During lockdown, parks became more important to us than ever – as gyms, pubs and nightclubs. From dawn to dusk at Woodhouse Moor, I found out why they are so essential now
On a crisp, clear morning just before dawn, the sky above Woodhouse Moor in Leeds is shades of ochre, mauve and pigeon-grey. The park is empty, save the joggers making solitary laps, and I circle the perimeter on foot, too, in search of the rising sun.
During lockdown, we used parks as our gyms, social spaces and – as restrictions eased – our nightclubs and pubs, wringing every drop from our hour or so outside each day. To better understand how we are now using these spaces, I have come to this 26-hectare (64-acre) park, 2km from central Leeds, to spend a day from sunrise to sunset. As I stand at the less lovely end – where tarmac has been laid over wild moorland – the sun rises.
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