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A walk in the park down memory lane

20/ 2/2008

WYTHENSHAWE residents who enjoy using its park have are being invited to take a trip down memory lane for a new exhibition there.

A Park for the People opens at Wythenshawe Hall in June to celebrate the gift of the park to the people of Manchester in 1926. Organisers are asking local people to contribute their memories and photographs, and to pass the message on to friends and family members who may have stories to share.

Perhaps they played in the park as children, did their courting there or remember a  particular special event. They are particularly keen to hear from people who have worked at the park in the past, or whose relatives were servants and tenants of the Tatton family when they lived in Wythenshawe Hall.

Joe Hogan, a 75-year-old volunteer at the park, remembers taking his mother in her wheelchair every day for a number of years. He said: "Whatever the weather, she still insisted on coming - it was her daily routine and if she had to stay in she was upset.

"She knew all the staff by name in the greenhouses, all the lads and girls. When she died 17 years ago the park staff made a plaque for me and put it on a tree in the horticultural centre."

After his mother died, Joe volunteered every day in the park, receiving an award for his efforts in 2001. Now he visits twice a week, and said: "I don't think I would have lasted this long without the park."

Councillor Mike Kane, executive member for arts and leisure, said: "A Park for the People is a wonderful celebration dedicated to the people of Manchester, very much in the spirit in which the park was originally given.

"I look forward to viewing Wythenshawe's recollections myself and I hope as many people as possible will come along to enjoy and reminisce once the exhibition opens in June."

The exhibition is being supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The collection of memories is already underway and will continue throughout February and March - to take part contact Ali Davenport on 0161 998 2117 or a.davenport1@manchester.gov.uk.

WE want to hear about your memories of Wythenshawe Park. Write to Letters, Manchester Metro News, 24 School Lane, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6RG.