As a child growing up in Longsight in the 1950s, I remember visiting 4 different parks.  Back then three of them were outside the boundary of Longsight.  The only one inside was the Grey Street Recreation Ground, which we knew as the Sand Park and it sat right on the boundary between Longsight and Ardwick. It was more of a playground than a park. 


If you wanted a place to run around in, you had to go to Crowcroft Park, Birchfields or take the 53 bus to Platt Fields.  By the 1970s the Sand Park was in disrepair with half of the space having been given over to allotments. In 2014 the Sand Park came back to life as Wonderland Park.  However, by then the boundary of Longsight had moved and Wonderland Park is now firmly in Ardwick.  Ironically, with the changes to boundaries, Crowcroft Park is now inside Longsight.