Friends of Marple Memorial Park Task Days
The Friends hold regular task days in the park on the last Saturday of each month in the winter and the middle and last Saturday from March to November. Everyone is welcome to join in for as long or as short they wish during the specified times. Please note that children and young people under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
If you are interested becoming a volunteer with us please get in touch and we will add you to our Task Day notifications.
We like to keep a record of what we get up and here are details of past task days.
Task Day 27 July 2013
Another hot day with a small group of volunteers achieving a great deal in a few hours. The refurbishment of Jim Heald's commemorative bench was given the final touch with a coat of black Hammerite to the metal work - and doesn't it look great again! There was some touching up done to the Breathing Places display panel and several lamp post bases and litter bins too.
The small wild flower bed at the side of the library was given a good tidy-up, hedges were trimmed along the pathway near the Junior Play Area and the War Memorial Flowerbeds were given more TLC. The rose wall is really putting on a good show now and we are getting lots of positive comments about the way the beds are looking.
Marple Allotment Society were again in attendance and we can now vouch that their onions and gooseberries are very tasty!
Task Day 13 July 2013
On the hottest day of the year we were joined by 207 (Manchester) Field Hospital (Volunteers) - one of 11 TA field hospitals in the British Army, with centres in Manchester, Stockport, Ashton, Bury and Blackburn - who helped us to trim and prune the shub beds near the Council Offices. Other volunteers trimmed more shrubs near the main entrance to the park.
We also sanded down and treated Jim Heald's bench behind the library, gave the sculpture in the woodland a second coat of treatment and splashed some on the acorns and beechnuts too.
Below are some pictures from the task day plus some shots of the Allotment Association bed, which is looking fantastic. The War Memorial beds are also looking great and the first roses on our new Rose Wall Hedge are beginning to bloom.
Task Day 29 June 2013
After our huge Karcher Clean-Up Day on Thursday we had a quieter Task Day today with a good weed and tidy up of the flowerbeds in preparation for the Marple Locks Festival on Sunday. We also planted some new additions to the small bed in the Infants Play Area and re-installed the temporary barrier around the War Memorial beds that is protecting the roses. These are growing well apart from around 15 of the plants that seem to have died. We've contacted the supplier about these and are now waiting to learn how they propose to deal with the problem.
Most of the wooden benches in the park were also given another coat of preservative along with the stocks and the sculpture behind the library.
Marple Allotment Association were also in attendance and did more work on their adopted bed. On Sunday at the Marple Locks Festival we received lots of positive comments about this and generally how well the park is looking.
Task Day 25 May 2013
With summer here at last it was time for serious amounts of weeding in the Ornamental Beds, a full course of treatment for Midnight the Owl Tree Sculpture and a good tidy-up of the shrub beds at the entrance to the park near the cinema.
We were pleased to have a visit from local photographer Arthur Procter, who took several of the photos below.
In addition, a small team continued our project sponsored by Marple Area Committee to refurbish the two picnic benches down at the Recreation Ground. These are now both finished apart from the the plaque on the second bench, which will be refitted after it has been cleaned up.
Task Day 11 May 2013
Unfortunately a very damp day prevented photographs being taken during the action but, typically, it stopped raining as we finished and a few shots were then taken. Despite the rain volunteers weeded and added over 100 plants to the Sensory Garden, the Ornamental Beds, the War Memorial Beds and the Reading Circle behind the library.
Marple Allotment Association also braved the wet weather to continue development of their new plot.
Task Day 27 April 2013
Our main focus during today's task day was the planting out of a new Rose Hedge around the rear borders of the War Memorial Beds. We planted 30 Rose Stromboli specimens around each of the two borders and these should develop into a low hedge covered in red roses that flower between June and November each year.
This is part of our plans to commemorate the approaching centenaries of the Great War (1914-1918) and we hope that the new "Rose Wall" will be looking good in time for 2014, the 100th Anniversary of the start of the war that resulted in the dedication of our park to the community in 1922.
We've installed a temporary barrier around the beds to provide protection to the roses while they get established and we hope that people will respect our request to keep their dogs off the beds and not to walk on them.
Other tasks today included the repair of the Infants Play Area fence, which had been subject to vandalism with several slats being kicked out and planting of donated plants and shrubs in various areas.
Marple Allotment Association were in attendance again and have added more vegetables to their new plot.
In addition, yesterday one of our volunteers who couldn't attend today treated seven park benches with a new coat of preservative as a self-imposed penance and these are looking really good.
