Haydock Park is often advertised as being conveniently situated at equal distances from both Manchester and Liverpool and yet in spite of this close proximity to industry, the actual course is in a setting of woodland and tree-lined avenues. Indeed, it still retains much of the atmosphere of a park, a reminder of the days when it was in possession of the Leghs, a great Lancashire family, who on elevation to peerage took the name of Newton from their local connections and later moved to Cheshire, where they did much to enrich the story of the neighbouring County Palatine.