Peel Park, Salford

Peel Park fell into disrepair during the latter part of the 20th century but underwent a £1.6 million refurbishment in 2017 after a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The committee noted that, owing to urban development and rising property values during the previous 50 years, "many inclosures of open spaces in the vicinity of Towns had taken place, and little or no provision had been made for Public Walks or Open Spaces, fitted to afford means of exercise or amusement to the middle or humbler classes".

It strikes me that these very green, underlings are acting in a way, whether with or without authority, most conducive to encourage revolutionary Principles, and I expect some day to hear of their getting a good ducking in the Serpentine.

The most prominent supporters of the campaign in the north of England were Liberal MP for Manchester Mark Philips, and the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel.

In a letter to the Manchester Guardian, published in The Times on 31 October 1844, the writer said; Scarcely a week passes without bringing its own new and striking testimony to the deep interest felt in the Promotion of this great object by all classes of the community.

From the Premier of England to the humblest operative ... We have already mentioned several instances in the course of the subscription which show that the clerks salesmen, warehousemen, and even the packers and porters in the warehouses are as heartily disposed to promote the success of this object as any other class of the community; and they have proved themselves as liberal, in proportion to their means, as their employers themselves.

Including all classes of employees youths, porters, &c., we find that 90 individuals in this establishment have contributed the very large and liberal amount of £221.

- Manchester Guardian [6] On 29 March 1845, the committee bought the 32 acres (13 ha) of the Lark Hill estate from William Garnett Esq for £5,000.

Each park was required to have playgrounds, including provision for archery and quoits, together with skittle and ball alleys, a refreshment room, one or more fountains, and retiring places.

The competition was won by Joshua Major and Son of Knowsthorpe, near Leeds, and the parks were laid out under that firm's supervision in 1845–46, by the company of Pim and Richardson, Nurserymen, of Higher Ardwick.

[14] This was the beginning of a collection of bronze and marble statues of public figures to be erected in the park, all of which were produced by the sculptor Matthew Noble.

[24] In 1937, the Victoria Arch was declared unsafe and demolished[17] and in 1954 the statues of Robert Peel, Richard Cobden and Joseph Brotherton were dismantled and put into storage, to make way for an extension of Salford Technical College.

The Brotherton statue was bought by Manchester City Council 15 years later and placed close to Albert Bridge looking across the River Irwell towards Salford.

Peel Park was extended in phases through the late 19th and early 20th century to include the open space now known as the David Lewis Recreation Ground.

Three stages of music featured local artists such as: Matrix and Futurebound, MistaJam, TCTS, Nick Coulson, The Hoosiers and Noasis (an Oasis tribute band).

[31] The park today includes the David Lewis Sports Ground and has the following facilities available: Wyke, Terry; Cocks, Harry (2005).