Debdale Park is an inner-city park, located in the

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hig ...

area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. At around , it is one of the largest inner-city parks in the

City of Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

. Located in the grounds of Debdale Park there is a members only

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, children's play area, multi-use games area (MUGA), skate park, tennis courts (free for use), football pitch, disused 9 hole pitch and putt, toilets and a visitor & community centre. Close to the park are two large reservoirs for licensed fishing and the neighbouring Debdale Outdoor Centre provides an exciting range of activities include dinghy sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and kayaking, along with indoor climbing, orienteering and team-building activities. In 2021, ''Debdale Nature Centre'' and ''Coffee in the Park'' were opened behind the offices in the north-west corner of the park. Debdale Park is also near to the eastern starting point of the

Fallowfield Loop The Fallowfield Loop is an off-road cycle path, pedestrian and horse riding route in the south of Manchester, England, which is one of the National Cycle Network routes and paths; it was developed and built by Sustrans, forming part of routes 6 ...

shared-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

, a rail trail managed by

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

. It follows the route of the former Fallowfield Loop railway line across south Manchester as far as St Werburgh's Road Metrolink station in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147. By the 9th century, there was an Anglo-Saxon settlement her ...

. The path is part of the UK

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

History

The land around Debdale Park was originally the property of the local

water company The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does ...

, the Manchester and Salford Waterworks Company, who acquired it in the 1820s to provide two

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s. In 1851 the Corporation of Manchester purchased the land and reservoirs, expanding the facility southwards in 1874–75 to maintain the local water supplies, and the reservoirs continued to supply the local area until 1963. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the land around the reservoirs was converted for use as a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

. The City Council expanded the park after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

when it acquired the 18th-Century Gorton House and its estate.

Debdale Park Metrolink station

For a few weeks in March 1987, Debdale Park was the name given to a test station which played an important role in the early development of the

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

system. Before the present cycle path was created, the Fallowfield Loop railway line running by the park was still in use by freight trains. Shortly before the line was dismantled, a temporary station called ''Debdale Park'' was constructed close to the site of the former

Hyde Road railway station Hyde Road was a railway station in Gorton, Manchester, England, on the Fallowfield Loop Line. It opened in 1892 and closed in 1958, when local passenger services on the line were withdrawn. The station was sometimes advertised as Hyde Road f ...

as part of ''Project Light Rail'', an initiative which was promoting the development of a new light rail/tram network in Manchester. The project borrowed a P86 Docklands Light Railway train prior to its deployment on the new

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

system in East London and ran public demonstration rides along a stretch of track, from just north of the Hyde Road junction to just south of the closed Reddish depot. It was the first ever light rail vehicle seen in operation in Manchester. After the event, Debdale Park Metrolink station was dismantled and the timber platform was used to build the new

Hag Fold railway station Hag Fold railway station is one of the local stations that lie on the Atherton line, between Wigan and Manchester, England. The station is located 13 miles (20 km) west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Trains services to ...

near Wigan; and the electric overhead line equipment was taken down and re-used at the Heaton Park Tramway on the lakeside extension. The demonstration train, DLR Number 11, was transported to London where it carried

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

on the formal opening of the DLR.

References

{{commons category Parks and commons in Manchester 1843 establishments in England