THE memory of Darwen's Hindle Aviary will live on in the shape of a pergola costing more than £30,000.

Work will start on the metal structure, in Bold Venture Park, later this month and is expected to be completed by late November. It will incorporate the original Hindle Aviary plaque within the original low back wall.

The work was made possible after the Friends of Bold Venture Park successfully bid for £23,500 from the government scheme Living Spaces and also received £5,000 each from the Lloyds Trust and Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Hindle Aviary was demolished in spring after vandalism and deterioration left it beyond repair.

Lancashire artist Maggie Howarth has been commissioned to design a cobblestone mosaic as the focal point within the new paved area.

Friends' chairman Harry Duxbury, said: "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council enthusiastically support the project and are actively participating in the work. The Friends group will eventually install climbing plants to clothe the pergola in blooms and provide an attractive seating area overlooking the 30 or so flower beds recently restored by the group."

The Friends worked with Capita to come up with the final design for the pergola, which will be made of metal posts and beams, the posts rising from stone piers.

Borough executive member for leisure and culture Coun Dorothy Walsh said: "I feel the finished pergola will be a celebrated work of art that is much appreciated by the people of Darwen and beyond."

In the park's heydey, Hindle Aviary was a popular attraction and housed a number of exotic birds. But numbers declined and the building was demolished in April after becoming unsafe.

The Friends are staging an exhibition in the foyer of Darwen Library from today to October 22 showing photographs of the former aviary, plans for the Hindle pergola and three paintings of views within the park, donated by local artists for the Friends to sell to raise funds.