Mayfield …….. that new park or …. how to claim back a bit of nature

Now, I have yet to wander down to Mayfield which contains “the new 6.5-acre Mayfield Park ….. Manchester city centre’s first public park. A liberating urban escape for all, it will be somewhere to walk, run, play, meet, picnic and paddle along the banks of River Medlock”.*

But lots of people have, including my old chum Andy Robertson who recorded his visit at the back of September.

Some have mumbled darkly why a new park?  Going on to question the economic value of creating an exciting new green place just minutes away from Piccadilly Railway Station and 10 minutes stroll from Piccadilly. 

Well, anyone who remembers the old blighted urban landscape, with its mix of car parks, open spaces and tired buildings will I think applaud the changes.

Apart from clumps of wildflowers and the odd bits of scrubby grass, this area has not been home to heaps of nature since the mid 18th century.  

I am not sure if during its final years of dereliction, the area was full of  Rosebay willowherb which I knew as Fireweed.  

It is a striking wild plant with tall spires of large pink/purple flowers that are best seen from June to September.  

Growing up in London in the 1950s it was a common site amongst the bomb sites which were yet to be developed.  But someone will be able to tell me.

In the meantime, I will explore Andy’s pictures which follow on from his earlier adventures recording the site before and during the building of the park.  

Many of these have appeared on the blog with something of the history of the area, back before the mills, ironworks and densely packed terrace houses covered the fields.

So that is it, leaving me just to wonder when Andy will visit that other garden …. the one in the sky down at Castlefield.  

Of course I could just go myself, which I may well do.

Location; Mayfield

Pictures; Mayfield, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Mayfield, https://mayfieldmanchester.co.uk/

**Mayfield, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Mayfield