Drinkwater Park

Drinkwater Park is situated in the Irwell Valley on the western border of Prestwich, near Manchester, bounded by the River Irwell to the west, Agecroft Road and Rainsough Brow (A6044) to the south, Butterstile Lane and Carr Clough estate to the east and Bunkers Hill to the north.

Much of Drinkwater Park is very flat as it is on the flood-plain of the River Irwell but the valley rises steeply to the east in the area known as Carr Clough.

A Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority recycling centre was formerly located at the northern end of the park, accessed via Buckley Lane.

In 1389 the Langleys of Agecroft Hall acquired the land which was farmed as part of the medieval estate of Robert de Prestwich.

[9] Irwell House was converted to a smallpox hospital for which it was ideally suited due to its isolated position.

For many years there was a sewage farm in the north of the park alongside Buckley Lane but this has now gone leaving only the lines of the walls and some evidence of the lagoons.

Large swathes of bluebells are to be seen flowering in the spring on the slopes to the east, followed by ferns and bracken in the summer.

There are waterfowl on the reservoir including coots, moorhens, mallards, swans and occasional flocks of Canada geese.

The Croal Irwell Regional Park Project Proposal to create a green artery from the centre of Manchester to the West Pennine Moors was announced in June 2003 supported by Salford, Bury and Bolton councils and the Red Rose Forest.

This project, which includes Drinkwater Park, aims to: create a regional "First Impressions" gateway to Manchester providing a high quality, dynamic and exciting exemplar of mutifunctional rural/urban fringe regeneration.