Marple Website Community Calendar

An important message from Friends of Rose Hill Station about Santa's visit on Monday 4 December!

Hello all! Friends of Rose Hill Station are planning their annual Santa Arrival at Rose Hill Station event for Monday 4th December between 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm this year.  However, they really need around five more volunteers to help with crowd queuing, safety and handing out refreshments etc. to ensure that this event is as successfully as last year.

Please contact Stuart Patrick via forhs142@gmail.com if you can help. Many thanks!

Note that there is no charge for this event but donations are welcome.

Here is Santa during a previous visit to Rose Hill:

MARPLE NATURALISTS PROGRAMME: 2023-2024 is our 55th season!

Are you interested in the Natural World?
Do you want to learn more about the fascinating plants and animals around us?

Please join us for indoor meetings at the United Reformed Church, Hibbert Lane, Marple at 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of every month. Non-members £5.00 on the door.



Autumn-Winter 2023

6 September 2023: Jane Morris: Native & Naturalising Trees of Britain: In her talk, Jane will explore the good & not so good characteristics of some naturalised and naturalising trees. She will tell us how trees can play a part in nature recovery, secure food production & improve climate resilience. She has been closely involved with the Forest Garden in Birchfields which contains many harvestable products and where she regularly conducts walks. She extols the importance to biodiversity of having a great variety of trees and shrubs in an area.

4 October 2023: Judith Wilshaw: Antarctica & Patagonia: Adventures at the Bottom of the World. In February 2017 after a lifelong fascination with Antarctica, Judith with her husband and daughter decided to splash out to go there on the trip of a lifetime. Judith’s talk tells the story of their 5 week long odyssey including travelling half way around the world to the bottom of South America and it also involved a trekking adventure in Patagonia.

1 November 2023: Dr John Bright: Microbes – The Most Important Organisms on the Planet? John challenges us to think about microbes. What are they? Can we see them? Are they mostly good or bad for us? Are they highly evolved or not? Can microbes influence the environment? And the big question, are microbes the most important group of organisms on the planet? These are some of the questions he will be asking so be prepared to be engaged

6 December 2023: Christmas Party with a Quiz and Member’s Talks by Alastair Bewsher.

Winter-Summer 2024

3 January 2024: Dr Rachel Hacking: Being an Ecologist for Business and Pleasure. We look forward to Rachel taking a look at the life of a professional ecologist and the ecologist outside of work! They say if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life. Recording species is what she does to keep the bills paid & she also constantly record species when not at work, from commuting to rambling in urban and rural areas and being on her allotment. ‘Ecology never stops!’

7 February 2024: Gordon McKay: Wildlife Associated with Shellfish Farming on Mull. How sustainable mussel & oyster farming is carried out: For many years Gordon owned and managed a shellfish farm on the Island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. His inspiration for the venture came from wishing to produce food from the sea which wasn't going to denude local wild populations. His talk describes how mussel farming and oyster farming is carried out and he will look at the myriad of marine creatures associated with the farm, their life cycles and interrelationships.

6 March 2024: Annual General Meeting followed by a talk from Eric Stead, who will talk to us about a year in the life of an ordinary field showing its extraordinary biodiversity as it changes throughout the year.

3 April 2024: Jane Allison: Banquets for Bees & Butterflies. Jane of Mayfield Plants will give us expert advice on what to plant in our gardens in order to provide for bees and butterflies through all the seasons. The talk includes an identification of our common bee and butterfly visitors and the specific food and nectar plants they need. Lists of plants will be provided after the talk.

1 May 2024: Jo Kennedy: Greater Manchester Wetlands Project:  Jo will give us a wide ranging talk about the work of The Great Manchester Wetlands project. It is a unique and diverse landscape of water, fen, wet grassland, wet woodland & lowland raised bog. It is a Nature Improvement Area covering some 48,000 hectares, including the wetlands of Wigan (The Flashes), the peatlands of Chat Moss & Risley Moss to the west & Southwest of Manchester, & the Mersey wetlands corridor stretching from Rixton to Warrington.

5 June 2024: Dr Luke Blazejewski: The Amazing Biodiversity of the River Irwell in Greater Manchester: Luke is passionate about the revitalisation of the river Irwell. In ‘Stories of the river Irwell’ he will tell us about his experiences through photos and videos of the amazing biodiversity to be found along the course of the river Irwell today. This wildlife oasis is so remarkable when you consider that in the 19th century it was considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world which killed anything that fell into it.

July and August 2024: Summer walks. Details will be announced nearer the time.

For further information please contact either Jane Michael on 07917 434598 or Deb Cavanagh on 07810 450764 or go to The Naturalists at the Marple Website: https://www.marple.website/nature

Or follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/marplenaturalists

Membership £25 (payable 1/9/23).

Brabyns Park Bonfire by Marple Scouts and Girlguiding Marple: Saturday 4th November from 18.00

They're back in Brabyns Park for the 51st Bonfire & Fireworks! 

It will be ticket-only this year, so please buy them in advance.  No booking fees.

Get your tickets at www.marplebonfire.co.uk

Last year they sold out, so buy early to avoid disappointment!

Friends of Marple Memorial Park have submitted their response to the Marple Active Community Hub Consultation

Full details are here: https://www.marplememorialpark.org.uk/hub-comments

We've also included a round-up of suggestions of how you may wish to support what we are saying in your own personal responses to the consultation.

Monthly Table Top sale at Marple Senior Citizens Hall

We've had confirmation that the details for the table top sales in Marple Senior Citizens' Hall are still the first Saturday each month except January and August.

The sales run from 9am to 12 noon and if you want a table it's £8 and you should contact Bernie on 0161 427 1186.

Entry is free and refreshments are available.

The dates are now in the Calendar for the rest of 2023.