The all new South Park

All hail, the advancing gentrification of 'South' Hermosa.

I'm not sure whether a town that's only two square miles merits a North vs South demarcation, but ever since we moved south of Pier we noticed the invisible line. Yes, the Strand down here is still lined with multi-million dollar bling pads, but a few blocks east of the beach there are far more renter units, scruffy old beach cottages and yes, that sad excuse for a park I posted about last year.

Finally, our end of Hermosa has a beautiful park all of its own. The new South Park is open, and it's pretty amazing. There's a tot lot, a long slide down a little hill that has 'sensory huts' on top of it, a roundabout that can hold about a dozen kids, a climbing net, and a strange see-saw. Oh, and rocks, and sandy areas, and a 'dry creek bed', and just all sorts of cool spaces for kids to run about in.

 South Park was absolutely packed last weekend, and I think it might be a place where Lady P gets to know some of our neighbourhood's kids. It's also a big step up from her former outdoor playspace, the workout station she wistfully called 'the seesaw'..

'The seesaw' at the end of our street: no longer the best park in our 'hood

... or hunting for Gruffalo caves on the greenbelt which was my go-to solution for those times when I felt she needed to play outside for a while but couldn't be bothered to schlep to the beach.

Now we have an incredible park just 5 minutes walk from the house, we feel very spoiled. Lady P is delighted and I'm sure will spend many happy hours of play and adventure there. And I'm sorry that we're so prosaic, but we think it might have increased our property value too.