The Valley Park

The Valley Park isn’t actually a place I go that often, being neither a football-​playing male nor a dog-​owner, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion!
Well maintained by Newtownabbey Council, it’s a huge green space with lots of room for kids to kick a football about, dogs to run off all that energy they have, and runners to go for miles and miles.

Valley Park is a gorgeous area of park land where there’s a little duck pond, a bridge over the river which is so quaint, there’s a little wooded area and the path leads off to various different routes, so if you wanted to and had it planned out I’m sure you could continue from park to park around here. It’s a nice place if you’re about the area. It’s particularly beautiful on a quiet night, though it goes without saying to be careful as it’s right on the edge of Rathcoole estate, but none the less I’ve seen some beautiful moonlight nights up here where the giant moon winks down at you on the reflection of the pond. Again as with other park reviews, I’d stay away from here at night just to be on the safe side.

This park isn’t necessarily as popular as the nearby seaside park of Hazelbank, or the Cavehill Country Parks, but I went recently for the first time, taking my little dog with me, and we found it reasonably pleasant. It’s strangely surrounded by the mammoth buildings and shops that make up the Abbeycentre and so forth, and the Valley Leisure Centre on the other side, so it doesn’t feel particularly open and free, I suppose you would call it a City Park, but there are some nice walking routes that the dog certainly loved, and there is a play area that I saw some parents take their children to, and there is also a really lovely river and duck pond where the kiddies can feed the ducks — although you’re not really allowed to!