Xerscape – Outdoor Fitness Equipment is designed to be used by of an age range of 12 years to Adult.
Improving fitness levels is becoming more and more important for everone and Wicksteed has developed a range of outdoor exercise equipment to bring the gym outdoors into the fresh air to help keep everyone active and healthy, whatever our age. The equipment has been professionally tested by sports specialists from Stafford University’s Centre for Sport and Exercise, each piece of equipment has been individually analysed to determine whether it is effective for upper or lower body strength, toning, cardiovascular fitness, etc.
Each Xerscape outdoor gym unit is accompanied by a simple step-by-step guide on the plinth in the foreground, on how to use the equipment; the sequence in which to use each piece and how many repetitions should be achieved, according to the user’s level of fitness.
The nearest piece of equipment is the The Body Twister Xerscape station which is an outdoor gym exercise unit, suitable for three persons at the same time. It improves flexibility and tones abdominals, lower back and hips. Beyond that is the Surfer which improves flexibility and strengthens the abdominals, whilst improving mobility in the spine and strengthening the arms. Next along and most fun is the Pulldown Exerciser which increases strength in the arms, shoulders and back. And at the back is the Triple Pull Ups which increases the strength in the whole upper body – working the upper and lower arms, shoulders, chest and back. All of these exercisers can be incorporated into various outdoor exercise combinations, approved by Staffordshire University. These researched combinations of outdoor gym equipment are specifically designed to improve public health and fitness.
Wicksteed has been designing, manufacturing, installing, landscaping and maintaining playgrounds since 1918 and currently boasts the widest range of outdoor playground equipment in the UK. Wicksteed’s expertise also extends to this outdoor fitness equipment, multi-use games areas and impact absorbing surfacing, as well as ancillary items such as outdoor furniture and fencing. Catering for all age groups, Wicksteed is the UK’s leading play equipment supplier to local authorities, architects, schools, builders, holiday and leisure parks and the community.
This equipment is situated in Beggarwood Park which is a public park which consists of open chalk grassland surrounded by a belt of mature ancient woodland to the north and eastern boundaries, part of which can be seen on the left. Before the housing development this was a arable field belonging to either Hatch Warren Farm or Kennel Farm.
A ancient woodland that fringes the park can only be called ancient if the site has been continually wooded since 1600. These areas are irreplaceable and as a result the woodland has been designated as a ‘Site of Importance for Nature Conservation’ (SINC). The dominant trees found within this woodland are beech (Fagus sylvatica), oak (Quercus robur) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior), with an understory of hazel (Corylus avellana), dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and spindle (Euonymus europaea).
Evidence of the woodl’s ancient origin is indicated by the wildflowers which can be seen growing on the woodland floor in spring. These include sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), sanicle (Sanicula europaea), and wood anemone (Anemone nemerosa).
Bats use the woodland for roosting, foraging and feeding, on addition to a number of birds. The greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) can be heard ‘drumming’ on the trees and nuthatches (Sitta europaea) can be seen scurrying down tree headfirst. Other birds that visit here include chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), great tit (Parus major) and tawny owl (Strix aluco), on of which could heard hooting when this picture was taken.
The park lays within the area of Hatch Warren which is a district and ward of Basingstoke in Hampshire, west of the town centre. Neighbouring housing estates include Kempshott and Brighton Hill.
It is primarily served by Brighton Hill Community College (a secondary school) and two junior schools, St Mark’s and Hatch Warren.
It lies within the Hatch Warren & Beggarwood ward of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
Hatch Warren shares a Newsletter, the Rabbiter, with Beggarwood and Kempshott Park, and has a small retail park, which includes a supermarket and a petrol station. It also has one pub which is named ‘The Portsmouth Arms.’ The Pub was due to open in 1996, but was destroyed by arson. It did however open a year later.
Hatch Warren occupies part of the farm which was the home and head office of Rex Paterson, the noted agriculturalist, when it was part of the estate of the Earls of Portsmouth. .
Beneath here what is now the Hatch Warren estate lie the hidden remains of prehistoric and medieval villages. Excavation of those parts of the settlements which were to be destroyed by housing development was undertaken by Wessex Archaeology, in stages between 1984 and 1987.
In the Iron Age (3rd – 1st centuries BC), a small settlement was established. First there was an enclosure surrounded by a shallow ditch. This may have been for keeping livestock as no traces of any buildings were found. If there were any houses these must have been situated outside the area which was excavated.
In the 1st century BC a number of ditched enclosures contained the remains of buildings and pits grouped in different areas. Most of the buildings were small and rectangular with just four upright posts set into the ground, one at each corner. These are a familiar find on archaeological sites of this date and are generally thought to have been used for storing grain. Again, no actual houses were found but they must have been close-by as broken cooking pots, tools and small personal items were found. The little farming community seems to have continued to live here until sometime late in the 1st century AD, after the Roman Conquest of AD43, when for unknown reasons the site was abandoned.
The remains of the medieval settlement – possibly those of the lost Village of "Hatch" – included a small church built in the 11th-12th century which was surrounded by a wooden fence. At least six timber square and rectangular houses stood nearby. In the 12th – 14th centuries the graveyard was surrounded by two enclosure ditches. At least 240 graves occurred in the graveyard with several more burials inside the Church. One of these graves contained a pewter chalice and paten – religious items which indicate that this was the burial of a priest.
The small village served by the church and graveyard grew gradually between the 11th and 14th centuries. It included timber houses with tiled roofs, some surrounded by fences, with pits and possibly hearths, and at least one well and a bread oven.
The village economy was based on the keeping of cattle and sheep and the cultivation of wheat, barley, oats and rye. Dogs, cats, geese and horses were also kept and birds such as ducks, partridge and pigeons were tasty additions to the diet. Burnt seeds of raspberry, blackberry, sloe and bullace or damson were found, as well as burnt hazelnuts and catkins which show that woodland fruits and nuts were collected and eaten. Of great interest is the presence of the remains of red and roe deer and of sparrowhawk which suggests some serious hunting in the forest.
This apparently peaceful little village seems to have prospered in the 14th century but although the churchyard ditch was given a good spring clean sometime in the later 15th century, the area covered by the settlement seems to have been reduced and some houses were apparently pulled down. By the end of the 15th century the church had been demolished and extensive areas of building rubble were spread across the graveyard. The village was abandoned, and its name and position were lost until the excavations of the 1980s.
