Negativity?

Now my blog is not only a way to inform regarding 'Beautiful Debdale' and I hate to moan but ...........


Well here we go, Debdale does not only give back to the community with her beauty but also all the wonderful & not so wonderful events that take place within the park.


The park has also enabled me as an individual to meet & make friends with like minded people who want to see the park with a variety of facilities & events to please both young & old.


However there are some individuals & I will not be naming anyone who seem very negative about about improving the park, who do not wish to come together & basically poo poo any idea's.


Part of this I believe is down to not wanting change, they see any new ideas as quite a threat & then there is that old chestnut that in fact volunteers & ideas could lead to the job losses of Manchester City Council staff.


This is certainly not true, with more facilities & funding this will only enhance Debdale, secure jobs & improve the park.


Regardless of the negativity of this individual the volunteers will continue, we will improve the park & apply for as much funding as possible, we will have nature walks, bat walks, bee's, wildflower meadows!


Football & nordic walking are not for everyone & certainly should not be the only kind of events within such a large & diverse place.


I will also be emailing the council today,as yesterday I was informed that there were 80 bird boxes that had not been put up in the park as the staff had not had the correct training & therefore if they fell from the ladder whilst putting up the boxes they would not be insured, a fine example of Council bureaucracy.




Maybe in someways Mr Cameron's 'Big Society' is actually already taking place within Debdale, there is nothing that we can do to stop the massive amount of cuts that are taking place within the Public Sector, & I can confirm that the parks section in Manchester City Council have taken huge cuts & staff losses.


I am not an advocate of Mr Cameron, but on the same hand will not stand by and watch my local park go down the drain because there are not enough council staff to take care of her.


It is vital that volunteers continue to protect & improve 'Beautiful Debdale'.

Debdale Bats

I usually see the Debdale wildlife during day time hours so I decided to take a little early evening ride to & yes I was in luck swooping above my head were the resident Debdale bats :0)


It got me thinking about these amazing little creatures, what species do we have in the park & where do they roost, would other like minded people also want to know more about our little nocturnal friends?


I have heard of bat walks taking place in Blackley Forest & thought to myself how fantastic it would be for Debdale to do something similar.


So I picked up the phone & spoke to the 'Batman' Jerry Sorfleet, Jerry is an expert on bats & currently does the bat walks in Blackley Forest that have proved so popular.


Basically I told Jerry all about Debdale & basically begged him to come with his bat detector & tell us what we have in the park :0)


Thankfully Jerry agreed, so now it's just a case of waiting for this rain to stop as bats don't come out in the rain & who can blame them!


So whilst we wait for the arrival of 'Batman' I thought I would give you some interesting facts :0)

• There are 17 species of bats resident in the UK - that's more than a quarter of our mammals species.
• A tiny pipistrelle bat can eat up to 3,000 insects in a night.
• Bats usually only have one baby at a time and can live up to 30 years.
• Bats are more closely related to people than mice.
• Britain's most common bat, the pipistrelle, is only 4cm long and weighs about 5 grams - less than a 2p coin!
• There are over 1,100 bat species in the world (accounting for 20% of all mammal species). Three-quarters of these eat insects just as British bats do. In the tropics bats also eat many other foods - fruit, flowers, frogs, fish, blood, even other bats!
• Bats do not build nests; they hang up or creep into cracks and crannies.
• Valuable foods and derivatives from bat-adapted plants include dates, vanilla, bananas, breadfruit, guavas, kapok, Iroko timber, balsa wood, sisal - even Tequila and chewing gum!
• Bats have excellent navigation skills - they won't get caught in your hair!
• There are thousands of volunteers working for bats in the UK alone.

Rubbish??

Sadly nowadays due to such a disposable lifestyle that we have on society the amount of liter that is in our streets, countryside, rivers & seas has increased.

This is not only eye pollution but has a detrimental effect on wildlife :(

Debdale is sadly full of rubbish with many culprits to blame, some say it's down to McDonalds that sits on the edge of the park, but can we put all the blame on them?

Yes they certainly do add to the litter problem within the park but surely does the onus sit with the individuals who would rather throw their rubbish rather than finding a bin or as I do if I cannot find one TAKE IT HOME WITH ME!!!

An example that really get's my goat in Debdale is that people take bread to feed the ducks, well yes that is a lovely enjoyable thing to do, but then they throw their bread wrapper on the floor????

Dare I also mention the dog walkers who very gallantly bag there doggies number two's & then decide not to place the bag within the appointed dog crap bins scattered around the park, but throw it into the trees or throw it on the floor :(

Are these actions down to laziness, uneducated individuals who have not been shown how to use bins (should we get it on the national curriculum at schools) is it lack of bins down to lack of funding within our parks, or that people just don't think & just don't care?

Some people believe that by throwing their litter on the floor they are keeping people in jobs?????

Well no it does not keep anyone in jobs in fact I was advised my a member of staff in Manchester City Council that Debdale had lost 30% of it's staff due to the funding cuts that our current government has dished out across the land.

The onus now lies with volunteers like myself who with other like minded people go into the park & pick litter to our hearts content <3

Our last pick was on Sunday, myself, Paul, Catriona & Will gave our time to pick up what others so carelessly discarded.

From beer cans to condoms, McDonalds to microwaves the list is endless.

Thankfully that Sunday the probation service were doing a 'Community Payback' with some naughty people, they saw us badgering away & came to where we were to lend a helping hand :)

Our next litter pick is on Sunday 29th April at 11.00 we meet at the old house with our bin bags & gloves.

We are GOD's  (Guardians of Debdale) :)

The sense of achievement when our work is done is amazing &' Beautiful Debdale' is restored she is no longer tainted by rubbish.

Gorton House


Gorton House is a grade two listed building that lies in the heart of Debdale Park.

Sadly at this moment in time she lies in a state of disrepair, time has forgotten this once beautiful house & although still lovely she needs some TLC as all old girls do from time to time ;0)

I often walk past this beautiful house,and wish that I could go back in time to see her in her glory days, I imagine the people that have passed through her doors, the ladies in all their finery & wonder what secrets & scandals she holds within her walls.

Thankfully there are people out there they have the same vision for this beautiful building to be restored, for her heart to beat again, she will be part of the community,no longer will she lie dormant, but with funding, love & dedication she will be brought back to life.

Everybody has different ideas as to where her future lies with regards to what her purpose will be.

I personally would love to see her restored to her former glory, with conference rooms, a museum showing the history of the local area, and a lovely cafe where the public could sample the produce that is currently grown within the area.

I have been looking at Vernon Park in Stockport which has all the above & is wonderful!

So here is a little bit about the history of Gorton House.

The exact date of construction of Gorton House is unknown but it is believed to have probably been in the late 1780s. It is not marked on Yates' map of Lancashire of 1786 but is marked on Greenwood's map of 1818. It is believed to have been built for Robert Grimshaw, a local mill owner who was living in the house in 1790. Grimshaw had a patent right with Rev. Dr. Cartwright. He was the first person to introduce power looms to Manchester at Knott Mill. This was a brief introduction as the mill was destroyed by arsonists in 1790. 

In the early-C19 Gorton House was owned by Joseph Howard and leased to various tenants who used outbuildings as a hat manufactory. In the 1820s land to the north of the house was purchased by a water company in order to construct reservoirs. Ownership of the reservoirs passed to Manchester City Council in 1851, and in 1874 they acquired further land to the south, which included Gorton House.

In the early 1840s Gorton House was used as a school for young ladies, and in 1851 it was occupied by the Marion Place School for the sons of gentlemen, which provided boarding accommodation. By 1864 the house was being used as a residence by Edward Pinder, a local steel manufacturer, who operated a steelworks near the house until c.1877. In the late-C19/early-C20 the house was lived in by Thomas Parker (chief mechanical engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway). 

In 1918 the land surrounding the house (excluding the immediate front and rear gardens) was transformed into a public park known as Debdale Park. 

Introduction

This little blog is all about one of the most beautiful places in the world.


So I guess that your thinking Barbados, Thailand or the Maldives, well all of those places are beautiful but the place I refer to is a park not far from Manchester city center, a fantastic urban shangri - la, where flora & fauna thrive within the busy hustle & bustle of urban life.


I have loved this place since I was a small child, my Grandfather would bring me here and it is as wonderful today as it was then, my love for this peaceful perfect refuge has never changed.


The aim of my blog is to share all the wonderful things within the park, from the wildlife to the dedicated teams of individuals who have dreams & visions of retaining the beauty of this beautiful place, and look towards enhancing & protecting her :0)


The park is full of history & my aim is to share her past so we can preserve her future.


Welcome to the most beautiful place in the world 'Debdale Park'