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.
Deputy Mayor finds families treasure Memorial Park and its volunteers!
This week we held the annual Treasure Hunt, with 18 clues round the park for letters which spelt out a mystery word. The reward was chocolate money for those who got it right (or who made a good effort!) We know this is hugely enjoyed by families who attended in their numbers. Thanks to the members of the team who organised this free event and to our generous sponsors Nurture Nursery. Thanks also for the support we had from Sarah and Emma from the Coffee Bean Dream and Kevin from the Carnival Committee.
We were delighted to be joined by the Deputy Mayor of Stockport, Cllr Kerry Waters, who was very impressed by the park, our volunteers efforts and the event itself. We are always grateful for Stockport MBC support in this way.
Meanwhile, we also managed to have a full task day with lots of volunteers as well as those on the Treasure Hunt. We tidied up the bed at the back of the toilet block, and weeded and levelled up a bed on the clinic side of Hollins House, where some soil seems to have been dumped over the months. This bed is now ready for some planting next time. The fruit and veg beds are coming on well and we did some ever needed weeding on our flower beds.
Special task day to create small beds at the COVID Memorial
We recently decided to add a bit of plant life to the COVID memorial in the park. On 21 June 2024 a small group of volunteers put in a few rosemary plants (signifying remembrance) either side of the memorial. It's also worth mentioning that the large H section top capping stone was found to have become loose. This is now in safe storage until it can be properly refixed.
Follow this link to read more about the COVID Commemoration Project.
Mixed weather but we're ready for Marple Carnival!
This weekend's task day was punctuated with showers but also lovely sunshine. We wanted to get the park in good shape for next weekend's Carnival, so we did some weeding and edging on the flower beds, and trimmed some hedges. We also did our normal litter pick and tended the allotment beds, which are now showing some good growth. Some of the slats on the play park fence needed to be replaced too. Meanwhile, we were pleased to see that the Council has repaired the roof of the former Bowling Pavilion after we spotted a damaged ridge tile.
Could it be true that the sun shines on the righteous?
A glorious sunny day for our task day. The recent warm wet weather had meant rapid growth of weeds as well as growth of the flowers and shrubs in the flower beds and the allotment beds. An excellent turnout of volunteers did much hoeing, weeding, edging and careful hedge trimming as well as planting the new bedding plants.
We tidied up the wooded area by cleaning tree trunks, pulling up saplings and doing some pruning. The grass in the band garden was mowed and the area tidied up. Litter picking, clearing round the main park entrance and a major snail hunt within the hostas in the flower beds were other tasks successfully carried out. A really good and enjoyable task day.
Beautiful weather for our regular task day and it was great to see the Park being used to the full.
Our jobs included getting the beds ready for the summer flowers bought from the Scouts and Guides, which will go in next time. We also trimmed edges and hedges and actually needed to water the recently planted allotment area. We also tidied up some fallen branches in the woodland area.
Dry at last for a really good task day!
Some dry weather at last allowed us to have a concentrated attack on the weeds in the flowerbeds and to tidy up and prune the bushes near the Band Room. The wildflower bed is developing well now but as some will know this is a longer term project that takes time to give a colourful result. We were delighted to have four new volunteers to join our band of regulars. This meant we had over 20 working away in the park, so thanks to everyone and to those passers-by who put some much appreciated change into our collection box.
Just a note for those who have read the great article in Marple Review. We have, since this article was written, decided to keep with the pattern of two task days a month during Summer.
