Getting Didsbury Park Ready for the Lord Mayor’s Visit
LAST NIGHT - EMERGENCY MEDICAL INCIDENT
A lot of people are already aware, but for those who are not, there was a medical emergency in one of the roads alongside Didsbury Park last night. This incident resulted in the air ambulance landing in the nearest suitable space which happened to be the sports field in Didsbury Park.
Picture 1 shows the unusual sight of a helicopter on the sports field (picture courtesy of Sonia). The Manchester Evening News has reported this as a medical incident in Didsbury Park. This is confusing as it was an incident in the road confusingly named Didsbury Park and not in our park nearby named Didsbury Park. I hope this makes sense!
TODAY
We had an amazingly beautiful morning in the park this morning. Blue skies and temperatures 20 + degrees. However, when Allan and I arrived early at 8am the weather was overcast and there was a lot of litter scattered on the floor around the overflowing litter bins. Unfortunately, we had not been able to get to the park on Sunday to put out additional bin liners - it just reinforces the need for us to do this when the park gets so overcrowded in the good weather at weekends.
We were in the park early today to welcome Oliver, our building contractor volunteer, who returned this morning to continue rebuilding the low garden wall near the Sandhurst Road pedestrian entrance. This wall is really coming along beautifully and Oliver has promised to return next week to finish it off. By 10:00 the clouds had disappeared and temperatures started to climb against the background of a clear blue sky.
We also welcomed Miranda once again for her second week, a team of 6 volunteers from Armstrong Fluid Technology for the first time (see picture 2) and Al returning once again from Network Rail. In addition, our litter picking team of Shigad and Sheeba from Bridge College were supported by Ben and young Emilene and they all did a wonderful job transforming our park into its pristine state once again.
We were also supported by our regular 8 man team from Brentwood College who did a super job applying a layer of woodchip to our weeded areas along the Wilmslow Road path. Everybody was made very welcome.
TODAY - GETTING READY FOR THE LORD MAYOR'S VISIT NEXT MONDAY
Today's priority work this morning was definitely focussed upon the wild flower meadow and the areas around and leading up to it, in preparation for the Lord Mayor's visit next Monday. We had a huge team working on the wildflower meadow itself which included Taylan, Patrick and Chris who weeded and planted the last of the summer bedding plants around the hedging on the outsides of the meadow. Thank you guys - This was a great job.
Picture 3 is a great photo of Sandra who can be seen working against a stunning background of blue sky and a beautiful park. Sandra was busy clearing up the hedge clippings and weeding the areas below the hedging. The only downside for Sandra this morning was that she was bravely working in full sun. Thank you Sandra.
Picture 4 on the other hand, shows Wendy in the foreground and Al in the background, preferring to work in the shaded side of the wild flower meadow, using hand shears to trim back the hedging. Thank you both. This was a great improvement. A huge thank you also to Lis who used the main hosepipe connected to the newly repaired tap to make sure that all the new plants were well watered and the whole area was looking well cared for. Thank you Lis. There were also other members of the Armstrong team and Sofia who worked hard on other sections of the wild flower meadow too. Thank you all.
Meanwhile, immediately outside the wild flower meadow there was an equally active team making improvements.
Picture 5 shows 1 of the Armstrong team posing for a picture with Sonia and Felix in front of the flower beds around Buddy and Lucy which had just been thoroughly weeded and tidied up with the help from other members of the Armstrong team. Picture 6 shows Miranda painstakingly removing grass from the cobbled edging near the Sandhurst Road main gate. Thank you Miranda. Picture 7 shows the transformation created by Allan at the Sandhurst Road entrance as he used the power hedge trimmer to smarten up the entrance to be used by the Lord Mayor.
This was a hugely successful piece of work this morning to enable us to get the wild flower meadow and the area outside in the best state we could make it for next week. Thank you to everyone who helped.
The order of proceedings next week will be as follows:
Volunteering as usual from 8am until 10:30 ish
10:30 begin putting tools away and begin to assemble in the wild flower meadow.
Everybody in place by 10:55. Floral ribbon attached to gate nearest the volunteer's shelter.
11:00 Lord Mayor arrives. BJ escorts Lord Mayor through wild flower meadow to Gazebo at the other gate.
11:05 Welcome to dignitaries and guests.
11:10 Lord Mayor speech and cuts ribbon to formally open the wild flower meadow
11:15 Speech by Executive Member for Neighbourhoods
11:20 Speech by BJ about history of wild flower meadow
11:25 Opportunities for volunteer to meet dignitaries and guests
12:30 Close
We started this wild flower meadow project in 2018 with some great support from Barry Noble from MCC. We were impacted by Covid shortly after we really got going and we have now finally managed to cross the finishing line in 2026 when it has been opened to the public. Lots of volunteers have been involved along the way and we have had many challenges to overcome.
Please do come along next week, enjoy the sandwiches and cake and hear all about it!
TODAY - BEHIND THE SCENES
Whilst it may appear that, as if by magic, we always have enough tools and equipment to do what we need to do every Monday morning, week after week, no matter how many volunteers turn up - in practise this only works because behind the scenes we have special people who make sure it happens.
This week for example Geoff has repaired the fuel leak on the sit on mower and re-charged the battery and straightened one of our digging forks which had a prong at 90 degrees to the other 3.
Earlier this week Tony returned 4 pairs of garden shears which needed sharpening and straightening. These are key people who work behind the scenes, usually get no mention in the update report, but are essential to our whole volunteering operation. I know you both would prefer not to be in the spotlight, but just this once, I would like to say a huge thank you on behalf of all our volunteers.
TODAY - ELSEWHERE IN THE PARK
With the visit from the RHS judges, in a few weeks time, in mind, Anne and Lorna spent this morning weeding and tidying up the Flower Walk near the Bird Garden where they could both work in the shade. Picture 8 shows Anne and Lorna resting by the green waste skip after a hard morning's work in the heat. Thank you both. This was a great result.
Picture 9 shows Prof Steve, still on light duties, but still making a huge contribution this morning, as he painted the new bench by the cafe with a light preservative stain to add to the clear preservative he applied several weeks ago. This bench is looking amazing Steve - Thank you
Thank you to David and Richard who did a thorough repair job on the 4 sets of goal nets on the sports field.
Picture 10 shows David, Ilma, Murray and Richard helping Ilma to add more stakes to support the large red roses at the other end of the Flower Walk. Thank you all for this work on these special roses.
Gary came to Sonia's aid initially this morning to mow the grass around Buddy and Lucy before moving on to, once more, mowing and marking out the cricket square in the middle of the sports field. It is really amazing how since, Gary took the initiative to create this cricket square, just how many children (and parents) are actually using it. Well done Gary - thank you!
Once again almost unseen, we have a truly dedicated volunteer, who almost alone guards and protects the park and Poppy Path from continuous graffiti tagging. Many thanks to Alan who once again today cleaned off all the graffiti on the Poppy Path.
Tom also joined us today and did some great work on tidying up the bottom section of the Poppy Path. Thank you Tom.
Tristan continued the final phase of the project to self irrigate the moss garden with the introduction of a hose pipe to connect to the nearby tap to make it easier to fill up the underground reservoir . Unfortunately, we will need to purchase some new connections to complete this work next week. Meanwhile a more manual process of filling the reservoir was undertaken by Tristan today. Thanks Tristan.
Once again Louise and Denise did some superb maintenace work on the rose and flower beds which continue to look stunning. Thank you both.
Thank you once again for your amazing support