Manchester opens first new park in 100 years, delighting kids and kingfishers

Mayfield has eight scary' slides, one of which takes riders over the largely forgotten River Medlock

Manchester's first new public park for 100 years opened its gates on Wednesday and has eight slides declared so scary" by delighted children given the first go.

One of the slides transports riders over the River Medlock, a largely forgotten Mancunian waterway which has been under concrete there for the last 150 years. Another offers what feels like a near-vertical drop - a tonic for those nostalgic for the days when playgrounds carried a genuine sense of peril. One has been made accessible for children in wheelchairs.