Queen's Park

Queen's Park in Heywood was built in the 1870s. A local wealthy merchant died without leaving a will, so his estate passed to Queen Victoria. She gave the money (£11,000) to the people of Heywood who decided to create a park. It was designed by the Queen's gardeners and built by local people.

The Park was restored recently and in September 2010 was voted the nation's favourite park. Amongst its features is Great Britain's second largest bowling green.

This open air theatre was built in the 1950s and is now used for concerts. The two youngsters in the photograph seemed keen to rehearse so I left them, and their mothers, to it.