In 2009 the Friends of Prestwich Forest Park successfully applied for a grant which, along with funding from Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, was used to clear Cobster Field. The field was a large expanse of grazing ground, the purpose of which was to impress visitors as their carriages came down the drive to the Philips' mansion but when the M62 motorway was built the field had been covered with subsoil and was reverting to woodland. The money was used to clear the field, reseed with grass, and reinstate the views down the Irwell Valley to Manchester city centre.