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 22 January 2014
A special task day was held in the park on Wednesday 22 January when some lads from David Lewis came along with Terry, one of our volunteers who works there. The lads came to help fit bars to several of our ground sculptures that had been pulled out by vandals so that they can be reinstalled in the park and also to fit some brackets to the legs of one of our picnic tables that was vandalised too. They did a great job and left the place much tidier than it was before they came, so thank you lads!
As a registered charity with over 100 years’ experience, David Lewis provides exceptional education, therapy, support and life skill development to individuals with epilepsy, autism and complex learning disabilities. Based in Cheshire, David Lewis’ expertise is sought by and available to people across the UK. Their aim is brighten the lives of everyone who lives, studies and is supported at David Lewis by encouraging independence, instilling confidence and always being there when they’re needed.
To read more visit: www.davidlewis.org.uk
Task Day 30 November 2013
Fantastic weather for probably the last formal task day of 2013 - and what a busy year we've had!
Today the Diamond Jubilee Bed was fully replanted with perennials that we hope will put on a great show of colour outside the library next year and for many years to come. Earlier this week the skateboard wax was blasted off the coping with the Jet Washer that we won in the Karcher Cleans Britain competition in June this year and in the near future we will be installing skate-stops to prevent it from being abused in this way again.
Leaves were cleared from the car park, around the library, the Breathing Places Area and the Infants Play Area. The Play Area flowerbed and the toilet bed were given a good tidy-up and more perennials planted in these beds and at the War Memorial.
In the meantime, others were re-installing some of the ground sculptures that had been pulled out by vandals and several others have been removed so that they can have new rods inserted before they are found in the canal too. We've also removed one of the picnic benches because it has been damaged by drug-users. This will be re-installed after we've repaired it.
Marple Allotment Association members were very busy today installing a paved pathway alongside their adopted bed using surplus slabs that we obtained for free from Etherow Park. This is in preparation for the extremely popular Allotment bed, which has been one of 2013's great successes, to be doubled in size for next year.
Task Day 09 November 2013
Today's special task was to ensure that the War Memorial and Ornamental Flowerbeds looked their best for the Remembrance Service tomorrow. We also planted 20 additional rose bushes around the rear borders of the Memorial beds. These are part of our "Rose Wall" hedge and were replacements for those that didn't take when planted in the spring / early summer.
Marple Allotment Association were in attendance and tidied up their Allotment bed too. The Ian Rice Bench down by the canal entrance was also sanded and treated and this means that every single wooden bench in the park has now been refurbished, replaced or maintained by Friends of the the Park.
Task Day 26 October 2013
At one point this morning it rained so heavily that we thought we might have to abandon the task day but thankfully it was short-lived. We had a very good turn-out despite the wet start and focused on tidying up the War Memorial and Ornamental beds so that they will hopefully look the best that they can for the Remembrance Service in November. We have a special task day on 9 November to give it a final once-over and hope it will be dryer!
We also had a photo-shoot with Marple in Action representatives Di Jackson and Mick Mcphee, who presented us with a share of the group's surplus funds following a public vote on how they should be distributed. We received 36% of the vote, which earned us £161 and would like to thank MiA for their support - the money will go towards the Marple Skatepark Development Project.
Task Day 28 September 2013
Our main task this month was to transplant most of the 800 Polyanthus we planted in the Jubilee Bed in February to other locations within the park, including the toilet block, the sensory garden, the small bed at the side of the library, the bed in from of the offices and also in between the Senior Citizens' Hall and the Scout Hut.
The Polies have been removed to allowed us to plant hundreds of bulbs including Daffodils and Tulips in the Jubilee Bed for next spring. This is the first step in our planned permanent display for the Jubilee Bed and in the near future we will also be planting a large collection of perennial plants too.
The picnic benches inside and outside the Infants Play Area were given another coat of preservative and we also treated the swings to get rid of the green algae. The last of the three Boules Court Benches were sanded and treated too.
Arthur Procter came along to take some photographs, including a nice group shot of most of the volunteers who attended.
Task Day 31 August 2013
A busy day in the park with a much needed heavy pruning of the ivy growing around the toilet block and lots of maintenance work done on the ornamental flowerbeds and around the Bowling Green. The roses around the war memorial beds are becoming well established and looking really good so we removed the temporary barrier that has been in place to protect them over the summer. Around a dozen of the roses have not taken and replacements for these are due to be received in November.
The picnic benches just outside the Infants Play Area were sanded down earlier in the week by one of our volunteers and given another coat of treatment today. The first of the French Boules Court benches was refurbished and a number of other benches were also re-treated too. Planting was also done in the Infants Play area and the woodland area behind the library.
Marple Allotment Association were out in force and we discussed the possibility of increasing the size of their patch next year.
