Parks and gardens
Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens
Happy Days at Sunny Vale
Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens were the brainchild of one Joseph Bunce, a native of London. Having married his Yorkshire wife, Sarah, they moved to a cottage at Wood Bottom Farm. The idea for the Pleasure Gardens developed from the fact that Sarah and Joseph would cater for Sunday walkers passing the farm.
Joseph and his wife would put out tables and serve people with tea and cakes. Joseph moored four boats on a small pond nearby and erected swings for children to use.
Having purchased more land in 1880, the Pleasure Gardens were opened in 1883 at Hipperholme and proved to be a great attraction. At the height of its popularity Sunny Vale would attract some 100,000 visitors each year, some arriving on foot, others travelling by rail to Hipperholme station.
Sunny Vale had numerous attractions including boating on the two lakes, a maze and a helter-skelter. For the more energetic there was open air dancing or roller skating.
Concerts were regularly held and rides could be enjoyed on the miniature railway which was known as "Baby Bunce". Amusement tickets were priced at 1d each or 24 tickets for 1/6d. The famous tearoom seated 1,000 people and would regularly serve meals to over 4,000 customers per day. It was later used as a popular dance hall.
Pathways were illuminated and a huge firework display marked the end of each season. Joseph Bunce died in 1918 but the popularity of the gardens remained until the end of the Second World War. Sunny Vale unfortunately suffered a decline in visitor numbers partly due to the rise in popularity of places such as Belle Vue and the Pleasure Gardens in Blackpool. The Bunce family sold Sunny Vale in 1945 to a Mr Fred Thompson of Cleveleys.
During more recent years the site has been used for a variety of purposes and sadly nothing remains of its former glory.
Visit the Reference Library to find out more about Sunny Vale.
