A NEW outdoor gym at Dunorlan Park has been officially opened by the Borough’s Mayor to celebrate the centenary of the Rotary Club of Tunbridge Wells (RCTW), in cooperation with the Rotary Club of The Pantiles (RCP).
The equipment, set up in a crescent formation overlooking the lake, is in shade in the afternoons and is free to use, with no gym induction or membership fees.
The exercise apparatus has been in operation for a few weeks already, but the two Rotary clubs got together last week to acknowledge partners such as RTW Round Table, whose donation of funds from last year’s fireworks display at Dunorlan Park had been a major contribution.
RCTW president Philippa Bernstein said: “The gym equipment is our way to mark 100 years of Rotary in Tunbridge Wells. Rotary wanted to give something that would be of benefit to our community to mark the occasion.”
Expressing appreciation to others such as Ian West of the Dunorlan Park Café and Jan and Adrian Johnson of 55Plus Equity Release, she also thanked TWBC, which will insure and maintain the equipment, as well as Council parks and sports team leader Peter Every.
Mayor of Tunbridge Wells Cllr Godfrey Bland said the new equipment ‘has been the object of much energy and much generosity’.
“They’re magnificent, and I look forward to gently trying them,” he added.
Also present to officially open the equipment was former Kent and England cricket captain Chris Cowdrey. He told guests he appreciated the irony of being asked to endorse a gym, as he had once been out drinking in Tunbridge Wells with fellow cricketer David Gower before a match at the Nevill Ground.
He recalled an article about the following day’s match, with the journalist commenting on the two players’ performance and wondering ‘how good the two of them would be if only they spent less time in the pub and more time in the gym’.
