Bowring Park, Urban park in St. John's, Canada.
Bowring Park is an urban park in the Waterford Valley of southern St. John's, about 4 km from downtown, bordered by provincial route 2 to the east and Waterford Bridge Road to the north. Its 81 hectares hold tennis courts, a football pitch, a large outdoor swimming pool, a playground, a rock-lined duck pond and an off-leash dog area. The Waterford River and South Brook run through the grounds, and a pedestrian footbridge near the pool marks the boundary between the original section and the 1970s addition.
Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring gave the land to the city of St. John's in 1911 to mark 100 years of Bowring Brothers Ltd. operating in Newfoundland. The donation turned the Waterford riverbanks into one of the city's main green spaces, a role it still holds today.
Two Basil Gotto bronzes stand in the park: The Fighting Newfoundlander, unveiled in September 1922 with Corporal Thomas Pittman as its subject, and the Caribou, a 1928 replica of the caribou monuments at the Newfoundland memorials in Europe. The Caribou was first shown at the British Empire Exhibition and was given by Major William Howe Green, a cousin of Sir Edgar Bowring.
The park sits on Waterford Bridge Road and is free to enter at any time of year, with parking available near the main entrance. The terrain rolls gently in places and paths can be uneven or slippery in winter, so sturdy footwear makes the visit more comfortable.
A bronze statue of Peter Pan stands in the park, placed there by Sir Edgar Bowring in memory of his goddaughter Betty Munn, who died in a maritime accident. It is one of the few Peter Pan statues outside the United Kingdom, and many visitors are caught off guard by finding it here.
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