It has been apparent for a while that many of the benches in the park are deteriorating and some are in need of more than the normal routine maintenance that they sometimes receive from the council. So in the spring of 2011 the Friends of Marple Memorial Park conducted a survey of benches in the park to identify the extent of the problem and to develop an action plan for dealing with the outcome.

The survey revealed that many of the benches have been donated by families and friends in memory of a loved one, which is something that we feel is important not to lose. We have therefore developed a policy of repair and refurbishment only for any existing commemorative benches but with the possibility of adoption and replacement of non-commemorative benches. We decided to encourage adoption wherever possible in preference to new commemorative benches being installed in the park.

Park Bench Refurbishment and Adoption / Replacement

Our survey conducted in March 2011 revealed that there are 33 benches in the park, excluding the 3 all-metal ones inside the Infants Play Area. 23 of the benches are commemorative but 10 of them are not. Of the non-commemorative benches, 1 needed to be replaced and 7 were candidates for adoption and refurbishment or to be replaced with new benches.

Our plan is to maintain and refurbish the existing commemorative benches as required, if possible with the help of the families who donated them in the first place. If one of your relatives has a commemorative bench in the park and you would like to make a contribution towards its upkeep, then please get in touch with us to discuss this. Obviously we will also welcome donations from anyone else for this purpose too.

The council and the Friends are occasionally approached by members of the public about new commemorative benches being placed in the park. At the present time we would like to encourage these people to adopt an existing non-commemorative bench and pay for its refurbishment, or in some cases to replace them with a new one. Adoption of an existing bench would mean paying for new hardwood timber and a plaque. We are in the fortunate position to have access via one of our members to a professional workshop and we are able to refurbish benches at little more than the cost of materials.

Since the survey we have made significant progress and a number of local families have helped us to achieve our aims. These successes are detailed below. if you are interested in helping us in a similar way, please get in touch.

Successes

Bench No. 07 - South of Bowling Green

This bench is dedicated to Peter McFall, who passed away in 1998. The McFall family contacted us in October 2011 to ask how they could contribute towards the maintenance of Mac's Bench. We explained our plans to refurbish all the park benches and suggested that a donation of £50 to Friends of Marple Memorial Park would help us to purchase the materials required for Mac's bench and others. The McFall family went way beyond our suggestion and donated £150 to help us look after the park, which as far as we were concerned raised it right to the top of our priority list!

The slats from Mac's bench were removed during our November 2011 task day and sent to our workshop to be skimmed and we also jet-washed the metal frames and the paving slab base. The slats were re-machined, sanded and treated during December and reinstalled on our December 2011 task day. We must say that we're very impressed with the grain that was revealed on the solid oak slats and pleased that the refurbishment of Mac's bench has exceeded our expectations.

Mac's Bench before and after refurbishment.

Bench No. 16 - Junior Play Area

This steel framed bench located between the Junior Play Area and path running past the library was sound but in need of extensive sanding and treatment to protect it against further decline. As a non-commemorative bench it was a prime candidate for adoption and when we were approached by the family of Ann Tait who were interested in a bench to commemorate her life we suggested this as a suitable option.

The Tait family decided to go ahead with adoption of this bench and made a donation of £250 to the Friends of the Park to cover the cost of refurbishing the bench with all new Iroko hardwood timber stats. The family arranged and paid for the plaque themselves and everything was fitted and treated by the Friends of the Park volunteers in September 2011.

The bench before and after being refurbished and dedicated to Ann Tait.

Bench No. 17 - Junior Play Area

This concrete framed bench with wooden slats located between the Junior Play Area and the Park Cottage was in very poor condition and being non-commemorative, was our top priority for replacement.

We were approached by the family of Les and Bette Pye about a bench in the park and after showing them the opportunities for adoption and replacement we were pleased when they agreed to replace bench no. 17 with a new one. The family chose a bench from one of the council approved suppliers and made a donation of £660 to the Friends of the Park to cover the cost. We took care of ordering it through the council and removed the old concrete bench during one of our task days. The new one dedicated to Les and Bette was installed free of charge by the Parks Team in October 2011.

The old concrete bench, left, and the new one dedicated to Les and Bette Pye.