Colley Reserve

Colley Reserve at Glenelg has been a centre for activity at the Bay for many years. Famous for being the home of the Bay Sheffield athletics carnival, Colley Reserve fills to saturation point every year on Proclamation Day with runners and spectators keen to watch the Bay Sheff.
You could be forgiven for thinking that not much else happens here during the rest of the year but head to Colley Reserve early any morning and you’ll find large groups of people training, boot camp style. They make me feel guilty every time I see them as I head off for my coffee.
Framed on one side by Colley Terrace and its Norfolk Pines and on the other by an apartment building, the reserve is an odd dug out shape with the bulk of the lawned area being much lower than street level. I must say though I loved reading Michelle’s recollections of rolling down the sides of the reserve — it brought back some great memories of doing exactly the same thing! Love it.

This was commonly referred to as «the flying saucer» because of the shape of the Reserve. It is basically a massive oval shape but it’s about 3 metres lower than road level and has a grassy downward slope all the way around it. Which of course I spent many hours as a kid rolling down. My own lkids have rolled down it and I still have friends that take their kids to roll down it. It’s just the done thing at the Reserve.
You would get dizzy, you could roll too fast and start to go sideways, whatever the roll it was always great fun as a kid and a great laugh to watch as an adult.
They do hold a lot of entertainment here like the Sheffield Shield races occur on this oval in the days after Xmas each year. The rotunda is right next to the oval, Wigley Reserve pretty much across the road, the Beachouse not far if you want to spend some money and if not how about just the beach itself, less than a minute from here. Plenty of shops to get anything your heart desires on Jetty Road only a short stroll away.
It’s a great central location and a nice place to just sit under the trees in the shade and have a bite to eat and lets the kids run around for a bit.
And if you haven’t tried it before, you definitely have to try rolling down the sides! It’s truly iconic at this place.