{"id":37132,"date":"2025-04-21T02:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37132\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T02:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:02:09","slug":"vanished-oasis-for-greater-manchester-kids-from-when-summers-lasted-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37132\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanished oasis for Greater Manchester kids from when summers ‘lasted forever’"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Omg… what memories of happy times spent there!’\"StamfordStamford Park paddling pool in 1980(Image: Tameside Local Studies and Archives)<\/p>\n

Photographs of a long-lost children’s oasis have sparked memories of blissful summers in a Greater Manchester park.<\/p>\n

Stamford Park on the border of Ashton-under-Lyne<\/a> and Stalybridge<\/a> dates back to the Victorian era, opening on July 12, 1873. In the following decades, the park expanded to encompass a reservoir, which became a boating and fishing lake.<\/p>\n

However, one of the park’s most loved features, the original Stamford Park paddling pool and fountain, no longer exists. They were once a huge attraction for children and families during the summer months.<\/p>\n

At the far end of the pool was a small children’s playground that many people also remember fondly<\/a>, as well as an animal corner with a variety of birds and animals.<\/p>\n

In the past couple of years, nostalgic photos of the paddling pool have been posted to The History of Stalybridge Facebook group, attracting hundreds of reactions and comments.<\/p>\n

Christine Dunworth said: “Great photos. Took my children to the park all the time. My son fell in once with all his clothes on and it was a pretty cold day. Had to ring my husband up from a call box to come out of work to get us home for warmth lol. He never mucked about again”.<\/p>\n

Lisa Garlick said: “Such lovely memories of us paddling away for hours in that pool when summer lasted forever”.<\/p>\n

While tagging her friends, Katherine Clark posted: “Remember those long summer days here?”<\/p>\n

Marian Timpson said she “Loved it in Stamford Park,” adding: “It was our playground. We were so lucky to live near to the park.”<\/p>\n

Lee Stafford said: “Memories – my ‘oh so old nanny’ probably in her 50’s, sat on her deck chair in the shade while me and my two brothers played in the pool. 99\u2019s for the parents and a rocket lolly each for us.”<\/p>\n

\"StamfordStamford Park paddling pool. C 1960s(Image: Tameside Local Studies and Archives)<\/p>\n

Another feature of the park that many remembered was the “lethal” metal slide in the play area that had burned many a backside on a hot day.<\/p>\n

Remembering the “steel slide of doom”, Christina Longden said: “If you didn’t smash your face in at the bottom (thanks to the top speeds you reached whilst wearing nylon) you’d get third degree burns from the slide itself.”<\/p>\n

Barbara Lawley agreed, but she had an ingenious way of making the slide even more hair-raising.<\/p>\n

She said: “On a hot day that steel slide was lethal however it didn’t stop my friends and I smuggling the waxed wrapping from Mothers Pride sliced bread. My goodness didn’t that make being fly.”<\/p>\n

While Sarah-Jane Oliver posted: “Loved Stamford Park as a kid. Lots of happy memories of that rocking horse and slide. Lethal!!! Hated the roundabout. Made me sick and it still does to this day, lol”.<\/p>\n

Photographs and home videos show that the original paddling pool was still a feature of Stamford Park in the 1990s. However, at some point it was filled in with the area now said to be popular with children on skateboards and rollerblades.<\/p>\n

These days, Stamford Park still has its attractions for water lovers, including the original boating lake, and splash area with water fountains.<\/p>\n

But many still prefer the paddling pool they remembered during their youths. As Anne Lucas succinctly put it – “Omg..what memories of happy times spent there!”<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Omg… what memories of happy times spent there!’Stamford Park paddling pool in 1980(Image: Tameside Local Studies and Archives)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[1379,748,393,4884,8829,2465,8838,16498,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-37132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-ashton-and-mossley","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-m-e-n-explore","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-nostalgia","15":"tag-stalybridge-and-dukinfield","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114373495692506572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}