Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival

Preparation of the site involved the reclamation of land formerly occupied by the Shelton Bar steelworks (1830–1978), about two miles north-west of Stoke-on-Trent city centre, between Hanley and Burslem.

The reclaimers of the festival site had to contend with highly contaminated and mine shafted land, and there is still debate among environmental professionals[who?]

The four identical locomotives were all powered by Perkins 4236 diesel engines with Linde hydraulic transmission driving the four wheels.

A standard gauge track was laid at the main entrance and duties fell to Robert Heath No 6, 0-4-0 steam locomotive which originally was built in 1885 and now resides at the Foxfield Railway, Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire.

An extremely rare Dungeons & Dragons module, "Up the Garden Path", was based on the festival site; only about thirty copies are known to have survived.

It is currently being used by local wildlife photographers to capture photos of the Jay – a brightly coloured member of the crow family.

There is now a large retail park on the eastern side of the site – on what was the festival's car-park and public market area – that now merges into the lower reaches of the city centre.

Along the main road on the western edge of the site is the large Water World indoor swimming complex, a ski-slope, a ten-screen Odeon cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley, and a toboggan run.

Groundwork UK created a £1 million cycle-path along the bordering Trent and Mersey Canal in 1998, which is now part of the National Cycle Network.

Plans are now underway for the implementation of the enterprise zone from 2017 onwards, with a focus on firms involved in innovative materials science and high-value design in ceramics.

Antony Gormley sculpture, " A View, A Place ", 1986. It was sited at the festival's highest point looking out over the Fowlea Valley, next to the OS trigonometry marker-stone. The site is now completely enclosed by woodland.
The Festival placed great emphasis on sculpture. Some works still remain on the site as of 2005, such as this sculpture, "Windborne (The Phoenix)" by Keir Smith.
45-metre long suspension bridge of hardwood , spanning the Rocky Valley and joining the paths along the Woodland Ridge, 2005.
2005 view from the middle of the suspension bridge, looking out over the eastern edge of the retained garden parkland. Beyond, the new out-of-town retail park merges into Stoke-on-Trent's city-centre.