The White City Amusement Park, Chester Road, Old Trafford

THE BOTANICAL GARDENS: NEW UNDERTAKING – The Botanical Gardens at Old Trafford have been let on a lease of ten years to some Manchester men who intend to spend some £40,000 on improving the grounds, and making them an attraction on the Earl’s Court plan. It is not intended that the whole place shall be given over to amusements, for a portion of the buildings will be devoted to minor exhibitions changing each year, or possibly twice in one year. This year the choice will be between exhibits illustrative of the progress of cotton growing in English colonies and those of domestic electric light improvements. The development of the gardens and the design and erection of the buildings will be undertaken by Messrs Charles Heathcote and Sons, architects, Manchester. Mr J C Brown has been engaged as general manager as he has had large experience in the successful management of somewhat similar enterprises. The undertaking, it is pointed out, is a Manchester one, by Manchester people. The new name of the place is to be “The White City.” The work will be begun shortly, and will have to be carried out quickly in view of the fact that the opening is to be on Whit-Monday. [Manchester Guardian 26 January 1907 page 11]

THE WHITE CITY: MANCHESTER NEW PLEASURE RESORT - The "White City;" the name by which the Royal Botanical Gardens at Old Trafford, Manchester, are to be known in future, will be opened to the public on Monday as a pleasure resort of the most modern kind. The few whose support of the Gardens in their old form was insufficient to ensure commercial success must henceforth be content with the knowledge that the seclusion and charm of the grounds have been invaded by the builder and the showman for the pleasure of the multitude. The White City makes a bid for popularity not so much by the novelty of the pleasures it provides as by their profusion. " Merry-go-rounds," switchbacks, helter-skelters, and water chutes are forms of entertainment with which everyone is familiar. In the White City they are provided on an extensive scale, the water-chute especially being a monster of its kind. A mystic river, where one travels by boat along what is, presumably, a tortuous subterranean stream, a ride in an anchored airship roller skating, rifle shooting, dancing, box-bail, and other games of skill are numbered among the side-shows. Music by first-rate bands is to have a prominent place in the programme afternoon and evening, and at night the buildings are to be decorated and outlined by generous use of electric light. Within ten weeks the hundreds of workmen engaged have transformed the Gardens into a remarkable show-place. Leaving the sea breezes out of account, one can get In the White City most of the pleasures which delight the heart of the holiday-maker at Blackpool. This at least was the impression gained by a visit last night to the Gardens, where the work of preparation for the opening was in full progress. [Manchester Guardian 18 May 1907 page 9]

By early 1907 the Royal Botanical Society was in serious debt. Thus, the decision was made to lease the Botanical Gardens to The White City Limited, a company formed in February 1907 “for the purposes of establishing and carrying on a pleasure gardens of the highest class to be called the White City.” The park was constructed in about 60 days and contained only such shows as could be secured in that period. Nonetheless, by October 1907,  its attractions included a  “magnificent” Ballroom, Roller Skating Rink, Figure 8 Gravity Railway, Fairy Fountain, Opera-house, Museum, Rifle Range Box-ball Alley, Pierrot Pavilion, Hales' Tours of the World Hippodrome, Fun Factory, Mystic Rivers, Spiders Web, Dahoiney Village, Flying Machines, Miniature railway round the Lake, Marionettes, Circus, Band Stand Promenade, and numerous other side shows. There was also a motor garage and accommodation for cycles. An electricity generating plant had been installed and the park was illuminated by 25,000 lamps. The White City was opened on Whit Monday, 20 May 1907, attracting 32,972 people.

The Manchester architect, Charles Henry Heathcote, was the chairman of the company while the American-born John Calvin Brown, whom Heathcote had met in Chicago, was the managing director. Charles Heathcote and Sons were named as architects to the Company in the prospectus of October 1907 and the practice was responsible for the early works on the site.  The company granted John Calvert Brown the right to all future concessions in return for 15% of the gross takings in each year. One firm had arranged to erect a Scenic Railway similar to that at South Shore Blackpool at a cost of £15,000. Other such concessions included the “Joy Wheel,” designed for Harris the Sign Company by Basil and Vivian Pendleton, and a 75-feet high Tower Swing. The park was constructed in about 60 days and contained only such shows as could be secured in that period. Nonetheless, by October 1907,  its attractions included a  “magnificent” Ballroom, Roller Skating Rink, Figure 8 Gravity Railway, Fairy Fountain, Opera-house, Museum, Rifle Range Box-ball Alley, Pierrot Pavilion, Hales' Tours of the World Hippodrome, Fun Factory, Mystic Rivers, Spiders Web, Dahoiney Village, Flying Machines, Miniature railway round the Lake, Marionettes, Circus, Band Stand Promenade, and numerous other side shows. There was also a motor garage and accommodation for cycles. An electricity generating plant had been installed and the park was illuminated by 25,000 lamps. The White City was opened on Whit Monday, 20 May 1907, attracting 32,972 people.  The Manchester architect, Charles Henry Heathcote, was the chairman of the company while the American-born  John Calvin Brown, whom Heathcote had met in Chicago, was the managing director. Charles Heathcote and Sons were named as architects to the Company in the prospectus of October 1907 and it is assumed that the firm were responsible for the early works on the site. The company granted John Calvert Brown the right to all future concessions in return for 15% of the gross takings in each year. One firm had arranged to erect a Scenic Railway similar to that at South Shore Blackpool at a cost of £15,000. Other such concessions included the “Joy Wheel,” designed for Harris the Sign Company by Basil and Vivian Pendleton, and a 75-feet high Tower Swing.

The enterprise did not prove as profitable as had been hoped, hindered in part, it would seem, by the continued refusal of the magistrates to grant a drinks licence. In 1912 The White City Ltd Company Limited went bankrupt and vacated the site. In 1916 the Botanical Society held their last ever exhibition – “The Garden in Wartime. The gardens were sold in 1927 when a greyhound racing track was built on the site. This closed in 1982, and the site was subsequently developed as a retail park. Manchester was once one of just three Royal Botanical Gardens in the United Kingdom - the other two still remain at Kew in London and Inver Leith in Edinburgh. Today only the entrance gate and screen survive at Old Trafford, a reminder of past glories and a lost legacy.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 26 January 1907 page 11
Reference    Manchester Guardian 18 May 1907 page 9
Reference    Manchester Guardian 21 October 1907 page 3 – prospectus
Reference    Manchester Guardian 22 October 1907 page 4 - prospectus