Help improve Bramhall Park!

We already know that you love Bramhall! But, do you love Bramhall Park and it’s Hall? To help improve Bramhall Park (with no cost or effort!) just go to your local Tesco store and drop your token in the Friends of Bramall Hall and Park box to support your local park.

Everyone knows that Bramall Hall is being lovingly refurbished at the moment, and will be reopening in the summer. The Friends of Bramall Hall and Park have been quietly working with Stockport MBC, the owners of the Hall, to help deliver the very best results for everyone to enjoy, you can also follow developments at Restore Bramall Hall Facebook Page

Those of the Friends whose primary interest is the Park have long wanted to restore the Victorian Rock Garden to its former glory. At present it is scarcely noticeable but it is a charming reminder of one of the great gardening fashions among the well-to-do.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century plants were imported from China and other Himalayan countries which continue to dominate many British gardens, and nowhere more so than in our area. Rhododendrons, azaleas and Camellias bring bursts of colour in Spring to lift the spirits after a gloomy winter.

Originally these were only for the very rich and every country house and mansion hereabouts laid out areas of garden to reflect the plants’ background. Think of Tatton Park, Lyme Park and Dunham Massey, and the most fantastical of all, Biddulph Grange. The most imaginative owners didn’t just want Himalayan plants, they wanted the Himalayas!

Charles Nevill, then owner of Bramall Hall, was not going to be left out. As part of a huge redevelopment in the 1880s and 1890s Nevill re-routed the main drive and had his Rock Garden built. We have no record of who designed and built it, but circumstantial evidence points to “Rock Artist” William Clapham, who was a Bramhall resident and who, believe it or not, built a Rock Garden at the top of the newly opened Blackpool Tower!

So why is this relevant now? The Friends have been lucky enough to win a grant for community “green space” projects from Tesco, who are using the money from all the 5p plastic bags we buy to help improve the environment.

This is where you come in. Three projects have been chosen locally but the amount awarded to each is dependent on the choice of Tesco shoppers. Voting takes place between Saturday 27^th February 2016 and Sunday 6th March 2016 inclusive and is open to anyone making a purchase.

So to help us support one of Bramhall’s best features, go to Tesco, buy something, and pop your token into our collecting box. The more we get, the more we can do for the Park!

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