Waldorf Playing Fields Explained

The Waldorf Playing Fields are three fields adjacent to Matley Lane in Hyde, Tameside.

History

The playing field was donated to the people of the Borough of Hyde for recreation by Newton Mill Ltd.^[1] in 1973, but had a covenant restricting their use as a "recreation ground for the use of the residents of Hyde".^[2]

The Borough of Hyde was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. In 1986 Tameside became a unitary authority with the abolition of the Greater Manchester County Council.

The fields are currently subject to a dispute regarding their future use. Tameside Council is proposing the sale of two of the fields, subject to the lifting of the covenant. There is a local group campaigning to retain the fields for public use.^{[3] [4]}

External links

• Waldorf Playing Fields Protection Group

Notes and References

1. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=B14482 National Archives
2. "The Corporation (The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Hyde) hereby covenants with the Grantors (Newton Mill Ltd) that the Corporation will use the land hereby conveyed as a recreation ground for the use of the residents of Hyde aforesaid and district and to be known as Waldorf Playing Fields only PROVIDED ALWAYS that in the event of the Corporation requiring the said land to be used for school purposes only then the Corporation will provide within the boundaries of Hyde a similar plot of land of similar size for the purposes of a recreation ground to be so named as aforesaid and that this covenant shall apply to such substituted land as aforesaid, but without this present proviso"
3. http://www.tamesideadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/1056460_picnic_protest_over_golf_club_land_sale_ Article in Tameside Reporter
4. http://waldorf-playing-fields.co.uk Local campaign group website