A community who have fought hard to save a country park that was under threat are preparing to toast their success with some tasty ale.
The Historic Cuerden Valley Park in Bamber Bridge, was threatened with closure due to a severe lack of funding.
The independent charity Cuerden Valley Park Trust, took over the running of the park from the Government in 1992. They had a £1m endowment to help maintain the park, but the money wasn’t enough, and the park started losing a lot of money.
Friends of Cuerden Valley group have worked tirelessly to get the park back to it’s former glory. Pat Ryan became the chairman of the group 18 months ago, and has been working ever since to improve the finances of the park.
Pat, who is a granddad of two, said: “Financially we are nowhere near the state we were in 18 months ago. We are getting a lot better with farmers’ markets and the May Fair so we are reducing the budget deficit. When I started 18 months ago it was £120,000 a year and now it is £30,000.People feel passionate about the park and the Friends of the park’s membership has tripled in 18 months.
“We had 40 members and now there is 140. There are a lot of people committed to making sure that the park stays for the benefit of everybody.”
The group have now arrange to hold the first Cuerden Valley Beer Festival this year. It will offer a fantastic range of live music, 40 real ales and ciders and delicious food.
The park also has a farmers’ market and many more events to come. Pat is hopeful that all of the events will get them back into the black.
He said: “There is a beer festival and… there is the May Fair. All this in 28 days, we have really big events and we are hoping to be able to catch up on the funds (deficit). We have done our utmost to make it as good as we can. Our sponsors have helped us immensely which means we can sell beer at £2.50 and soft drinks are 50p. We have got fantastic food and really good live music, it should be an excellent event.”