Bob Wilson's last "working day" in Memorial Park
The weather was very kind on Park Keeper Bob Wilson's last official working day in the park. Bob has taken redundancy / early retirement as part of the council cuts. Bob has spent the last 9 years of his 40 years of employment with Stockport Council, and latterly Solutions SK, in Marple Memorial Park and he is one of the key reasons that it has been so well looked after.
It was pleasing that Bob spent his last day working closely with the Friends Group that he has supported so well during virtually our entire existence, and we were delighted to present him with a canvas landscape of the park to remind him of it at home. The really good news though is that Bob plans to return to the park he loves as a volunteer with Friends of the Park.
As far as work in the park, we got a huge amount done including reinstalling the Apple and Pear sculptures and the last of the Acorns removed by vandals. The ornamental beds and war memorial beds were worked on, and also the cinema bed at the front of the park, the sensory garden and shrub beds further into the park, and benches were treated too.
Thank you to Arthur Procter for recording Bob's presentation and the end of an era. As a result of the budget cuts there will no longer be a permanent Park Keeper in Memorial Park and nobody is likely to provide the dedication and care that Bob has given to looking after it over the last 9 years. The need for volunteers to help look after the park it is going to be greater than ever, so if you'd like to help the Friends of the Park rise to the challenges that face us please to come and join in!