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Introduction
It is likely that few of
the people driving along Chester Road, in Manchester,
who see the incongruous white gateways near the junction
with Trafford Road will even suspect that this isn't
some sort of 21st Century folly built to adorn a retail
park.
It would probably come as
a surprise, even to residents of the area, that the
piece of land behind those gates, that now houses the
White City Retail Park, was once home to attractions
that drew tens of thousands of people. 
Today the gates stand guard over a shopping centre where once a Royal Botanical Garden stood. Then, at the turn of the last century the gardens were swept away and replaced by an amusement park that featured some of the most advanced and innovative attractions of its time. Later, it became the home of a stadium that hosted athletic events as well as greyhound and stock car races. The gateway is all that remains to mark the history of this site, however, this web site will go some way at least to retell the story and for a while you can once again walk through the gateway and revisit what was:  |
