Sunny
Vale Pleasure Gardens, near Brighouse, was the Belle Vue or Alton
Towers of West Yorkshire. It opened as a garden in 1880 but with the
inclusion of amusements in 1883 it became a hugely popular venue for
Sunday strollers, local Sunday school groups and day trippers from
around the north of England for the next seventy-five years. With
boating lakes, train and fairground rides, fireworks, a
helter-skelter and, of course, beautiful gardens, in its heyday it
attracted over 100,000 visitors a year. Its tearooms alone would
regularly serve more than 4,000 customers a day.
The author, an expert on Sunny
Vale, has collected images and memories of the attraction over many
years. His regular slideshows on the attraction are well-known in
the area. This collection of more than 180 images, complemented by
detailed captions and reminiscences of the Gardens throughout their
long history, will delight all who remember visiting as a child and
provide a fascinating insight into this vanished, but not-forgotten,
institution. |
