Beautiful Blue

I had a wander in the park today and wow is it looking beautiful. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, the sun was shining through the leaves and the blue bells were staring to make an appearance. You can't help but smile, even on such a short visit!

Unfortunately the bluebells didn't really show up on the photo, if anyone has a better one please share it on the flickr account.

In other news there will be no Marsden Nature Detectives this weekend. However the planned conservation activities will still go ahead. You can meet the Friends of Marsden Park at Marsden Old Hall at 10am. Be a part of keep it little beauty in our lives.

A great weekend to be in the park

Well technical difficulties and some improvisation aside we had some real fun in the park on Saturday and The Marsden Nature Detectives were born.

Don't worry if you missed out this time around we will be meeting every second Saturday of the month, so the next session will be on Saturday 11th May at 10am. Get the date in your diary now!

We will have some great activities for all the family to get stuck into and even some important jobs to do around the park over the course of the year. Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks for a list of dates and activities being posted.

In the meantime head on over to The Marsden Nature Detectives page to see what we got up to this weekend.

A Face we found in the bark

Elsewhere in the park we had two fabulous volunteers working hard with one of our Park Keepers to make improvements. The two ladies are retired and by all rights should be putting their feet up and relaxing yet their energy and determination to keep the park looking amazing puts a lot of younger people (including me) to shame!

This weekend Helen was bramble bashing again, working tirelessly to keep the invaders at bay and Alison, with John the Park Keeper, was working hard on a spot of willow weaving to protect our marsh area. Well done guys, the park is looking amazing. Keep up the good work.

If you are interested in joining the Friends of Marsden Park, helping with conservation activities or coming along to a Marsden Nature Detectives session don't hesitate to get in touch with us. Visit the contacts page to find the many ways you can get in touch.

Nature Club for Kids

Saturday 13th April sees the launch of our new kids nature club (name to be confirmed). Kids can come along and enjoy discovering the park in a safe way with our volunteers.

Join us from 10 am till 12 pm at Marsden Old Hall to discover spring in the park. There will be plenty to do and discover as well as finding a name for our group! We just ask that children under 8 are accompanied by an adult.

So get your wellies on and we'll see you there!

Parks Friends Group Photographic Competition 2013

The annual photographic competition for Pendle Parks Friends groups is a fantastic showcase of our beautiful parks.

The results are in from the 2013 competition:

1st     Mist over Walverden - Keith Chadwick (Friends of Walverden Park)

2nd    All on a Summer's Day - Carol Riley (Friends of Alkincoats Park)

3rd     Troll Bridge - Alison Rosthorn (Friends of Marsden Park)

Congratulations to Keith and the runners up. 

I haven't seen all the entries yet but it is great to see Marsden Park up there in the top three. Here is the 3rd place entry from Marsden Park. To see more fantastic photos of the park hop on over to our Flickr page or even join the Flickr group for Marsden Park Friends and send us some of your photos.

Also don't forget the AGM on Wednesday 27th March 7pm at Marsden Old Hall. Love your park? Come along and find out what you can do to help!

Date for your Diary

It is that time of year again and the AGM is coming up fast. I can't believe it has been a year; twelve months that has seen so much, not least the 100th anniversary of being a public park. But we can't sit on our laurels, the park is always changing; season to season and human influence. We just need to keep up and continue with our work to make sure this local treasure continues to shine.

The AGM on Wednesday 27th March (7pm Marsden Old Hall) is the perfect opportunity for people to come along, find out what the group is about and help out where they can. Everyone is welcome because everyone has something unique to offer and as they say 'every little helps'

I hope to see you there, we'll have a brew and biscuit waiting!

PS. This is one of my favourite parts of the park, why don't you share yours with us? Tell us in the comments, post it on Twitter or upload your images to the Marsden Park Friends Flickr group.

Do You Remember?

Exciting news Friends, we are set to get another interpretation board in the Park. This one will be stationed at the former site of the open air pool and will give visitors an understanding of another slice of the Park's history.

To go along with this Pendle Borough Council are hoping to also install a spot of art work in the Park and this is where you can help!!

Do you remember the open air pool? Did you swim there? Sunbathe there? What is it that makes the pool hold a special place in your memories? Share those memories with us and they could feature in the installation. Leave your memories in the comments below, send them via e-mail or snail mail (details here), bob over to the Facebook page or tweet us @MarsdenFriends. It is that simple and the next time you visit you could see your memory.

Help us tell those who don't remember about our Park's history.

The Open Air Pool, Marsden Park

Well Hello There!

Welcome to the new web home of the Friends of Marsden Park. Over the next few days everything you need or want to know about Marsden Park and volunteering with our group should appear on this site. Please bare with us whilst we get everything set up and bob all the links where they should be.

In the meantime the group will be meeting on Saturday 9th February for our regular conservation session. This month we are tackling Willow coppicing, the weather looks set to be fine so why not come along and join us. Learn something new and help improve your local park all at the same time and everyone is welcome!