Hardy Volunteers Brave the Cold to Make Great Progress in Didsbury Park…

TODAY

On a bone chilling cold day today we did exceptionally well to have an attendance of 32 hardy volunteers in the park this morning. Throughout the morning the low temperatures and wind chill factor made it necessary for us to keep moving and work hard just to keep warm.

Sadly it was also a day when we heard of a number of crises and personal tragedies among our volunteer team and "friends group" and we all send our support and condolences to our friends in need of our support at this time. 

We were pleased to see John once again, one of our regular volunteers, who has been in Hong Kong for the last two months and we welcomed Nicky who was returning once again as a volunteer from business.

We were also well supported by the students and staff from Bretwood High School and Community College and by Sigad and Job Coach Sheeba from Bridge College. Everybody was made very welcome.

TODAY - OUR PRIORITY WAS THE WILD FLOWER MEADOW 

It was really pleasing to see that the momemtum to complete the project to enable public access to the wild flower meadow picked up pace again today. Unfortunately the contractors were stallled for about 3 days last week as they awaited the delivery of the new railings. I am delighted to say that normal service was resumed today when the contractors, complete with new railings,  managed to install them along the whole of one side of the wild flower meadow. 

Picture 1 shows a section of the new railings which have been installled along the new widened path near the bowls hut. Whilst a picture of railings might not be the most inspiring of photographs, to us who have been striving for over five years to have them installed to enable public access to the wild flower meadow - they look sensational!!

Picture 2  shows the newly designed path across the wild flower meadow from one gate to the other. It also shows the piles of turf and wild flowers which have been dug up in its construction and deposited along the side of the path. One of our main tasks today, led by Kevin, was to rescue any wild flower turf which had been dug up and which could be rescued to be replanted next week in areas of the wild flower meadow dominated by grass.

Picture 3 shows the 'early bird' team of Richard, Nicky, Taylan, Chris, Kevin, Lis, Lesley and Anne ready with lots of wheelbarrows to start sifting through the dug up materials to rescue some well established wildflowers. In the background of picture 3 you can see the contractors busy beginning to install the new fencing.  Later on this team were joined by Wendy and John.

Picture 4 shows Chris and John depositing waste subsoil into the woodland area and picture 5 shows Allan using the leaf blower to tidy up any surplus soil left on the wildflower plants after everything had been rescued. 

Meanwhile in the corner of the wildflower meadow where the double gate entrance used to be, the team of Christine, Anne, Lesley, Lis and Sandra finished off the task, started last week, of turning over the new flower bed, adding compost and then planting a new double row of hawthorn whips to create and complete the hedging which now successfully stretches all around the wild flower meadow. 

There was a huge amount of work undertaken on the wild flower meadow today, involving a large team of volunteers who were all kept extremely busy and made some great progress. A huge thank you to everybody who was involved.  

TODAY - LITTER PICKING

We had three separate teams litter picking in the park today and the good news is that they all complained afterwards about the lack of litter in the park, making their job harder to search it out.

Picture 6 shows young Winnie, who worked with dad Andrew today. We also had a small team from Brentwood who did some litter picking and of course our regular litter picking team of Sigad and Sheeba from Bridge College. Thank you all for keeping our park spotless.     

TODAY - IMPROVING THE WILMSLOW ROAD PATH 

Picture 7 shows the team of Tristan, Ilma, Julie and Joyce who continued to make great improvements along the Wilmslow Road path today. The flower beds along this path have been transformed by the dedicated attention given to them over the last few months. Most notably is the inspirational introduction of the section of the flower bed containing a new moss garden.

Picture 8 shows a picture of the pioneering RHS moss garden at Harlow Carr near Harrogate which has inspired our team to experiment with the introduction of a similar garden facility here in Didsbury. It is all being carefully and expertly implemented by Tristan with lots of supporting suggestions and advice  from the rest of the team. Well done everyone! A new and exciting venture! 

TODAY - ELSEWHERE IN THE PARK

• Thank you to Sandra for organising the coffee break in Gill's absence.

• The Brentwood students did a great job when they completed topping up the woodchip path to the children's playground . Thank you.

• Denise, did a super job tidying up the rose beds and then seen here in picture 9 helped bag up some old leaves for future mulching. Thank you Denise. 

• Hat's off to Roger, who has been investigating the best source of temporary wire fencing to keep the dogs out of the Bird Garden. Having checked various buiders merchants, Roger arrived today with a roll of wire mesh which it is hoped willl do the job better than some of the solutions used in the past. Picture 10 shows Roger in the process of applying the new fencing. Thanks Roger - fingers crossed!

Finally thank you once again for your amazing support on such a cold day.