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.
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.
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.
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.
The main focus of effort today was on widening of the borders either side of the Woodland Reading Circle pathway. This improvement will hopefully give the borders a better opportunity to grow and took advantage of the availability of lots of Polyanthus from the Jubilee Bed in front of the library. We will soon be embarking on re-planting of the Jubilee Bed and some of the Polyanthus were transplanted to the pathway and some to the Infants Play Area. The latter also received a good pruning to the shrubs around the fence-line.
Other tasks completed include the application of a 5 Star wood treatment to the Tree Sculpture to combat woodworm that has recently become apparent. There was also more treatment of benches, including making a start on the Boules Court benches, and the fitting of the final plaque to the refurbished picnic benches at the Recreation Ground.
Marple Allotment Society's bed is really flourishing and a sign has been fitted encouraging people to sample the produce!
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!
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.
