Spring Sunshine and Strong Volunteer Turnout at Didsbury Park
TODAY
We had some great weather today and a matching great turnout of 45 volunteers. We were delighted to welcome a special visit from Laurent, one of our original Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers, now an A-Level student, who took advantage of his Easter holidays to rejoin us with his Mum Marie-Claude.
We were also joined by a new local volunteer, Steve Danson and by Ashley Crawford a volunteer from NatWest. It was also very encouraging to see so many parents with children turning up to help us clean up the park.
Picture 1 shows the combined team of, parents Julia, Andrew and Louis and young recruits Franklyn, Emiline, Winnie and Daniel. You can see the enthusiasm in the team, in the picture, by the way they are all waving their litter pickers in the air. We also welcomed Roger Morris for more power tool training today. The pupils today were Ilma, Kevin and the two new Steve's. Thank you Roger. Everybody was made very welcome.
TODAY - LET'S SOW SOME POPPY SEEDS IN THE WILD FLOWER MEADOW
We got the day off to a great start today when all the early volunteers took part in a poppy seed sowing project on the wild flower meadow. Picture 2 shows Laurent, Jane and Christine with their large scallop shells full of seeds. Picture 3 shows Marie Claude and Anne in a different part of the wild flower meadow.
Other volunteers participating in the poppy seed sowing were Chris, Taylan, Patrick, Sonia and Kevin. Thank you all - this was a great start to the day!
TODAY - FACELIFT AND MAINTENANCE OF PARK BENCHES
Picture 4 shows Wendy and Joyce taking full advantage of the fine weather to paint the final two benches in the wild flower meadow with a coat of preservative paint.
Thank you for making such a fabulous job of this project Wendy and Joyce. The benches on the wild flower meadow look fabulous - thank you.
TODAY - THE COMPLETION OF THE KICK FENCING PROJECT
Richard, Carl N and Murrayput the finishing touches tothe installation of kick fencing around the new flower bed.
Picture 5 shows Lorna admiring this amazingly beautiful flower bed before she joined our new volunteer Steve Danson to file the edges of the kick fencing to both improve the look of the fencing and to help prevent anybody getting splinters if touching it. This was a great job everyone! Thank you.
TODAY - HELPING TO TIDY UP THE CAFE RAISED BEDS
With the cafe team planning to demolish the raised beds outside the cafe, we took the opportunity today to salvage a few remaining spring bulbs and re-plant them in the park.
Picture 6 shows Chris, Patrick, Taylan and Mustafa all busy rescuing old daffodil bulbs which they then replanted elsewhere in the park. This was a good start - thank you guys!
TODAY - SPORTS FIELD PROJECTS
There were two main pieces of work undertaken on the sports field today. Gary once more did a weekly cut of the cricket square and remarking of the wicket. This was a super job Gary, and thank you for persevering even though you had one or two maintenance issues with the line marker machine.
Picture 7 shows Richard and Carl N undertaking the other main activity on the sports field today. This was to attach a new set of football nets to the second set of goal posts we installed last week. We now have two fully operational youth football pitches - just in time for the end of season excitement and cup final!! Thank you Richard and Carl!
What was quite amazing this morning was that as soon as Richard and Carl had fixed one set of nets in place, about 6 young children then took it over and immediately started a game. Great result guys!
TODAY - HORTICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
After sowing poppy seeds on the wildflower meadow, Christine, Anne and Jane joined Jude, Julie, Ilma, Tristan and Lucy to work on weeding and tidying up the flower beds on the Flower Walk, the rockery and the flower beds along the path to the Wilmslow Road gate. Much attention was given to the areas around the emerging giant alliums, as we wait for them to soon burst into flower.
Picture 8 is a beautiful picture of Jude and Julie passing one of the trees in blossom as they make their way back to the shelter at the end of the day. Thank you all.
At the other side of the park Sandra, Lis, Marie-Claude and Laurent did a great job weeding and tidying up the flower bed near the main path from the Sandhurst Road gate. Denise and Louise worked on weeding and feeding the rose beds and Roger worked on the beds next to the Bird Garden. There was some fantastic gardening work taking place right across the park today. Thank you everyone!
TODAY - STORE ROOM IMPROVEMENTS
It has been coming for a few weeks now, but today was the day Allan decided it was time to get on with it and with assistance from Murray, they built in some super additional tool storage facilities into one of our store rooms.
Picture 9 shows Murray standing by the newly constructed 'large hand tool' stalls for safely and tidily storing our regularly used large gardening tools. This is a super piece of work - thank you both!
TODAY - REPAIR OF A DAMAGED TREE GUARD
Our two latest volunteers Steve and Steve, were joined by our guest volunteer from NatWest, Ashley, and they all set to work to remove a damaged tree guard around a vulnerable sapling 'wedding cake tree' (cornus contraversa) on the main field. The tree was undamaged and in fact it looks exceptionally healthy. It is a beautiful sapling but it is only just about 1 metre high and is not yet strong enough to allow us to remove the protection. The team increased the size of the guard to give it plenty of scope for growth. Thank you guys - a great piece of work!
TODAY - ELSEWHERE IN THE PARK
Thank you to Gill N for topping up all the free dog waste bag dispensers located at every entrance to the park. This was of course also in addition to managing the drinks order too. Thank you
During the last week I am saddened to report that our colleagues in Fletcher Moss have been the victims of some terrible vandalism with many windows of the Croft being mindlessly broken. There is always the danger that this could spread to Didsbury Park and we should all remain vigilant. We are very grateful for Alan keeping a watchful eye on any instances of vandalism in the park and on the Poppy Path. Today for instance Alan was out first thing to clean off some new graffiti on the Poppy Path. Thank you Alan. Having completed this task then Alan removed the hire bike which had been dumped in the park and then went off to report it this afternoon. Thank you for your vigilance Alan - it is appreciated.
TODAY - LOST PROPERTY
Lis lost a pair of working gloves with a pair of black gloves as an inside liner today. If anybody comes across them can you please let Lis know?
FINALLY - NEWS FROM AUGUSTINE
At the beginning of the year Augustine left us to start a Masters Degree in London. I have just received the following lovely email from him:
Dear Friends of Didsbury Park Garden,
I hope this message finds you all well and thriving. I am taking this opportunity to check in on my dear friends and to send my warmest regards. I trust that everything is going beautifully and that our lovely garden continues to flourish under your care.
I have been thinking a lot about the garden and the wonderful moments we have shared there. It truly holds a special place in my heart, and I deeply miss being part of such a caring and dedicated community.
I am currently making plans to come to Manchester to spend my summer holidays, from June through September. It would mean so much to me to re-join you during this time, to work together again and contribute in any way I can alongside such amazing people.
My only challenge at the moment is finding accommodation, as I am still searching for a place to stay during those months. I remain hopeful that something will come through soon.
Please extend my heartfelt greetings to everyone at the garden. I miss you all and look forward to hopefully seeing you again soon.
With warm regards,
Augustine
Thank you once again for your amazing support.