THE spotlight will be on Heaton Park in 2002 when it hosts part of the Commonwealth Games - and locals won't need to worry about being shown up.

In fact, a £6 million revival plan should help to make sure that Europe's largest municipal park is in tip-top condition when it takes centre stage for the lawn green bowling competition and welcomes thousands of visitors from around the world.

As reported in the Guide, bosses at the Prestwich park are celebrating after being awarded a conditional £4.4 million boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The cash will be topped up to £6 million by Manchester City Council and a detailed plan of work has to be submitted before the "Stage One Pass Grant" is handed over.

This will be pumped into projects to restore the park to the Edwardian splendour it enjoyed when it was first bought by Manchester at the turn of the century.

Manager Mrs Theresa Grant said that the public would soon be able to see the benefits of the boost afters years of promises.

The land was a working farm until the early 19th Century and the surrounding wall, which has been revamped thanks to a £3.4 million Lottery grant awarded in 1996, was quite a late addition to the area.

Mr Ian Pringle, co-chairman of the Prestwich Heritage Society, explained that the Manor of Heaton was bought by the Langleys of Agecroft in the Middle Ages. Through marriage it then passed through the hands of several families. Lord Wilton put the 650 acres up for sale in 1901 for an asking price of £230,000, or £354 an acre. After negotiations, an extra 43 acres were thrown in and Manchester paid the asking price.

The Lord Mayor opened the park on September 24, 1902, and since then it has been a popular location for events, ranging from open air theatre and rock concerts to sponsored walks and fundays.

During World War Two an RAF squadron was stationed there while in May, 1982, thousands and thousands of people packed the park to hear the Pope say Mass.

Improvements in the pipeline include:

Heaton Hall (pictured) was built by architect John Wyatt for Sir Thomas Egerton in 1772 and its original views will be restored. The hall itself is seeking Lottery cash but work on its surroundings will include site and tree clearance, re-seeding and planting.

The boating lake and colonnade - part of the facade of Manchester's old town hall in King Street - are later additions. The area will benefit from a much-needed revamp: the lakeside cafe is to be restored and a Lottery bid to improve the rest of the lake has also been submitted, part of a five-year masterplan to inject £30 million into the park.

Elsewhere, the thousands of visitors who come to the park are sure to be well catered for when facilities at the popular Home Farm and its stables are restored. People will also be able to buy art items as the Temple, which overlooks the golf course, is set to become an artist's studio.

When the 270 competitors leave the park after 10-days of competition in the Commonwealth Games, two of the four lawn greens will be converted to crown greens as part of a new "sports zone", including new tennis courts, a floodlit all-weather pitch and central pavilion.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.