THE long-awaited opening of Malvern's latest improvement, the Manor Park sports club, was reported in the Malvern Gazette a century ago.

"Until December last, Manor Park was a stock grazing meadow with a cowshed and a duck pond in the middle of it. Now it is a little garden of verdant beauty and summer charm. The magic wand of a landscape gardening wizard has cast a spell across the landscape and has converted in into a fairyland of free, open sweetness.

"Stretching from the Albert Road down towards the railway, with its broad tiers of playing courts, its imposing avenue of trees, and its natural grass-grown terraced embankments, it presents an imposing appearance from whichever side it is viewed and it should prove one of the best attractions that Malvern possesses.

"At present the grounds have been laid out to afford space for four croquet grounds, three double tennis courts, a bowling green and an archery range."