architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Folly, Lancashire, landscape, Tower

Hartshead Pike, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire

By Donald Judge - https://www.flickr.com/photos/donaldjudge/50758096473/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98119969 CC BY 2.0

High above Ashton, and visible from miles around, is the curious tower called Hartshead Pike. It was built in the 1860s to commemorate the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and to honour Queen Victoria on the occasion of her son’s marriage.