Temperance Fountain

The Prince of Wales Park in Bingley is a fine example of a 'lost' park. Today it is mostly woodland, with an area of semi-open heathland at the top near the moor edge.

It has a maze of paths, which were clearly formally laid out long ago (the park opened in 1865), and as you wander around, ghost artefacts of the original landscaping appear. I don't know at what point the park began to be neglected, but it does mean that it now has a charm of its own - part of the mystery being to seek out these traces of earlier lives.

This temperance water fountain, viewed in its setting here, is one example. The water stopped flowing long ago, but the 1866 message to the people of Bingley remains clear, "Pure Water be mine."

ghost ~ of a temperance message ~ pure water ~ be mine ~ drink deep