Friends of Alexandra Park Whalley Range

We are dedicated to improving public facilities within Alexandra Park.

Our Achievements in 2024:

• Funded the installation of two age-friendly benches outside the Café.
• Installed a new slide for the under-3s in the Children’s Playground.
• Opened the Park Information & Heritage Centre for public visits on 60 occasions, thanks to our volunteers.
• Launched a Gardening Group to renovate and replant several flower beds.
• Completed the setup of the Woodland Glade Tree classroom.

Our Plans for 2025:

• Clear the Lake and its banks of litter and waste.
• Move floating timber to the island to enhance the habitat.
• Improve facilities for feeding waterfowl on the Lake.
• Restore eroded Lake banks and replant suitable vegetation.
• Introduce new habitat types in the Lake and throughout the Park.
• Organise a variety of community engagement activities within the Park.

ALEXANDRA PARK NEWS

 Whats App Community - Activities in Alexandra Park There are now four Whats App Chat Groups within the Activities Community. Community members can easily join one or more of these Group if they wish to take part or keep in touch on a specific topic.  The latest group to join is called “Friends Park Heritage Group”.   You can join the Activities Community by scanning this QR code with your phone camera. or email friends of alex park on

  riendsofalexandraparkmanchest@gmail.com 

Once you’ve joined the Community, you can choose which Group you would like to join. Other WA Groups for activities from other organisations may appear in the Community from time to time and you can choose to join these as well.  If you have such a group and wish it to appear in the Alexandra Park Activities Community, please email the Friends. 

Newsletter No 7/2026 - September News from the Park Team It’s great to see that the litter bin replacement programme has now been completed.  It has taken some time for the replacement bins to be manufactured, and so you may have noticed some temporary bins in place for the last few months.  They have now all been replaced by new bins that match exactly the design which was approved during the restoration to maintain the heritage look and feel of our park.  Together with the new picnic tables and benches, we have had quite an upgrade to the furniture in the park this year.  Thanks to the Park Team for seeing this through.  The team have had to arrange for some tree removal works on a couple of occasions recently to make safe and remove trees which have reached the end of their life.  The trees in the park are regularly inspected by the City Council Arbor contractors to try and keep on top of this issue.   The team have also put up notices to reinforce the rule that bbqs and fires are not permitted in the park.   Liaison Meeting The officers of the Friends (Tony C, Angela D and Sue R) have a Liaison Meeting scheduled with the Head Ranger and Park Ranger on Friday 4th September.  The Agenda so far includes drawing up an action plan to deal with the food dumping and rat problems at the lake side, as well as discussing plans for future collaborative investment in park infrastructure.   If you have an item that you would like us to raise at this meeting, please email it in to the address below and it will be mentioned at the meeting. Park Improvement Projects One area of the park receiving attention this year is the woodland alongside the Lime walk.  On Saturday 1st August volunteers met to continue work on the  “dead hedges”, which are intended both to create habitat for invertebrates and small mammals and to guide park users through the woodland along wildlife friendly routes. The volunteers also cleared away lots of litter and began to open up some of the undergrowth to improve the sightlines between the main woodland path and the North Oval path.  This will hopefully allow people using the woodland path to feel more visible and less hemmed in by overgrown bushes.  Later on this year we will be building some more wildlife friendly features such as bug hotels, stick piles, bird and bat boxes. The next Woodland Work Session will be on Saturday October 10th at 10.30 am. Details of some work planned at the lakeside flower beds and fences on September 26th will also be circulated to the Improvement Group WA chat group. To get involved in any of this work you can join the Group via the WA Community described above.  Alternatively, just email us at the address below and the Activity Lead Volunteer will contact you.Whats App Community - Activities  in Alexandra Park There are now four Whats App Chat Groups within the Activities Community. Community members can easily join one or more of these Groups if they wish to take part or keep in touch on a specific topic.    Once you’ve joined the Community, you can choose which Group you would like to join.  Please make sure your WA profile information includes your name if you request to join a Chat Group. Other WA Groups for activities from other organisations may appear in the Community from time to time and you can choose to join these as well.  If you have such a group and wish it to appear in the Alexandra Park Activities Community, please email the Friends on the address shown below. Community members will also receive weekly postings of activities planned in the Park for the week ahead and where to find out more. Gardening Group The Gardening Group continues to meet regularly planting and tending the beds in the Princess Rd gate area, the Lodge raised beds and the planter boxes outside Bembé.  The Princess Rd beds were recently visited by advisors from the RHS Community Garden scheme.   More work is planned on the lakeside beds on Saturday 26th September.  Details of this will be circulated on the Gardening Group WA chat group.  Other dates in September are currently being arranged through the Gardening Group WA Chat Group. To get involved with this group, email in if you’re interested or join the Activities Community using the QR code above and then choose to join the Gardening Group. Wildlife Group We are pleased to report that a long standing member of the group, Copland S, has agreed to lead Wildlife Walks in Alexandra Park.  He will host Bird Walks all year round, and Butterfly Walks etc in the appropriate season.   We would like to name these Wildlife Walks as “Tony Walks” in memory of Tony O’Mahony who died recently.  Tony ran Bird Walks for many years for the Friends Wildlife Group and is greatly missed. There will be a Bird Walk in the next few weeks.  Details will be announced through the Friends Mailing list and on Facebook.   At the moment, we have a visiting white farm duck, two Mute Swans (Ringo and Davina) and many of our usual residents.. Car Boot Sales The weather allowed us to hold two Car Boot Sales this year.  Unfortunately the forecast of heavy rain led to the August 29th Sale being cancelled.  Over £2000 was raised at the first two Sales and this money goes towards improving the park and organising activities for local community park users.  Many thanks to all those Friends who helped organise the two Sales which ran, and to all the 21 volunteers who planned to come to the one that had to be cancelled.  The future of the Car Boot Sale programme will be an item for discussion at the next Friends meeting- the Forum to be held on September 27th - see details below. Heritage and Information Centre The art exhibition in the Lodge called “Gangland Illustrated”  will be taken down by September 23rd, so you have only a few more opportunities to see it.  The Lodge is open, thanks to our volunteer guides, every Wednesday and Friday from 11.00 am to 2.00 pm, when you can also explore the history of the park through our displays and videos.  A new exhibition  on the history of “Conscientious Objectors in Manchester” will be on display from 30th September until the new year. If you would like to volunteer to meet and greet visitors to the Lodge, please email the address below and let us know. You can also contact the Lodge Team through their own Facebook page - search for “Chorlton Lodge”   Friends Forum Meeting - Sunday 27th September Our third Forum Meeting of the year will be held at Chorlton Lodge on Sunday 27th September starting at 3.00 pm.  We will talk about matters relevant to the Park and hopefully do lots of planning for next year.  There will also be an opportunity to view the new exhibition.   All welcome. Email contact address :  -  friendsofalexandraparkmanchest@gmail.com 

Schools Activities 2026 10 sessions of nature-based activities were held this year between 9th and 18th June.  270 children from four local primary schools (Our Lady’s, St Mary’s, Claremont and St Margaret’s) took part in Pond Dipping and Leaf & Tree knowledge sessions.  In addition 60 pupils from Manley Park had a session on Park heritage and history.  Many thanks were expressed by the schools to all the volunteers who worked on this project, particularly to Sheila, the Schools Activities organiser.  A lot of people put in time and effort to make sure the children had a great local experience.   Plans are now being developed for next year’s programme.  Join the Schools Activities Chat Group if you want to keep in touch with this activity. Gardening Group The 

Car Boot Sales Our first Car Boot Sale of the year on Saturday 13th June was a great success !  The weather was kind and there were plenty of vendors and buyers.  Vendors reported that sales between 11.30 and 12.30 were very good.  All the money raised through the charge for pitches will be put into supporting Friends activities and improving the Park. 

How do I join in?

For more information:

• Just turn up at one of the advertised events.
• Join our mailing list to receive regular details of what’s happening.
• Email a request to join to friendsofalexandraparkmanchest@gmail.com.
• Visit our Facebook page: facebook.com/AlexParkMCR.
• Instagram: @AlexParkMCR.
• Come to one of our Forum Meetings where we talk about what matters in the Park.
• These Forums are advertised in advance - keep a watch out.
• Come to our Annual General Meeting each December.