Paddlers Park, Amble

Image: © Geoff Holland Taken: 17 Sep 2020

The re-vamped Paddlers Park opened on 20 April 2016 on the site of disused paddling pools. Outdoor adult exercise equipment has been installed, along with a ping pong table and the paddling pools have been replaced with a water feature, and a bright play surface featuring colourful images of puffins, dolphins and hopscotch. The area was also once a sandstone quarry. The large house in the background stands on Pan Point and was built at the time of the construction of the harbour in the 1840's by the Clerk of Works. The building, which overlooked the harbour project, also acted as a 'tommy shop' for the labourers involved in the construction work. The 1901 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable notes that the 'tommy shop' is, "where wages are paid to workmen who are expected to lay out a part of the money for the good of the shop. 'Tommy' means bread or a penny roll, or the food taken by a workman in his handkerchief as well as meaning goods in lieu of money.

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