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.
We enjoyed a lovely morning on the park; warm and sunny
There were lots of people, children and dogs enjoying the park and the newly emerging spring flowers, despite the wet and muddy conditions. The team cleaned up the growth round the trees in Garth Road and the large lime tree behind the bowling green pavilion. As ever there was lots of weeding to do and tidying in the main flowerbeds. We also managed to tackle more of the fallen dead tree, taking the large branch away.
Many thanks to the 17 intrepid volunteers who turned out for the first Task Day of 2025, a cold but brilliantly sunny morning in the park.
One of the main jobs this time of year is tidying up the flower beds, especially those around the War Memorial. We're now seeing snowdrops flowering in the beds bringing some welcome brightness and there are even some bulbs already starting to shoot. We also removed branches which had been blown off during the recent storms. This included cutting off as much as we could from the dead tree that had fallen near the Sundial. Lots of smaller branches were also collected from around the park, and we did our usual litter pick.
Other tasks included making a start on weeding and tidying up underneath the benches - we've asked the Council to stop weed-killing around the benches, trees and edges which is environmentally unfriendly and looks unsightly. Preliminary investigations were also carried out concerning the feasibility of the group replacing the timbers which frame the Boules Court and are rotting away.
We left the park looking considerably more respectable than when we arrived, doing our best to work round all the changes in the park as part of the construction of the new Community Hub.
Working off the mince pies!
Our last task day of the year was carried out in this persistent mist we've been experiencing. It didn't stop us or a good number of visitors to the park enjoying ourselves!
We focused on leaf clearing - in some places it can start to kill off the grass - and planting some primroses to brighten up the winter beds. There was also some clearing of dead material to do, the usual litter pick and some repair to a bed that had unfortunately been trampled over.
Our thanks for all the support we've had from members of the public in 2024, especially the kind donations into our collection bucket throughout the year - it is hugely appreciated and vital to help us fund all that we want to do.
A fine St. Andrew's day in the park with the union flag flying!
A good turn-out for a morning of weeding, clearing leaves and retrieving fallen branches. Also graffiti cleaned from the waste bins. Early sunshine, no wind and surprisingly pleasant for late November. While working we enjoyed listening to the sounds of drumming coming from the Marple Fest Market event ahead of the Christmas Lights Switch-On.
Installation of Nativity Sculptures on Market Street
Friends of the Park volunteers were joined by former chairman Mark Whittaker this morning so that he could show us the nuts and bolts of installing Wayne Chaisty's Nativity Sculptures in the Town Centre. Some might say it's a little early to put the Christmas decorations up but we wanted the Nativity in place for tomorrow's Christmas Lights Switch-on!
Getting ready for Remembrance
The group has held a task day the day before Remembrance Sunday for many years now, and this year was no different. Clearing leaves and ensuring the the war memorial beds and main flowerbeds look the best they can is always the main task, along with cleaning the memorial and clearing leaves throughout the length of Memorial Park Drive.
No photos have been provided from the day except this special one of former Park Keeper Bob Wilson receiving a card and bottle of his favourite tipple from the group for his 70th birthday, which falls on Remembrance Day. Bob was the fulltime Park Keeper in the park when the group was formed until taking retirement in 2014 but has continued to volunteer with us ever since.