Chapeltown Park Illuminations

A Memory of Chapeltown.

Does anyone else remember going to see Chapletown Park Illuminations? It was quite a spectacle. I remember at the entrance in a small stream there was an illuminated steamboat with its paddles going round. As you wound up the footpath into the park there were characters hiding in the flower beds and trees. One year the theme was Alice in Wonderland and I remember the Cheshire cat up in a tree, when all the lights were lit it was a full cat but then they faded out until all that was left was its grin. I was so fascinated by this I got left behind and the whole family were getting a bit worried by the time I caught up with them. Another year it was nursery rhymes with Jack & Jill tumbling down the hill and The Old Woman in the Shoe. At the top of the hill was the play area but it looked so different in the dark. There were hot dogs and fish and chips and music and dancing in the bandstand. In my earliest recollections in the mid-50s I think the music was the local brass band but later it was disco. This part is a bit vague obviously I was more inspired by the lights show. Around this time of my life we also had a yearly “charabanc” trip to Blackpool but the lights of Chapltown Park still made a big impact.

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