HAVE you any idea what this mystery object is pictured in Thatto Heath?

Following Tom Preston's excellent series of talks about Thatto Heath at the Crusaders Rugby Club, I had a chat with Maurice Handley who suggested what it could be.

He said: "It's on the edge of the park next to the footbridge across the railway. I don't think it's connected to the glass bottle works which Tom Preston spoke about. It might be something to do with the railway."

The council bought a number of sites where public parks were established. The first was Thatto Heath Park in 1884 followed by Victoria Park in 1887, Queens Park in 1889 and Parr Recreation Ground in 1900. Samuel Taylor VII had leased Thatto heath Park for £600 from the Duchy of Lancaster after he had finished mining minerals. He urged the corporation to buy it as he thought it was suitable for a park and they agreed.

Buried and hidden away in the park is a bottle making factory. Maybe one day it will be excavated, studied and reburied by an industrial archaeological group. In a report compiled in 1882 it explains how early plans drew the wrong boundary stating that the eastern part of Thatto Heath itself between 'Elephant Lane and the old bottle works' marked the correct border.

Make a date in your diary for the re-arranged meeting of the Thatto Heath Local History group. It will be held between 1pm and 4pm at Thatto Heath Library on Thatto Heath Road. It's on the 10A route. I will be giving a talk on the day.

We included neighbouring areas such as Nutgrove, the former Rainhill Hospital, Scholes Lane and Sutton Heath. Bring along your old photos so we can scan them.

So with the Traveller's Rest in the park mentioned in recent issues of the Star, the strange object photographed by Maurice and the mystery of the old bottle works, there will be plenty to discuss.