WITTON Country Park is one of the biggest jewel's in Blackburn's crown and has been drawing in crowds for decades.

The 480-acre site has been well looked after by dedicated volunteers and council staff who have worked tirelessly to maintain its beauty.

As we can see in these photos, men and women - come rain or shine- have taken care of the park.

The estate was once owned by the Feilden family, who built and lived in Witton House from 1800 to 1946 and created the park at the same time.

From these photos dug out from the Lancashire Telegraph's vast achieve, people from around the world came to visit the park, including scouts from Finland who witnessed tree warden Nick Wyatt plant the park's first silver birch tree.

Whether there was flash flooding, fallen branches, there has always been a band of volunteers ready to step up and do their bit to keep the park tidy.

We can see volunteers from the Blackburn Naturalist Field Club collecting newts and frogs from Ewood in 1988 to be brought to the park's pond in the photo above, as well as volunteers from the Mowbray Lodge in Blackburn clearing branches from a footpath following bad weather in 1989.

Years of excellent maintenance was rewarded when the park was given a Green Flag award in 2009.