To dog walkers, ramblers, and locals it is already a cherised oasis of calm just seven miles from Manchester city centre. Springwater Park in Whitefield is where the Rivers Irwell and Roch merge and kingfishers, egrits, grey wagtails, and dippers feed in its healthy waters.
Now the location, where nature has taken over a sprawling former bleachworks, in the shape of woodland, small ponds, and a thriving river, is to be known to millions of TV viewers. Next month it will be used for the filming of scenes in Coronation Street.
Actors and crew will move into the park for two days. The plans were revealed in a post on the Love Springwater Facebook Page.
READ MORE: The hidden beauty in the shadow of the M60 it took a pandemic to discover
The post says: "ITV will be filming Coronation St in Springwater Park on the 9-10th Nov. Vehicle access will be restricted on those days but the park will remain accessible on foot throughout.
"We will post a reminder of this a couple of days before, but the council asked that we provide advance warning in order to minimise disruption. If you know folk who this will affect but who are not on social media and / or our email list it would be much appreciated if you can pass on this info.
"If you have any queries or questions about this you can contact the council directly via their events team on events@bury.gov.uk "
The woods in the park are full of bird song from the likes of blue, coal, long-tail and great tits, nuthatches, and green woodpeckers. Deer quietly move through often dense undergrowth of both sides of the river, and birds of prey, including buzzards, and kestrels over above long, rough grass waiting to pounce.
Scattered through the woods are ruins of bleachworks buildings - cobbled paths and stone pillars which were once an ornate entrance.
According to an archaeological report by United Utilities in 2013, when they were planning to install a pipeline through the park, and research by local photographer Andy Carson, the first Springwater Works were established in 1827 by an Alfred Thomas.
It was a calico printing works, to print patterns onto woven cotton. Two workshops were erected next to the River Irwell with a circular building, believed to be a gas plant for providing power to the works, plus a mansion, stable, and garden.
It was taken over in 1844 by a London-based company, and then again in 1851 by William Chambers, a cotton bleacher living at Barlow Fold, Blackford Bridge, nearby.
It was at this time it is thought the business changed to a bleaching works - where the cloth was finished to a bright white. As late as 1957 on an ordnance survey map, the cluster of buildings appears as Springwater Bleach Works.
By 1965 they were just described as 'works' and in the 1970s they were demolished, with the main areas being landscaped to create a park. But ruins remain, engulfed by nature, as do traces of workers' cottages.
READ NEXT:
-
'I found Manchester's best sandwich down a very dodgy looking backstreet'
-
Why the Jewish Museum's award-winning Cheetham Hill café is 'good for the soul'
-
Family, faith and 'the best' doughnuts: Life in Manchester's oldest kosher bakery
-
The takeaway inside an ex-council house in Blackley serves the 'best curry you'll ever have'
-
One of Stockport's best takeaways is run by an ex-footballer and tucked away by Cash Converters
