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[Coronation Bench] [Tree Sculpture] [Breathing Places] [Infants Play Area] [Boules Court]
Update - 07 August 2008
We'd like to thank Dave and Greg of Myers Tree Care Ltd for making it a very special day today by installing our new Breathing Places sculpture completely free of charge. Over the years Myers Tree Care's support for local community and heritage projects in Marple has been exceptional and they certainly continued that tradition today. The photos below were taking while Dave and Greg grafted hard to get set the sculpture in its final resting place following display at the Tatton Show last month.
The sculpture really has transformed the area and it was drawing visitors into the woodland even before the concrete had set and we now look forward to the library starting to use the reading circle for story time with local children. The project is taking shape now but it's still not complete. Look out for an invite for local people to become more involved in the near future!
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Update - 28 July 2008
It's taken a while but we're pleased to advise that the new sculpture created for us by Chain Saw Artist Andrew Frost for the Breathing Places Reading Area is complete! It is shown in the photographs below being exhibited at the RHS Tatton Show, which finished yesterday. Hopefully it will not be too long before it's installed behind the library on the edge of the circle. Just watch this space for more news.
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Update - 26 April 2008
During our task day in March the badly designed bat boxes that had been replaced in February were converted to bird boxes and re-fitted. Only two days later we were advised by library staff that one of them was occupied by blue tits.
During our April task day the Parks and Recreation Team kindly fitted our BBC Breathing Places plaque shown below.
09 March 2008
The planting around the reading circle has now been completed and planting of hawthorn and honey suckle whips at the rear of the area was carried out at the last task day on 23rd February. Six bat boxes were also installed in the in the trees in the Breathing Places Area and six more along the nature walk running alongside the canal. The crocuses have been putting on an exceptional display behind the library and the daffodils are getting set to do the same over the next few weeks.
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26 January 2008
The main landscaping works has now been completed and the planting around the reading circle will soon be underway. It is all looking a bit raw at the moment but things should begin to soften as spring gets underway. The bulbs in the area are beginning to show already and will hopefully put on a good display for us later in February and March.
Landscape works completed
24 November 2007
On Saturday 24th November the Marple Beavers Scouts showed their support for the Friends of Marple Memorial Park's Breathing Places Project by holding a "Tree for All" hedgerow planting session in the woodland area at the rear of the library. The event was also part of the ongoing celebrations of 100 years of Scouting in the UK and the hedgerow packs were provided free of charge by the Woodland Trust's "Tree for All" scheme in recognition of this. After the planting session, which was unfortunately cold and wet, the Beavers warmed up again in the Library with hot chocolate and cookies during a Tree Party organised by library staff.
This event also kicked off Marple Scout Group's own centenary celebrations as they will be 100 years old in 2008, making them one of the oldest groups in the World of Scouting. This fact and their help with the project will be acknowledged in the Breathing Places interpretation and the Friends of the Park are grateful to Marple Beavers for their excellent support.
Scouts leader Lisa Bintliff with Marple Beavers
 Shivering Beavers! |
 Lisa hands out the Woodland Trust hedge packs |
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8 September 2007 Work has finally started on the project with commencement of the tree work this week. One tree has been removed near to the library to make way for the circular Reading Area and the remainder of the trees are having their crowns raised to increase the light penetration into the woodland. There is also some general maintenance work being done with the removal of some large limbs overhanging the library. A landscape contractor has been selected and these works are expected to start soon after the tree work is completed.
BBC Breathing Places Grant Award
As the The Big Lottery Fund explained in their Northwest news release at the end of May this year, "the Friends of Marple Memorial Park will soon be developing a woodland community reading area thanks to the £6,460 award. This enchanting project, sited in parkland next to the library, will plant woodland shrubs, bulbs, wildflowers and fruiting trees, and using surgery on existing trees increase the natural light across the area. Looking to the local fauna, the project will feature bird and bat boxes, and special log bedding for insect habitats. The site, which will provide full disabled access, will benefit local library users and serve as a meeting place for local organisations." Friend of Marple Memorial Park, Jay Havoleana, said: "We were delighted to learn that our Breathing Places application has been successful. We are really excited about the project to create an outdoor reading area that will merge our library with the natural woodland and add an extra dimension to children's story time." BBC Breathing Places is a four year campaign to inspire people to connect with nature. Developed in partnership with a wide group of wildlife and conservation organisations, the campaign encourages new audiences to get involved in doing one thing for nature, whilst providing opportunities for BBC Breathing Places to be created across the UK. A Breathing Place is an area that is great for wildlife and people and has an active community of people creating, enjoying and maintaining it. This page will be updated with latest news and photographs as the project develops and progresses.
Details of our Breathing Place
Improvements for wildlife include thinning of the tree canopy to improve light penetration to the woodland floor and the planting of additional wild flowers, bulbs and shrubs. More wildlife habitats will be created by the planting of hedgerows around the perimeter, and the addition of log bedding and more bird and bat boxes. It is planned for the planting of hedgerows to involve the local Scouts to help commemorate the centenary of Scouting in Marple in 2008, only one year after the centenary of the Scouting movement itself in 2007. After consultation with owners of the properties surrounding the woodland area it was decided that the reading circle will not include any permanent seating to discourage misuse during the hours of darkness. The reading area will be accessible to anyone but it expected to be put to particularly good use by the library staff, who will use temporary seating and cushions to hold open air 'story time' reading sessions with local children. |
The
Friends of Marple Memorial Park are delighted to announce that
they have been awarded a grant of £6,460 by the Big Lottery Fund
as part of the hugely successful BBC-led Breathing Places
campaign. The campaign, driven by BBC's Autumnwatch and
Springwatch programmes, has enthused and energised thousands
across the country to get involved in community projects to make space for
nature, and that includes the Friends of Marple Memorial Park too.
The
Friends of the Park's Breathing Places project was developed in
partnership with Stockport Library Services and the Council's
Parks and Recreation Team. It will improve and enhance the
existing woodland area at the rear of Marple Library for both
wildlife and people. The incorporation of a circular reading area
with full disabled access penetrating into the woodland will
create an outdoor 'room' that will provide a window into the
natural wildlife habitat surrounding it. A border of wildflowers
and shrubs will be planted around the reading circle that will
help it to blend into the natural surroundings and a short
distance into the woodland will be a wooden sculpture that will
incorporate bird feeders. There will also be an interpretation
board explaining the different flora and fauna to be found living
in the woodland itself...
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Links www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/breathingplaces www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/friendsofmemorialpark
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