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.
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.
Bulb planting season is here!
We have yet again been blessed by the weather and on our task day today, concentrated on planting bulbs - it's the best time to do it. We are grateful for a large free supply from the Council and we added some ourselves. We've planted around the beds and in an area where the frog will be relocated. We've also put some in next to the Covid memorial and along the entrance path off Station Road. All should come up at varying times in spring; we've planted tulips, narcissus, muscari and crocus so there's a good selection of colour.
There were other maintenance jobs to do including cutting back and tidying the beds - always weeding to do too. We also did some edging round the paths. We added some soil to the previous holes in the football pitch and will eventually seed these. Then some surprises happen - we had to mend one of the wheelbarrows but managed that with a nut from Hollins of Marple!
It's now very much Autumn and we are concentrating on all the seasonal tasks
We've planted lots of bulbs in the main beds; tulips, alliums, crocuses, narcissi and others, and have also given the beds a thorough tidy up, deadheading and clearing fallen leaves from shrubs. In an attempt to enhance the Covid memorial, after our small rosemary shrubs didn't survive, we have put in the two well developed large rosemary shrubs from the vegetable plots. Rosemary is the plant that signifies remembrance. Other jobs included tidying the hedge by the band room and moving some more soil from the Jubilee bed before it is lost to the new building. We also offered packets of honesty seeds for a small contribution to our funds, and this has proved popular.
