The Valley Gardens, opposite the Royal Pump Room, is a pretty, popular strolling space with a cafe serving ice cream, pitch-and-putt golf and a bandstand hosting concerts on Sunday afternoons from June to August. But it wasn't always so pleasant – it used to be called Bogs Field, and is where 35 of Harrogate's pongy natural springs were discovered in the 19th century. During Victorian times a competition was held to reinvent the area as a pleasure ground.