OUR parks have always been one of the forgotten jewels of the town.

From the days when cotton was king and hundreds of chimneys would belch out smoke, Bolton’s public parks have been a little oasis - somewhere families can escape for a brief moment.

In their heyday you would find thousands of people in their Sunday best taking a stroll or enjoying a band concert on their one day off of the week.

With the recent pandemic, parks once again have provided an alternative to the rigours of lockdown - although you must still stick to the regulations for the moment.

Here we head back into the Bolton News archives to look at some wonderfully evocative pictures featuring life in Queens Park over the years.

If you have any pictures from parks in days gone by, email them to john.anson@nqnw.co.uk