A FEW days ago my wife and I took a walk through Queen's Park, Bolton.

We were shocked by what we saw. The roses in the beds flanking the main entrance were in a state of terminal decrepitude and the beds were very weedy.

The sunken beds inside the main entrance had recently been cleaned up and planted with bedding in purple and gold.

But the sloping beds in the circular surround were totally neglected and overgrown with weed, apart from the bed facing the entrance, bedded out to show the mayor's name.

The worst sight of all was the newly-planted Bolton Hospice Memorial Rose Garden, where the roses, donated by supporters, are about to disappear under the weed growth.

Other rosebeds have obviously been treated with weedkiller and are hardly attractive.

It is only within the last few weeks that the War Memorial Garden in Horwich has been tidied up and planted with summer bedding, like the plot alongside the Public Hall in Lee Lane after months of neglect and derelict, abandoned appearance.

These two areas should be a 12-month source of civic pride, nor civic shame!

The War Memorial Garden should always be a fitting, attractive and well-cared-for tribute to the fallen, and a place of consolation for those who seek it there.

J A Farr and P M Farr

Higher Austins

Lostock

Bolton