Park restoration progresses with hanging of new gates

The gates, fitted to the Trinity Street and Junction roundabout entrances, are replicas of the originals and have been copied from old photographs to ensure they are as authentic as possible.

Coun Mehboob Khan, Leader of Kirklees Council said: "The new gates provide impressive entrances and underline that the park is a special area which should be prized and cherished by local residents and visitors alike."

Work is still taking place on the conservatory.

Behind it will be a restaurant, housed in a new two-storey building, which will have its own entrance so it can open on winter evenings when the rest of the park is closed. This will be heated via a ground source heat loop which stretches up to the new ornamental lake, to the front of the recently-restored bandstand.

The central bridge has been strengthened and its stonework has been restored and it has been topped by capping stones and a handrail to let visitors to stand on the top and look out across the lake towards the town centre – something people will not have been able to do since the early 1950s.

New drains have helped solve a problem with flooding underneath the bridge. The drainage system in the main events field is now complete and the majority of the area has been levelled and seeded although still some work still remains to be carried out on the former play area.

The project is being funded by Kirklees Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which gave 3.75m toward the scheme.