'Royal' return home in Dukinfield

A century-old cast-iron sign has been returned to Dukinfield Park after going missing for more than a decade.

The large, black, shield-shaped sign is engraved with gold lettering. It reads: ‘Presented by Mrs Underwood in commemoration of the coronation of King Edward VII and the opening of this park, June 26th, 1902.’

In 2017, the old sign was left in the garden of a local councillor in mysterious circumstances. 

Cllr Brian Wild (pictured) returned from a holiday to find the sign with no note and no clue where it had come from.

It’s believed Mrs Underwood is a connection to Underwood Solicitors, a large firm in Dukinfield at the time. Research was also undertaken to try and find where the sign was originally placed.

“We used to have a statue of Eros in the park but someone stole it,” Cllr Wild said. “We took the base of that statue and turned it into a signpost, which was placed outside Dukinfield Town Hall in 2005. 

“I’ve had a look and the sign fits perfectly around the circumference of the post. It stands to sense that if that came from the park, that the sign belonged on there. But that means that the sign had been missing for at least 12 years, so where has it been?”

While the mystery of where the sign went has not been solved, it has been given a new lease of life and placed back in Dukinfield Park, at the top of the stairs a the King Street entrance.