(单词翻译:单击)
I'm very pleased to welcome this evening's guest speaker, Mark Logan, who's going to tell us about the recent transformation of Minster Park. Over to you, Mark.
我非常高兴地欢迎今晚的演讲嘉宾马克·洛根，他将会向我们介绍敏斯特公园最近的变化。轮到你了，马克。
Thank you. I'm sure you're all familiar with Minster Park.
谢谢。我相信你们都很熟悉敏斯特公园。
It's been a feature of the city for well over a century and has been the responsibility of the city council for most of that time.
一个多世纪以来，它一直是这座城市的特色，在此期间的大部分时间里，一直是市议会负责管理这个公园。
What perhaps isn't so well known is the origin of the park: unlike many public parks that started in private ownership, as the garden of a large house, for instance, Minster was some waste land, which people living nearby started planting with flowers in 1892.
也许不太为人所知的是公园的起源：不同于许多最初为私人所有的公园，比如大房子的花园，敏斯特公园最初是一片荒地，住在附近的人从1892年开始种花。
It was unclear who actually owned the land, and this wasn't settled until 20 years later, when the council took possession of it.
目前还不清楚这块土地的实际拥有者是谁，直到20年后，市议会接管了这块土地，这一问题才得到解决。
You may have noticed the statue near one of the entrances.
你们可能已经注意到了其中一个入口处的雕像。
It's of Diane Gosforth, who played a key role in the history of the park.
这是黛安·戈斯福斯的雕像，她在公园的历史上发挥了关键作用。
Once the council had become the legal owner, it planned to sell the land for housing.
一旦市议会成为合法所有者，它就计划出售土地建造房屋。
Many local people wanted it to remain a place that everyone could go to, to enjoy the fresh air and natural environment – remember the park is in a densely populated residential area.
许多当地人希望它仍然是一处每个人都可以去的地方，人们可以在那里享受新鲜的空气和自然环境，记住，这个公园位于人口密集的居民区。
Diane Gosforth was one of those people, and she organised petitions and demonstrations, which eventually made the council change its mind about the future of the land.
黛安·戈斯福斯就是其中之一，她组织了请愿和示威活动，最终使市议会改变了其对这片土地未来的规划。
Soon after this the First World War broke out, in 1914, and most of the park was dug up and planted with vegetables, which were sold locally.
不久之后，1914年，第一次世界大战爆发，公园的大部分土地被用来种植蔬菜，并在当地出售。
At one stage the army considered taking it over for troop exercises and got as far as contacting the city council, then decided the park was too small to be of use.
军方一度考虑将其用于部队演习区，于是联系了市议会，最终认为公园面积太小而无法用作演习区。
There were occasional public meetings during the war, in an area that had been retained as grass.
战争期间，在一片被保留为草地的地方，偶尔会举行公众集会。
After the war, the park was turned back more or less to how it had been before 1914, and continued almost unchanged until recently.
战后，公园或多或少恢复到1914年之前的样子，直到最近几乎没有改变。
Plans for transforming it were drawn up at various times, most recently in 2013, though they were revised in 2015, before any work had started.
改造它的计划是在不同的时间起草的，最近一次改造计划是在2013年起草的，但在改造工程开始之前，这些计划在2015年进行了修改。
The changes finally got going in 2016, and were finished on schedule last year.
终于在2016年开始实施改造计划，并于去年如期完成。
