Manchester, England United Kingdom |
Sackville Gardens, near Canal Street | Beacon of Hope |
since 1 December 2000 without names |
Whitworth Gardens (also known as Sackville Park) is bounded by The Manchester College Shena Simon Campus on one side and Whitworth Street, Sackville Street and the Rochdale Canal and Canal Street on the others. The land was purchased by Manchester Corporation in 1900 and laid out with walks, lawns and flower beds. It was planned as a complement to the new building, the Municipal College of Technology.
The park contains the Alan Turing memorial statue, which depicts the "father of modern computing" sitting on a bench at a central position in the park. The park was chosen because, "It's got the university science buildings ... on one side and its got all the gay bars on the other side, where apparently he spent most of his evenings".
The park also contains the "Beacon of Hope", which is the UK's only permanent memorial for people who have, or have suffered from, HIV/AIDS. The sculpture, a decorated steel column designed by Warren Chapman and Jess Boyn-Daniel, was erected in the year 2000.
Photo © Nigel Chadwick geograph
31 October 2009
Nigel Chadwick, Manchester