Stanborough Park Stanborough Road Welwyn Garden City
Now for the pièce de résistance: the park’s café. It’s not just any café. It’s a concrete flying saucer. Seriously. Built in the 1960s, it looks like a UFO crash-landed and started serving chips. Locals call it the “Space Age Café,” and it’s the perfect spot for a dodgy cup of tea while contemplating alien life.
Why is it still there? Because it’s awesome. It was nearly demolished once, but a public outcry saved it. Proof that Welwyn Garden City has excellent taste in retro sci-fi architecture.
Mystery Signage and a Lost Railway
Wander near the lake edge, and you’ll spot a peculiar sign. It warns: “Danger: Submerged Obstacles.” Submerged what? We’re not talking pirates. It’s probably old gravel machinery, but the phrase is so dramatic. I imagine a lost treasure chest or a sunken Ford Fiesta from 1987.
Splashlands, Stanborough Park, Welwyn Garden City - BSP
Also, the park sits on the track of a defunct railway line. The old railway bridge is still there, covered in ivy. You can stand on it and pretend you’re a Victorian ghost. Spooky, but lovely.