Work is about to begin on a programme of improvements to transform the Meco Memorial Nature Park.
Work to improve the park, (more commonly known as Sanctuary Park) is to begin on Tuesday May 9 and will include the creation of a memorial area to remember the victims of the bombing of the Meco Works during the Second World War.
The memorial will include a sculpture and seating and is part of a scheme by Worcester City Council to improve the park. An information panel about the bombing will also be installed.
Other plans for the park include areas of wildflowers, which will be seeded in the autumn to bloom next year, along with a community orchard along the northern boundary of the allotments, which will be planted in the autumn.
Members of the city council's Environment Committee have allocated £30,000 additional funding for the project. Subject to an ecological assessment and habitat survey, it is proposed to use this money to create a kickabout area, a boardwalk and steps and link paths across the wetland to create a north-south route for pedestrians walking around the park.
Worcestershire County Council will be carrying out work to resurface the public right of way between Wilks Close and the allotments access track.
The Public Right of Way will be closed during the works and pedestrians are requested to use an alternative route.
The park itself will remain open but there will be restricted access on certain days. Temporary protection of the construction area will be required but it is hoped that disruption will be kept to a minimum.
History of MECO
On Thursday, 3 October 1940, a lone German aircraft bombed Worcester and dropped its bombs at low level on the MECO works, in St John's, and then afterwards machine-gunned the area.
Seven people were killed and 50 injured in what was the only fatal bombing raid to take place within the city.
A memorial to those killed was placed at the works, honouring the lives of employees Albert Edward Williams, William Hulme, James Williams Perry, Williams George Ricketts, George William Lee, Thomas Charles Santler and Louis Clement Defaye. Also commemorated was civilian Doris Tindall who sadly lost her sight in the raid.
The MECO works originally produced equipment for the mining industry and continued to do so throughout the war whilst turning to the war effort with production of surge drums for barrage balloons and later a form of track material used for supporting military vehicles over soft ground. It is believed the works was deliberately targeted and not just a random attack. Production at the works stopped for five days after the raid.
