Heaton Park 1917….
People might not know that the the St Margaret’s Road corner of Heaton Park was used as a camp during the First World War.
This postcard was sent from the camp to Katie from Jack. It seemed that Katie was too busy to write back…..
This image of the kitchens in the park relates to the processing of tens of thousands of men as they completed
initial training before being shipped off to the front lines in the first World War. Despite the considerable possibility for damage to the park, the huts and facilities provided left a very light footprint and the parkland was able to recover.
The camps returned during the second World War with the following instructions given to airmen cadets:
”The people of Manchester have lost a good recreational park to us for the duration of the war. All good Mancunians are rightly proud of their park and have had to say goodbye to it for a while. So please remember that the whole of the park ..is in our hands, and it is up to all of is to see that the hard working people of Manchester who have temporarily been deprived of their fresh air are not disappointed after the last Jerry has been shot down from the sky”
(Extract from the brochure given to all cadet inductees. This the third version dated 1943.)