• Home
  • What We Do
    • 2022 Promotional Video
    • 2016 Promotional Video
  • Governance
  • Meetings
  • Testimonials
  • Contact FoMMP
  • Notices
    • Generous donation from TMT
    • Stockport Greenspace Volunteer Awards
    • Comments on new Community Hub Layout
    • Appeal for new key volunteers
    • Community Hub Consultation
    • Seeking help with transport of logs
    • Tree near to Lock 11
Friends of Marple Memorial Park
  • Task Days
    • Task Days 2025
    • Task Days 2024
    • Task Days 2023
    • Task Days 2022
    • Task Days 2021
    • Task Days 2020
    • Task Days 2019
    • Task Days 2018
    • Task Days 2017
    • Task Days 2016
    • Task Days 2015
    • Task Days 2014
    • Task Days 2013
    • Task Days 2012
    • Task Days 2011
    • Task Days 2010
    • Task Days 2009
    • Task Days 2008
    • Task Days 2007
    • First Task Days 2004/06
  • Our Projects
    • New moveable goalposts
    • New Basketball Hoops and Nets
    • Refurbishment of the Stocks
    • Outdoor Exercise Equipment
    • Allotment Bed Refurbishment
    • COVID Commemoration Project
    • Marple Skatepark Sign
    • Marple Skatepark Art
    • Replacement of Petrol Gardening Tools
    • Canal Frog Rose comes to back to Marple!
    • New Springers for Infants Play Area
    • Pavilion Art Project
    • Marple Skatepark Phase II
    • Bird and Bat Boxes
    • Caring for Danny Winter Bench
    • Town Centre Benches
    • Ocean See-Saw
    • Warship Week Plaque
    • WWI Silhouettes
    • New Roundabout
    • Diamond Jubilee Project
    • Keeping the Park Toilets Open
    • Caring for Park Benches
    • Skatepark Improvements (Phase I)
    • Saving the Flowerbeds
    • Park Entrance Improvements
    • French Boules Court
    • Basketball Fencing
    • Infants Play Area
    • BBC Breathing Places Project
    • Tree Sculpture
    • Coronation Bench
  • Centenary
    • Community in the Park
    • Dedication & Historical Pageant Booklet
    • 100th Birthday Family Treasure Hunt
    • Park Centenary Exhibition
    • 100th Birthday Picnic in the Park
    • Pavilion Art Project Phase II
    • Marple School Gardens Project
  • Events
    • Craft Fair Fund Raiser
    • Handcrafted Christmas Sale
    • Kärcher Clean-Up
    • Skatepark Event 2013
    • Treasure Hunts
  • Community Support
    • Vernon Building Society
    • Bespoke Sponsors
      • McInnes Partnership
      • Go Local - Marple News
      • Your Local Shop
      • Benjis Pet Food and Accessories
      • Shelby Landscapes Ltd
      • Marple Stationery Supplies
      • Dobbies Marple
      • Myers Tree Care
      • Julian Wadden
      • Kevin Dowling RIP
      • Artist Sarah Morley
    • Collection Boxes
    • Annual Donors
    • Skatepark Business Support
    • Tombola Fundraising
  • Park Heritage
    • WWI Timeline Tribute
    • "Marple Pals" Guided Walks
    • Rose Wall Hedge
    • Danny Winter Bench
    • Park Cottage
    • A Favourite Park in the North West!
  1. Home
  2. Task Days
  3. Task Days 2018

Friends of Memorial Park Task Days in 2018

Here are details of our task days in 2018.

Task Day 29 December 2018

A good turn-out for our final task day of 2018, taking the total for the year to 24, and over 1,000 volunteer hours worked!

Today's efforts included a tidy up of flowerbeds front and rear of the library, litter-picking, planting bulbs, clearing leaves from the car park and driveway, clearing windfall branches from the park and even clearing the access to Asda. Several of us finished the session in Oldknow's Bar, which is becoming a new tradition and a great way to end the year.

Here's a photographic look-back over the 12 months of 2018 with Friends of the Park.

A look-back on 2018

Task Day 24 November 2018

One of our volunteers' main tasks today was distributing 4 tonnes of topsoil provided by the council over the main flowerbeds, which should settle nicely after rain, frost and show over the coming winter. The other main task was planting bulbs around the benches over-looking the bowling green. There were some glitches with the camera today so a number of shots have gone missing but thankfully the one of volunteers doing a Conga over planted bulbs didn't get lost!

We also met with Andy and Tom, a couple of guys representing Forever Manchester, who came along to find out more about what we do. Forever Manchester is a charity that raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester. They've been a great support to Friends of the Park with the recent Auto Trader Community Fund grant towards the Ocean See-Saw and a CDL Fund grant and an FM Awards grant that both contributed toward the skatepark project.

This time we left some handmade cards near the War Memorial with our normal donation bucket. The cards were made by one of our volunteers and were available on an "honesty box" basis. Visitors to the park kindly left over £18 in our bucket.

Planting Bulbs
Planting Bulbs

Come on do the Conga!
Come on do the Conga!

Topsoil added to Flowerbeds
Topsoil added to Flowerbeds

Task Days 3 & 10 November 2018

We squeezed in an extra task day last Saturday and the council has been working hard in the park all week too, so today we were able to focus on the final touches before Remembrance Sunday tomorrow.

141 knitted poppies were added to the handrails on the War Memorial, one for each man killed during WWI 100 years ago. The cobbles in front of the Timeline were cleaned, which was a tricky job with so many people coming to look at the timeline! The chain-linked railings leading up to the small memorial were checked out and painted ready for tomorrow too. there was also a good final tidy of the driveway into the park, the flowerbeds, the memorial beds and all around the memorial itself.

The Union flag was raised on the main flagpole and Poppy Rocks created by local children were set around the small memorial too. With the Timeline complete and lots of work in the park including re-tarmacking of the main paths and the area where stone was stolen from the park entrance, weeds cleared by the Payback Team and leaves blown by the park attendants, the park is as ready as it can be for the 100th anniversary of the end of the war.

The park was busy and the public were exceptionally generous with over £47 donated in our collection bucket!

  • 10 November 2018

141 knitted Poppies added to the war memoria

image650B7C3733-B3BE-922C-B9A2-F9B9DE807F86.jpg

141 knitted Poppies added to the war memoria

image677100B71C-E172-2E0E-1FB6-3F8C892DB8B1.jpg

141 knitted Poppies added to the war memoria

image74B01E19B1-354B-A8D1-CB24-890919523F6D.jpg

Tidy up around the war memorial.

image666EA2A5F7-B491-FBAC-1CA0-F7FAB2B7A51D.jpg

Tidy up around the war memorial.

image717DCBABD6-92C3-57AA-30CF-E3F50F7750D2.jpg

Cobbles cleaned in front of the Timeline.

image721658E83B-7802-36D7-85D6-D016A49D316A.jpg

Cobbles cleaned in front of the Timeline.

image687C13FB36-41EA-0D7C-5AF0-469A1F4CB2D1.jpg

Small memorial chains checked and painted.

image695218000C-AEBB-31D3-12AA-C84D172B3795.jpg

Poppy Rocks created by local children on the memorial.

image700CB27DC0-359E-D268-87CA-FDC30A920236.jpg

A final clean-up along Memorial Park Drive.

image733881F89B-D5D3-28DE-5F08-560B5C5DAF1A.jpg

Thank you to David Burridge for several of today's photographs.

Task Day 27 October 2018

It was a bit cold today but one way to keep warm is to get stuck-in and our volunteers certainly did that!

New shrubs were planted in the toilet bed, some serious pruning was done around the council offices and there was lots of maintenance on the flowerbeds. Another big job was clearing leaves and detritus from the gutters and pathways along Memorial Park Drive. A small group of Marple Scouts and their leaders helped with this too but unfortunately they didn't have permission to photograph the kids, so we can't show them joining in.

We also had the annual clear-out of our tool store, painted the chains at the park entrances and picked litter too.

  • 27 October 2018

New shrubs in Toilet Bed.

img-20181027-095953485a21998DED-9BAE-7202-4BB2-C494EC3564FF.jpg

Shrubbery trimmed around Hollins House.

img-20181027-101451232-hdraB29C2994-DBBB-66D1-55C2-5A11C4D8CEB2.jpg

Lots of work on the flowerbeds.

img-20181027-101514593-hdraA3ACF480-11F0-9233-FD35-2458BCDA621C.jpg

Clearing gutters on Memorial Park Drive.

img-20181027-105101228aED97E819-AABD-A4C6-598A-A43AD5CEB887.jpg

A before and after on Memorial Park Drive.

img-20181027-105120733aB4C59BAB-9CC4-9648-A39A-5A47EBEFCD34.jpg

The public showed great support for what we do again, with just over £17 donated in our collection bucket plus a £40 donation made by a very generous gentleman who loves what we do in the park. Thank you!

Task Day 13 October 2018

After a very windy night thanks to Storm Callum, we spent much of the day clearing up fallen branches from the park, including one that had damaged a fence down near the canal. We'll repair the fence soon. It was still pretty windy in the park so, so we also focused on pruning in the Bandroom Garden, where it was a bit more sheltered. We also managed to strip some nettles behind the library and install the last set of paving slabs in front of the skatepark benches.

  • 13 October 2018

Fallen branches throughout the park after high winds.

img-20181013-093305237a64AFDAB7-BAD0-3266-E56E-3086403FCB51.jpg

Fallen branches throughout the park after high winds.

img-20181013-095131090a07300332-C85E-49D7-D0FD-9927EACB5769.jpg

Fallen branches throughout the park after high winds.

img-20181013-100536126a8E8EE2C7-7115-1BD0-8BD0-8FDE8B0A5C16.jpg

Pruning in the Bandroom garden.

img-20181013-103840337a203C598C-F7AD-A2F7-F54E-4887F05F47C5.jpg

Pruning in the Bandroom garden.

img-20181013-110549978a2BDBF681-B042-A329-0E95-E0B974DF14D5.jpg

Task Day 29 September 2018

A glorious Indian summer day saw Friends of the Park focusing mainly on the beds alongside the offices and the car park, which were long overdue a good tidy-up.

We also added paving slabs to another of the skatepark benches to create a hard-standing to keep the mud off peoples' feet. We ventured outside of the park again to complete the painting of Lock 17 and while we had the paint out it seemed a good idea to do a bit of touching up in the park too.

  • 29 September 2018

We like to keep on top of Lock 17 as it was our project.

img-20180929-093928361a6F7B6DC8-EEB0-BDCC-8234-8D8B479D500E.jpg

Paving slabs added to another skatepark bench.

img-20180929-094438151a10ABC098-949D-2691-52ED-00BDF7102937.jpg

Maintenance of office / car park beds.

img-20180929-111439758aA0A3C360-5163-3944-0424-3871FAB5010B.jpg

Maintenance of office / car park beds.

img-20180929-120256969a278587CF-8249-7D88-949D-D583D2995B76.jpg

A little bit of painting touch-up makes all the difference!

img-20180929-120324603aA67994BD-CC8B-EBF7-0E18-6413DEC30BCD.jpg

Task Day 15 September 2018

A sad task today was to remove part of our Midnight tree sculpture that was becoming unsafe.

We created this wonderful addition to the park in 2007, when the tree from which it is carved was declared unsafe. It was great to bring something positive from the demise of this mature Copper Beech that has lasted more than 10 years but unfortunately as the carving was still rooted in the ground in the long-term its decay was inevitable. We have asked Myers Tree Care to remove the rest of it as soon as they can and we hope to find a way to replace it with something new in the future.

Other tasks included lots of work on the park's flowerbeds, the addition of paving slabs in front of one of the skatepark seats to create a hard-standing and work in the Bandroom garden. We also ventured outside of the park today to begin repainting the Lock 17 gates. This is another local feature that we helped to create in 2007 and is now maintained by our volunteers.

  • 15 September 2018

Removing an unsafe section of Midnight.

img-20180915-101849437a1367BE1E-1D5E-553D-6E6E-30EE42691419.jpg

Adding paving slabs to Skatepark seating.

img-20180915-114227900a6903A553-168E-AABB-34A4-5944BA8D0E06.jpg

Working hard on Memorial beds.

img-20180915-125243058a40B30033-470C-BD7F-B73E-A30AA07F4393.jpg

Working hard on Memorial beds.

img-20180915-125306663aEB067E51-A7A9-666E-B39C-E7EDB00FD3EC.jpg

Strimming of Bandroom garden.

img-20180915-125635345a37BBF58F-CD52-93EB-D0F0-5EC0AAD23193.jpg

Back in the park, visitors dropped just over £15 into our collection bucket to in appreciation of our efforts.

It was great to see kids playing on our latest addition to the park - the new Ocean See-Saw in the Infants Play Area.

Read more about the creation of Midnight the Tree Sculpture.

Task Day 25 August 2018

Too damp for painting the Infants Play Area fence this time, so most of our volunteers got stuck into a tidy-up of the Breathing Places Reading Circle behind the library.

There was also some hedge trimming done at the Bandroom cottage and maintenance of park benches continued. Later on we also managed to get a coat of gloss on the Bowling Pavilion doors. Looks like we had the best of the Bank Holiday weather for our efforts!

Breathing Places Reading Circle

Thank you to generous park visitors, who popped just over £17 into our collection bucket.

Bowling Pavilion doors Reading Circle

Task Day 11 August 2018

Today the weather was just about perfect and we had a much more successful painting day and managed to make a decent amount of progress on the Infants Play Area fence.

Still a long way to go though! Other volunteers worked on the main flowerbeds, litter picking and the treatment and maintenance of park benches continued too.

  • 11 August 2018

Painting the Infants Play Area fence.

img-4502a37B94E6D-19C1-C7AC-CDFF-B2424D7FB76C.JPG

Painting the Infants Play Area fence.

img-4505aAFDC87D3-42DD-0352-BECA-2A18EA241793.JPG

Painting the Infants Play Area fence.

img-20180811-100921485a50058313-57BA-55DD-6F4A-4809A983051C.jpg

Flowerbed maintenance.

img-20180811-132148555aEFE8B0CC-EF48-5B31-55D0-A6D2879975E6.jpg

Flowerbed maintenance.

img-20180811-132231427a37F7A09A-446C-CD59-4640-00C1C429F6E3.jpg

Park visitors popped just over £13 into our collection bucket to say thank you for our efforts to keep the park looking its best.

Task Day 28 July 2018

Today's planned "big task" was to get stuck into painting the Infants Play Area fence but although we made a nominal start the wind forced us to stop and do something else.

More successful tasks included planting and maintenance in the Sensory Garden and the Scout Hut bed, strimming in the Bandroom garden and ongoing treatment of benches. The benches that have had the metalwork repainted are looking particularly good.

  • 28 July 2018

A slow start to painting the Infants Play Area fence.

img-20180728-111017013a9D9B17A1-151E-0CF8-5CAD-27721F0258A8.jpg

Planting in the Sensory Garden.

img-20180728-111408397aB7F027E7-DD2D-4BED-B383-A20F25052863.jpg

Planting in the Scout Hut Bed.

img-20180728-111458502aCE4A1886-FA44-B714-F0D4-012CDBA19E50.jpg

Trimming the privet in the Bowling Green.

img-20180728-120044608a551FE650-1169-F827-3EB2-2929B950BFF4.jpg

Jim Heald's bench gets a fresh coat of black paint.

img-20180728-124140522a7D9119A4-4CAD-7E2F-54BB-FD151A2AE5BA.jpg

Thank you to park visitors, who showed support for our efforts by placing almost £8 in our donation bucket!

Task Day 14 July 2018

We were all over the place on our task day today!

Volunteers worked on the Jubilee Bed near the library, the main flowerbeds, the entrance to the park down by the cinema, the bandroom garden, on benches throughout the park and on the pavilion store. At one point we even had a volunteer clearing the drain in the car park and recovering three buckets of soil!

Flowerbeds in Marple Memorial Park

We are often told that the park looks better than it ever has and it's great to know that what we do is appreciated. Generous park users confirmed this by donating over £17 towards the upkeep of the park in our roving collection bucket.

Open Gardens 7 - 8 July 2018

Friends of the Park were delighted to be involved in the organisation of Open Gardens in Marple.

During the two days of the event we had an information point in the park, where we sold tickets, ran a raffle and talked to visitors about the open gardens and about our work in the park. It was a huge success and we were very pleased to play our part in raising an amazing £11,500 for Cancer Research UK!

Open Gardens in Marple

During Open Gardens we took the opportunity to have a dry-run on the installation of 141 knitted poppies on the war memorial railings. This is one poppy for every man on the memorial killed during WWI and will be repeated in November this year for the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War. Didn't they look wonderful!

Knitted Poppies

Special Task Day 26 June 2018

Today we compacted the French Boules Court using a Wacker-Plate from Wright Hire.

A big thank you to them for delivering and collecting the machine to the park for us and charging us a preferential rate for the hire. It was a hot and dusty task but it's now even better than when the contractor did it originally back in 2008.

  • 26 June 2018

Compacting the Boules Court.

img-20180626-114145942a3A1652E1-7CCF-700B-51B4-4DF934E304D1.jpg

Compacting the Boules Court.

img-20180626-114159226a77A5F8C2-7732-860C-5EA4-88B2C23B154F.jpg

Compacting the Boules Court.

img-20180626-122718322a9ED52CA0-1C6C-686F-8848-45DC7D567F6D.jpg

Compacting the Boules Court.

img-20180626-122728585a175AA4B3-565B-AEF5-51A1-57315B409A9A.jpg

Compacting the Boules Court.

img-20180626-133533915a869155B4-1FB8-DCFC-D3AF-5E740DF52280.jpg

  1. Special Task Day 25 June 2018
  2. Task Day 23 June 2018
  3. Task Day 26 May 2018
  4. Task Day 12 May 2018

Page 1 of 2

  • 1
  • 2

Top of Page ^ | Privacy | Cookies | Site Map

Copyright © 2025 Friends of Marple Memorial Park. All Rights Reserved.
Created, hosted and maintained FOC by The Marple Website.