On Friday 1st July 2016, Manchester hosted a series of national events on behalf of HM Government, commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. One of these events involved the unveiling of the temporary installation ‘The Path of Remembrance’ in Heaton Park.

People of all ages were asked to take a moment and pay a creative tribute to someone affected a century ago, by designing a simple memory square. Many of the memory squares submitted were dedicated to family members (men and women), or people from their area, or to highlight little known stories. Once uploaded these memory squares were then printed onto ceramic tiles to form the ‘Path of Remembrance’.

Some of these tiles have now been collected and made into a permanent memorial in Heaton Park, revealed in November 2018.

Heaton Park itself played an important part in the First World War, as it was used as a training ground for army recruits, including the Manchester Regiment, and was also later used as a military hospital.