Organisers of Mellor Open Gardens are thrilled to have raised £11,600 over the weekend of 3 and 4 July 2021. Visitors to the 14 Open Gardens seemed very happy to be out exploring, very generous and often very wet! The committee plan to present cheques for £5,800 to Cancer Research UK and Mellor Parish Centre next week.
Guidelines for visitors along with intros to gardens and other attractions and activities available over the two days. It also features a zoom-able map and bus time-tables for Saturday 3rd July are included too.
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer.
As the world's largest independent cancer research charity it conducts research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Research activities are carried out in institutes, universities and hospitals across the UK, both by the charity's own employees and by its grant-funded researchers. It also provides information about cancer and runs campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the disease and influencing public policy.
Cancer Research UK's work is almost entirely funded by the public. It raises money through donations, legacies, community fundraising, events like Open Gardens in Marple, retail and corporate partnerships. Over 40,000 people are regular volunteers.
Mellor Parish Centre, which is also a charity, serves as the community centre in Mellor, in a Victorian stone building which formerly housed Mellor Primary School. Around the turn of the Millennium, Stockport MBC decided to build a new primary school for the village, as the old school's facilities did not meet modern educational needs, and the building reverted to St. Thomas' Church nearby. Subsequently, the building was partially modernised and converted to use as a community centre and small Parish Office for the Church. It now hosts a considerable number of cultural and social activities for all age groups, including art and theatre groups, dance classes, yoga, Brownies, Girl Guides, toddler groups, and karate sessions, as well as private functions such as wedding and birthday parties, and it provides meeting rooms for local organisations including the Mellor Archaeological Trust.
Despite the income generated by these activities, fund-raising events have to continue regularly, both to help to defray on-going maintenance costs, and to raise money for further improvements to its facilities, which in turn encourages more community use of the building.
In April 2021 Marple's Area Committee, comprising of the 6 Ward Councillors for Marple North and Marple South and High Lane, awarded the organisers of Mellor Open Gardens £500 toward the cost of putting on the event - for posters, publicity banners and the like.
Area Committee Meetings are a great opportunity for local people to enage with the councillors they elected to represent them. Marple Area Committee Meetings are held generally once a month and usually at Marple Senior Citizens' Hall in the centre of the town. To learn more visit the Area Committee page on the Marple Website.
The Marple Website is the community web site for Marple in Stockort UK. It was started in 1998 to provide useful information for local people and potential visitors and to contribute to the fantastic community spirit that abounds in this small canal town on the edge of the peaks. It continues to do this with regular updates and lots of interaction with the local community. Up to Christmas 2020 the Marple Website has donated £14,000 to local causes.
For Mellor Open Gardens, the Marple Website is sponsor of the printed tickets and will be paying the £162 cost of their production. The MOG pages on this web site are also provided completely free of charge, as they were for Open Gardens in Marple.
Marple Bridge based estate agent with a diffence Nikki Davies has sponsored Mellor Open Gardens with a donation of £250 towards the funding of mini-buses to transport people up and down the steep hills of Mellor during the event on Sunday 4th July, when there is no normal 375 bus service.
C&C Insurance Brokers has sponsored Mellor Open Gardens with a donation of £250 towards the costs of putting on the event.
The Mellor Society has sponsored Mellor Open Gardens with a donation of £100 towards the costs of putting on the event.
The Devonshire Arms - is donating the use of their large wooden gazebo, where Mellor School will provide an entertaining display of MOGpotpeople.
Dutson's, Marple Bridge - ticket sales.
Cancer Research UK Shop, Market Street - ticket sales.
Littlewoods Butchers, Church Lane - ticket sales.
Stationery Supplies, Stockport Road - ticket sales.
Hollins of Marple, Hollins Lane - ticket sales.
HB Printing, Goyt Mill - printing of tickets, posters and banners.
Please get in touch if you would like to support futures events.
Residents and businesses in Mellor and Marple Bridge are invited to support Mellor Open Gardens 2021 by decorating the villages with flowerpotpeople, called MOGpotpeople, in their front gardens or shop windows.
There has been strong active support for Cancer Research UK and for its predecessor, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, in the Mellor area for many years. Indeed, the first three Mellor Open Gardens in 1992, 1995 and 2000 were organised for the charity by a small group of residents known as Mellor Friends of Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
An unexpected development then occurred with a connection to the RHS Flower Show at Tatton, which resulted in the creation of a small charity garden in 2001. Called The Mellor Surprise Open Garden, it was based on the topography of Mellor and the ethos of the open gardens event. Thereafter, the charities were merged to form Cancer Research UK. Five further gardens, three of them large show gardens, have since been exhibited for the RHS Flower Show at Tatton in order to help to raise the profile of Cancer Research UK in the north-west, as well as raising funds for the charity. Winning gold, bronze, silver and silver-gilt medals respectively, these were The Garden Quartet in 2003 (which also won best-in-show), The Opera Fan Garden in 2005, The Cancer Research UK Donations Garden in 2007, Thyme and Money in 2009 and The Shine Garden in 2011.
Once again, Mellor residents demonstrated their enthusiasm for this cherished community event, which was the most successful since it started in 1992. Their generosity and willingness to volunteer to bake cakes, serve refreshments and manage car parking areas was invaluable and much appreciated by more than 1,200 visitors.
In the days leading up to Open Gardens Day, ‘Mogpotpeople’ accompanied by flags kindly provided by Julian Wadden, Estate Agents, appeared in front gardens and at Mellor Primary School, and helped to focus attention upon the Big Day.
A warm, sunny morning brought visitors from all over Stockport, and unexpectedly from further afield including Lincoln, Wakefield and Northampton – such is the influence of the Internet! In addition to the 20 colourful and varied gardens on display, duck races in Mill Brow, a ‘Find the Well’ competition in one garden and Tony Husband’s famous cartoons added to the attractions. Four minibuses running constantly between Marple Bridge, Mill Brow, Moor End and the Parish Centre helped to keep visitors moving between all the gardens.
As a result, Cancer Research UK and Friends of Mellor Parish Centre will share the profit of just over £16,000 – the wonderful result of all the hard work by garden owners and volunteers.
The sixth Mellor Open Gardens Day took place on 17th June 2012, 20 years after the event was first held. 22 garden owners had battled to prepare their gardens through the wettest April to June ever recorded, but were rewarded with a bright afternoon, 1000 visitors and the buzz of a vibrant village festival.
The village of Mellor in Stockport enthusiastically shared its lovely views, its varied gardens and its renowned hospitality when it staged the fifth Mellor Open Gardens on Sunday 25th May 2008. This community based event involved 16 individual private gardens opening their gates to the public to raise money for two charities, one national and one local.
Some of the gardens that featured in the 2004 event are described below:
Although at a relatively high altitude, this medium-sized garden is surprisingly sheltered, having evergreens on three sides. It has recently undergone some re-landscaping in the ongoing fight to counter the invasion of moss, a bitter enemy given aid and succour by its allies, rain and the Mellor slope.
A climb of 22 steps passes a large rockery with mixed plantings of heather, conifers and shrubs and leads to a long south-facing, mixed border and island beds set in a grass bank.
The garden includes many fine shrubs, with a Pieris formosa 'Forestii' and a Viburnum plicatum ' mariesii' being particularly noteworthy at the time of the open garden event.
This mature garden, now approaching 2 acres in size, has a fine selection of specimen trees and a wide variety of shrubs in addition to extensive, densely-planted borders and some drystone walling.
The layout is informal on a south-facing slope with lawns that lead down to an area of woodland.
There is a new glasshouse and nursery beds along with a vegetable plot and much else to interest the practical gardener.
Other garden features include a games lawn, two ponds, a collection of clipped conifers and a woodland walk.
A resident saxophone quartet played on the terrace for a time during the day.
Taking account of ground conditions and prevailing winds, the present owners have transformed an overgrown meadow into shrubberies, a collection of ornamental trees and an apple and soft fruit orchard which have now reached maturity.
The emphasis has been given to a flowering informal design with an accent on spring and autumn colour in the choice of planting.
Recent additions include a collection of rhododendrons and ferns, from where there are glimpses of Slack Brook and the wooded valley beyond; a Parrotia persica'Fastigiata' ( Persian Ironwood; Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa' ( Dragons Claw Willow ) and Corylus contorta (corkscrew hazel ).
On Sunday 2nd of July 2000 the village of Mellor opened 15 of its private gardens for viewing by the general public. This was the third "Open Gardens" event organised by Mellor Friends of ICRF, the previous two being held in 1992 and 1995. Mellor Friends' is a fund raising group formed in 1988 by a small team of Mellor residents to support their favourite charity, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Since then they have raised money with a great variety of events including the open gardens, art exhibitions, concerts, walks and a fashion show. They have raised over £20,000 to support the invaluable work of the ICRF.
This was our first visit to the "Open Gardens" and we were unprepared for the scale and professionalism of the event. If we had purchased the programme and walking guide in advance, instead of on the day, we would have discovered that around five hours were needed to have a hope of seeing all the gardens, even if we only spent 15 minutes in each. Unfortunately we did not allow enough time for this, a mistake we hope to rectify next time the event is repeated.
The day centered around Mellor School, where refreshments included morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon tea with homemade cakes. There were also flower arrangement displays by local clubs and florists, miniature gardens created by local school children and an exhibition of garden ceramics by local artist Sue Crossfield. In the afternoon musical entertainment was provided by Thornsett Band, a youth band formed in 1995 and conducted by Claire Pownall.
The event was extremely well supported with numerous visitors who came prepared to combat whatever our great British weather had to offer. In the end the weather was kind, with early rain showers being fairly light, followed by brilliant sunshine later in the afternoon. During our visit we managed to take in just over half of the gardens on display, these being numbers 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and finally number 2, our firm favourite of those we saw. Follow the links for photographs taken during the day. They often do not do justice to these excellent examples of the English garden but hopefully give some idea of the variety and high standards on show.
Thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of Mellor "Open Gardens" for providing an excellent day out in support of a good cause. Apologies to the owners of the gardens we did not manage to visit for not being able to include pictures of yours here, however if anyone would like to provide some they can soon be added.
Mellor is a hidden rural village in a lovely hillside setting, close to the open countryside of Derbyshire but within easy reach of Manchester. With around 2,000 inhabitants, it lies on the outskirts of Stockport in an area that has been continuously occupied since the Iron Age some 2,500 years ago, with archaeological evidence suggesting periodic occupation up to 10,000 years ago.
The beautiful church of St Thomas, which sits proudly above the village with fantastic views westwards over the Cheshire Plain, has its own historic pedigree dating back to Norman times, and has in recent years achieved more fame with the discovery of an important hill fort situated around the hill. If you would like to learn more, visit www.mellorarchaeology.org.uk
The village is linear, its main lane leading from the characterful village centre of Marple Bridge, then rising and narrowing in a continuous 2½ mile climb towards the Derbyshire border and the Peak District. The architecture of the village varies from red brick Edwardian villas at the lower end of the village to picturesque stone cottages further up the hill; these were formerly the homes of mill workers and labourers for the old industries which grew in the nineteenth century because of the proximity of fast flowing streams and coal mining.
Today Mellor village is home to a thriving mixed community with many activities and interest groups catering for all ages. Not surprisingly, among the fortunate inhabitants are a fair share of enthusiastic gardeners, some of whom will be inviting you to visit this year!
