douglynn Posted 29 April , 2014 Share Posted 29 April , 2014 A man I researching was posted back from heaton park I found this Shame its not still there I think its a pitch and put now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Strange that they were allowed to show the public what was going on. Would it have put off volunteers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsyd Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 As I live less than a mile away from Heaton Park I would happily have paid to visit the training trenches - thus I'm loving the advert. On a broader picture I feel that (although as my wife works for them, perhaps not) that Manchester City Council (who own Heaton Park) has missed a trick by not arranging a commemorative exhibition, or similar, in the park considering that it was a major training base for the likes of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Why not get the local archaeology unit to do a geophysical survey? Trenches should show up well on one of those! Then you might be able to get them restored for the centenary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsyd Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Why not get the local archaeology unit to do a geophysical survey? Trenches should show up well on one of those! Then you might be able to get them restored for the centenary! I suspect, sadly, that the local council would not agree. Due to the location of the park (surrounded on three sides by other local authorities) & the fact that the park is a millstone to the council (it was donated in perpetuity to the city council by the family who used to own it) nothing will be done to stop cash coming in. Thus, a geophysical survey through the summer months, when paying customers could be using the pitch & putt course is a non-starter I imagine. One thing I was never aware of was where in the park the trench system had been. Now I know that it was where the pitch & putt course is it makes sense. The pitch & putt course (I haven't used it for a few years but I walk my dog past it regularly) is ridiculously undulating & it would be easy to imagine how 100 years ago it was a trench training area (allowing for time having softened some of the angles & some subsequent landscaping). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglynn Posted 30 April , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Ii bet if tony robinson and time team where involved the council would get involved, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elstevo Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Strange that they were allowed to show the public what was going on. Would it have put off volunteers? I agree, although I presume Maj Eric Ball sanitised the exhibit somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 It was one of a number of attempts to make money by what we would today call Disnification of the war - there was often significant opposition from locals who had relatives fighting or who had already had men killed. The original one in Manchester close to Piccadilly was forced to close within a week through being boycotted.AFAIK the only one in Britain to do well was at Blackpool. Visitors could travel to it using a tram modified to resemble a tank. An attempt to open a similar set up in Central Park New York in 1917 was booted out by popular protest, however Great War Expositions in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco with large scale trench installations assaulted twice daily were more successful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 There are quite a number of articles on this in The British Newspaper Archives including a photo of trenches under construction at Heaton Park in 1915 Here Manchester Evening News - Thursday 08 June 1916Life in the Trenches" One of the most unique exhibitions seen in Manchester was opened this afternoon at Heaton Park by Lord Rochdale in the presence of a large crowd of people, when the trenches constructed there by convalescent soldiers were for the first time inspected by the public. On the authority of men who have been at both fronts and who know what life in fire trenches and dug-outs really is, we are assure that the representation at Heaton Park is wonderfully exact in every detail. The wire entanglements with their old tin cans for alarm purposes protect the trenched country just as they do at the front, and, so real is the reproduction of the conditions under which modern warfare is conducted, that one instinctively congratulates oneself on getting behind the shelter of the fire trenches which look out on to not unforbidding " no man's land " Of periscopes there are plenty. Home made ones on the approved lines are handed to visitors and are freely used, but perhaps the most interesting periscopes to be seen at the Heaton Park trenches is the one which is to be found in all parts of the firing line. It consists merely of a small piece of glass stuck up at the proper angle on the back of the trench by means of which a complete panorama may be seen. The trenches bear appropriate names such as Regent-Street, Picadilly Circus, and Dean's-gate while the officers' and men's dug-outs-as snug and comfortable as underground life will allow-bear names that suggest the luxury of peace times in a most cynical way. Scaling ladders are provided in the fire trenches for the rush over the parapets, and these, according to the notices, lead " To Berlin " Saps in various stages of completion are to be seen run out at various points, and the use to which the sand bag is put is admirably demonstrated. In addition to the trench labyrinth, there are many other items of great interest on view. A remarkable museum of war trophies has been got together in a marquee near by. These include Turkish, German and Austrian field pieces, aerial torpedoes, German helmets, death's head helmets, and cuirasses, and, not the least interesting, the weather vane from the Hartlepool lighthouse which suffered in the bombardment. The public are admitted to see the exhibition at a normal price, the proceeds being devoted to Sir Arthur Pearson's fund for blinded soldiers and sailors. " Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Is it my imagination, or are there still visible signs of trenches? Mike Heaton Park.kmz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsyd Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 @skipman, I'm struggling to open the file attachment as it is not recognised Can it be attached in another format or there some other way of opening the attachment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Feledziak Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 The place mark file only works if you have Google Earth on your computer. It will then open the program and take you to the satellite view of location in the Park. Very good to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsyd Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 The place mark file only works if you have Google Earth on your computer. It will then open the program and take you to the satellite view of location in the Park. Very good to. Thanks. I've now downloaded Google Earth & got the image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 I was looking earlier at the pitch and putt area by Middleton Road, the location indicated in the OP, and there are traces of some sub-surface linear works there, but nothing resembling the zig-zag patterns I associate with 1916 trench works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8055Bell Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Douglynn, Thanks for posting the ad. I recently visited Heaton Park, a Century (less 6 months) after my Grandad and took a few pics. I've also compiled a few archive pics. and a video of Heaton Park that others may wish to see. I find the video of the Pals very thought provoking... http://17thmanchesters.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/heaton-park-manchester-then-and-now/ Please may I add your advert to the compendium?? Does anyone know where most of the Platoon photos were taken? The architecture of the building in the background doesn't look like the Hall. This is III Pln of 2nd City Bttn. http://17thmanchesters.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/img_2686.jpg Cheers Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglynn Posted 30 April , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Sure no problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8055Bell Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Who are you researching? City Battalion ? Thanks T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 April , 2014 Share Posted 30 April , 2014 I don't think it is a person but Heaton Park in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglynn Posted 30 April , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 April , 2014 Ramc man from liverpool, on his papers transfered to uk heston park 23.5.1919, so sorry not a manchester lad I just looked up heston park, doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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