New heritage trail set for Darwen park (From Lancashire Telegraph)

New heritage trail set for Darwen park

11:30am Wednesday 27th June 2012 in News By Dan Clough, Reporter

A HUNTINGTON Heritage Trail is to be unveiled in a Darwen park after a four-year, £50,000 project.

Using money from the Community Spaces fund, the Friends of Bold Venture Park have installed a labyrinth and water feature by the Huntington fountain.

In addition, the group has now set up a heritage trail through the park using an appointed sculptor working alongside a professional storyteller to illustrate the history and heritage of the Grade Two-listed park.

Artworks have been created and positioned within the park in order to provide an interesting journey along the serpentine paths, differing levels, historic elements and unique features of the park.

The Huntington fountain was an elaborate Victorian cast iron fountain standing 25ft and built to remember James Huntington, the paper mill boss who left money to workers in his will.

The iron from the fountain was taken for scrap during the Second World War.

Chairman of the Friends of Bold Venture Park, Harry Duxbury, was delighted to see four years of hard work come to fruition.

He said: “I am very pleased. It has turned out very well in the end.

“We started with the application for funding four years ago and it has dragged on a bit.

“The trail features a number of steel sculptures, some at ground level and others hanging from trees.

“There are different subjects throughout. There are some birds and there is one asociated with a flood in the area from the 19th century.”

The trail is to be launched at an event on July 7 at 2.30pm.

There will be a performance by Darwen Ladies Choir, a brief presentation by children from Holy Trinity Primary School, words from a council representative and the mayor and the release of helium balloons marking the project launch.

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