GIDDY CHILDREN and adults alike abounded in Grotton – as Saddleworth Parish Council unveiled a new and improved play area in the local park.
Councillors Alicia Marland, Barbara Beeley, and Sam Al-Hamdani joined families on Saturday, August 15 to celebrate the grand reopening of the Station Road facility after months of on-and-off improvements in the area.
Families will now be able to enjoy a safer playground with new Tarmac and soft landing zones, decorated with painted games including snakes and ladders.
Alongside a host of refurbished fixtures, the so-called ‘most uncomfortable seesaw in the world‘ has also been replaced by an inclusive seesaw.
“I have been involved in this project since early 2026,” said Cllr Marland.
“I proposed an idea to Grotton Residents Association for the area to be refurbished and together we produced a grant application for the One Oldham Community Fund managed by Action Together.
“I am delighted that this area has been renewed through working together with Grotton Residents Association and local community groups – it’s been rebuilt together for playing forever.”
But for Cllrs Marland and Beeley, a quick game of snakes and ladders was not the only thing to bring back memories.
This year’s opening ceremony came more than two decades after another, this time led by the late Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Beeley in 2007.
The previous park, then located on Old Mill Lane, had been vandalised eventually burnt down.
“Tom was determined that what happened in Springhead, where the playground was removed and never replaced, would not happen in Grotton,” Cllr Beeley said.
“That determination paid off and Tom officially opened the playground in March 2007. All my grandchildren, two of them are with me today, have had happy times in what they call Grandad’s Play Park.
“This playground is well looked after and well used, but after 19 years it was beginning to show its age.
“I was extremely pleased when I learned from Alicia and Sam, that they and Grotton’s residents had successfully applied to the Action Together One Oldham Fund for a grant to refurbish it.
“It looks amazing, and I hope it serves the children of the area as well as it has done until now.”
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