Visually impaired visitors given helping hand at revamped park

Assisted tours are also now on offer at the park, near Sheffield University, which has been painstakingly restored over the last decade at a cost of 2.7m.

A spokesman for Sheffield Council said the features for blind visitors are "one of the first of their kind in the country for a public park" and have taken over a year to develop.

This has included practical testing by Sheffield's Access Liaison Group, a body set up to advise the council on public accessibility issues.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, Sheffield Council's cabinet member for climate change and the local environment, said: "The guides aim to give park visitors with limited or no sight the same level of information that has been provided for sighted visitors.

"We are proud of the refurbished park and it is wonderful that people without the ability to view the features can learn more about them."

Using the original 1875 designs discovered in the city's archives, the extensive restoration work was intended to bring Weston Park back to how it was in the 19th century.

The bandstand has had a facelift and new features have been added, including a shelter and two new bridges, constructed using traditional methods at Sheffield's Ecclesall Sawmill.

Bridges in the park have been built using locally-sourced green oak, and some of the timber used has come from trees which had to be felled during the project.

As a result of improvements to the bridges, visitors can now walk around the lake in Weston Park in the manner Robert Marnock, the designer of the park, originally intended when he laid it out more than 130 years ago.

Both the large print and Braille guides have been designed to be easily carried around the park. The large print version includes a map and has large-scale images of some of the park's features, whilst the Braille guide contains a tactile map and five images.

Copies of each guide are available for loan from the Weston Park Museum foyer. To arrange assisted park tours contact the park manager on 07823 533298.