Feature from We Are Canterbury

Seeing the current state of the once glorious Lancaster Park, a place where many Canterbury sporting dreams and memories were created can often stir up all sorts of emotions.

Which is something amateur historian and proud Cantabrian Shane O’Driscoll, is hoping for with his latest work, immortalising the stadiums rich 130-year history in a commemorative print.

The artwork provides a visual and written account of the long and varied history of the ‘Field of Dreams’.

Each of the 100 prints includes a unique, embedded seat number from the Deans Stand. For that reason alone, they’re expected to become a collector’s item for sports enthusiasts.

As an avid sportsman, the idea of saving treasured pieces of Lancaster Park intrigued him.

“I decided that before the park came tumbling down it deserved to be immortalised in some way.”

The project ended up bigger than he intended, requiring a lot of research and collaboration between various contributors including acclaimed sports writer, Joseph Romanos.

“I am especially grateful to the Project Team at Christchurch City Council who supported the initiative and provided access so I could retrieve the seat numbers, which really add some context to the final product.”.