain games, food and drink or other things which are being sold. On 8 May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a virtual Patchfest to replace the in person festival, as restrictions at the time did not allow in-person meetings. == References ==