It was great to be back in Manor Park hosting our February Volunteer Morning. We had a list of jobs which needed doing to help get the park ready for spring: litter-picking, spreading wood-chip on the front-path, bramble-bashing, wild-garlic bulb planting and woodland maintenance.

We set up as usual on the grassy area by the railway bridge. It was a little colder than we’d anticipated, but setting up the gazebo and refreshment area soon got the team warmed up. In fact we were set up in record time – well before kick-off – so we got stuck into a few of the tasks we’d planned for the day.

It wasn’t long before our wonderful local volunteers started arriving. Each was assigned with their very own task.

Our usual weekday team arrived and quickly got on removing the bramble located directly behind the junior football pitches, where balls tend to end up, and can be painful to locate.

One of our local councillors, Mike Massimi, joined us. He focussed his attention on the wooded area by the houses on Malden Road. We wanted to thin out the trees to help improve the health of this copse. We’ll keep focussing attention to this space over the next year.

Three of our volunteers planted wild-garlic bulbs behind the pond. We hope this will catch and in time create a stunning carpet of white flowers, and a delicate garlic scent. One for local foragers.

James, our photographer, raised the crown on some of the trees at the front. We’re keen to maintain the sight-lines below the crown level, to provide a view into the park from the road. Enticing more people into the Manor Park.

As always we love our 11am tea break. A good chance to catch-up with our neighbours. (And have a gossip).

By the end of the day, much bramble had been bashed, woodland improved, garlic planted, litter collected and the path covered in woodchip. We hope you like.

 

A big thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, and to Glendale who arrived in the morning with our tools and the trailer for the green-waste and litter.

If you’d like to join a volunteer event, keep an eye out on our social media or visit this website. Everyone is welcome and it’s great fun.

Drop us a line at team@ourmanorpark.org.uk