TODAY

It was great to be back in the park again this morning after a long weekend away in sunny Spain, especially as we had a very good turnout of 33 volunteers. We were pleased to welcome new volunteer Holly and 4 volunteers from Turner and Townsend. In addition, as can be seen in picture 1, this week little Winnie brought along both her auntie and her dad to make an even bigger impact on her litter picking throughout the park. Thank you Winnie! It was also good to see both Robin and Debbie returning once more after illnesses. Everybody was made very welcome. 

We were also doubly treated today because at our coffee break we had both banana cake from Sandra and Christmas Cake from Lucy. Thank you Sandra and Lucy - spoilt or what? It was all delicious! 

WOODCHIP

One of the big jobs we undertook before our coffee break today involved the topping up of the woodland trail with a new layer of fresh woodchip. Emily, Mike H, Levison and Michael from Turner and Townsend joined Debbie, Allan and Holly to complete an amazing number of trips with wheelbarrows full of woodchip, across the park until we completely ran out of woodchip. We completed about 80% of the trail and will finish it off once we receive more woodchip.Thank you all - great job!

WILD FLOWER MEADOW

Picture 2 shows the team of Tristan, Kevin and Roger clearing some of the dead grass from the wild flower meadow and picture 3 shows Robin with a wheelbarrow full of it ready for Gill, Bettina and Grace (also in the picture) to give him a hand to tip it into the green waste skip. Thank you all. 

THREE DOG CARVING

To mark a special occasion today, Gill N and Grace spent most of the morning, before the coffee break, cleaning the three dog carving by the exit to the Poppy Path. It looked sparkling afterwards and really cared for. Thank you both, this will be truly appreciated.  

THE HEAVY GANG

Despite a slightly understrength heavy gang this morning we still made great progress in beginning the installation of a new hardstanding for the picnic bench which had been stored through the winter on the wild flower meadow, while it was repaired. With an eye on "killing two birds with one stone" Adrian, Carl N and Murray assisted by the team from Turner and Townsend removed the turf where the bench is to be located and then transported the turf to the area where the tree had recently fallen next to the Didsbury Neighbourhood Centre. This area was then completely re-turfed to make it look good again. A great job all round. Thanks everyone.

THE BIRD GARDEN

Bettina, Wendy, Anne later joined by Debbie and Holly worked hard on tidying up the Bird Garden this morning, following the harsh weather of the winter. Not only was this special area given a good weeding but the surrounding hedge was given a good trim too. Overall it was looked so much smarter and tidier after all the work. Great job everyone. Thank you!

WEEDING

As the new spring flowers start to appear in the park it is quite tricky to ensure that the weeds and grass around them are removed without damaging the abundant new spring flowers. This was the task today for Diane, Ilma and Lucy who very carefully worked on some key flower beds. Thank you - great work.

PATH MAINTENANCE

We did some great work on the paths today. David strapped on the leaf blower and initially worked with Brenda to improve the Gillbrook Road entrance (see picture 4) before moving into the garden of the Didsbury Neighbourhood Centre where all the winter leaves were cleared away. This made a huge difference to the garden. Thank you David and Brenda.

Further along the path towards the roundabout, Joyce (initially on her own), but later joined by Allan, made a huge improvement on removing all the overflowing mud and grass, which had spread over the edges of the path (see picture 5).

A combination of the effects of the new drainage in this area combined with the work on the edges really made this area look so much cleaner and a lot more attractive. Thank you Joyce and Allan.  

SANDHURST ROAD

Between Tuesday and Friday last week, work was undertaken to resurface the whole of Sandhurst Road. The week before work started, we had agreed a plan with the contractors to remove our bags of gravel stored at the top of the road so that they could complete their work. However the contractors did not return the bags to the storage area at the end Friday as expected, so we had to take some action ourselves. On Saturday therefore Tom and I moved 2 x 800 kg bags of gravel by hand (and wheelbarrows) for the two bags which the contractors had not left on our pallets. This mornng we successfully used a hired pallet truck to quickly move the remaining 4 bags, with help from everybody in picture 6 i.e. from left to right Levison, Tom, Emily, Mike H, Adrian and Carl N. Thank you everyone this was a great result!

CLEAN UP FOR BUDDY AND LUCY PLAQUE

Thanks to Greg and Adrian, the missing screws on the Buddy and Lucy plaque were replaced today and as picture 7 shows that the plaque was also given a good clean up at the same time. Thank you Greg and Adrian. 

NEW LOOK POPPY PATH 

If you have been along the Poppy Path in the last week you will have noticed a change. Picture 8 shows how the poppy wreaths which were originally laid at the cenotaph next to the library in the village have now been relaid on the Poppy Path. This change has been necessary because of the landscaping work now being undertaken around the cenotaph in the village. As requested by the Reverand Nick Bundock from St James Church, the plan is that these wreaths will remain on the Poppy Path until November.   

DIDSBURY PARK ON FIRE!!

If you were lucky enough to be in the park around 4:45pm last Friday evening you will have witnessed a sight I have never ever seen before in the park. It was such an unusual sight that virtually everybody in the park had their phones out in order to take photographs.

Picture 9 shows one of the pictures I took which I hope gives you some idea of what it was like. Whichever way you looked in the park, every large tree seemed to be on fire, as they were all bathed in a bright red light from an amazing sunset. 

MEMBERSHIP OF THE FRIENDS OF DISBURY PARK 

Following another outstanding volunteering year in 2023 I am delighted to report that we are receiving a very good response from all our members wishing to continue to support our continued work into 2024. The £10 membership fee enables us to continue to buy the tools and equipment we need to work with.  If you have not yet got around to sending your subscription could I ask if you would take just a few minutes and send it as soon as you are able please. 

All members of the Friends of Didsbury Park are invited to participate in the AGM to be held on Monday 4th March 2024. More details about the meeting including papers and an agenda will be circulated next week.  

Finally thank you once again for your amazing support and kind messages which you send us.