Hyde Photo of the Year 2015

The theme for City Daily Photos is Photo of the Year.

My choice for Photo of the Year 2015 is Pole Bank Pond in Springtime.

Pole Bank was originally the home of the Ashton and Beeley families. Thomas Kerfoot rented the property from 1912-19. The hall and grounds were purchased in 1920 by George Frederick Byrom for £4200. He died in 1942 and in 1946 in accordance with his will Pole Bank Hall and Grounds were bequeathed to the Corporation of Hyde for the use and recreation of the general public.

The Grade II listed building is leased to the Laurel Bank Care group who have run it as a care home since 1998.

The grounds include a pond, walled gardens and woodland paths. Under the charitable trust created by George Frederick Byrom it is a public park which in recent years has been in part maintained by a volunteer group, Friends of Pole Bank.

My understanding is that the local council who now effectively control the charitable trust no longer support the volunteers after the latter discovered that the Trust's accounts had not been submitted to the Charities Commission for several years. They also found evidence of council mis-management and suspected that items of value had been moved from the hall without proper accountability.

Details of the charity and copies of its accounts can be viewed on the Charity Commission website.

A video about Pole Bank Hall and its history: can be viewed on YouTube

Over 50 of my photographs taken in Pole Bank over the last few years can be viewed on Geograph.

Friends of Pole Bank can be reached via their Facebook group page.