THERE are many memorials to Queen Victoria around East Lancashire and this photo shows a small part of one of the larger ones in the area.

This is the boating lake at Queen’s Park in Blackburn.

Originally known as Audley Recreation Ground, the park was named in Queen Victoria’s honour and a crowd of 20,000 gathered for its official opening on her Golden Jubilee in June 1897.

The 33-acre site cost £15,000 to develop and took five years to create.

The land had been donated by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners on the understanding that Blackburn Corporation would build a road around the site.

The lake was not finished until much later but the boats to hire were hugely popular.

Indeed the attraction proved to be so popular that the Corporation took over the business of hiring out boats 1936 from private operators as it was so profitable. It was not uncommon on a sunny Sunday for people to queue for up to two hours to rent a boat rowing and get out on to the lake.