It’s fascinating to hear older people talking about Manchester as it was in other eras. Recording and archiving descriptions like this is an important part of documenting the city for present and future generations. On Tuesday 23 October 2007 I visited the Oasis Group at Holy Trinity Church, Platt Lane, Rusholme. The Oasis Group is chaired by Oliver Hall and Graham Brooks and welcomes retired folk from the local area for prayers and socialising.

The reason for my visit was to record members of the Oasis Group talking about Platt Fields in past times. Some of the members have reached an impressive age and have vivid memories of a very different Platt Fields. They all gave fascinating decriptions of the park from as far back as the post-World War 1 years.

Graham Brooks began by going over what was discussed the previous week. On that visit I discovered at the end of the session that my Edirol MP3 WAV recorder hadn’t been recording, as I’d not set it up properly, hence my return this week.

Topics included the paddling pool, swimming pool and boating lake, and the Manchester Show, which offered all kinds of exhibits, horse and motorcycle displays as well as the Red Arrows and Red Devils. One of the main organisers was Hugh Kelly, now in his nineties. His wife Dorkas talks about the show later.

Kenneth Waters talks about going to Platt Fields before World War Two and remembers the statue of Abraham Lincoln, which was moved to the city centre in recent years. He also remembers the World War 1 tank which was placed in the park as a memorial to the conflict. The tank, like many other the features mentioned, disappeared many years ago from Platt Fields.

Majorie Cooper remembers the paddling pool, which was located at the Yew Tree Road end of the park, and remarks on how many things were going on in Platt Fields and how safe it was for children.

Margaret Thompson came from Kiel in Germany in 1967 and remembers wonderful times spent in the old playground and at the boating lake with her children and alsatian dog.

Edna Brown describes the closure of the paddling pool after children had made it unsafe by throwing broken bottles into it. She reckons this was some time before the 1950s.

Marjorie Cooper continues with a description of the air raid shelter under Platt Fields Park.

Beryl Gee remembers the lake being frozen, and sliding - not skating - on it. She describes how the swimming pool was replaced by the Pets Corner some time in the late 40s or early 50s.

Margaret Thompson describes Pets Corner with its donkeys, hens, geese and other animals. She describes how it had to be closed in the 80s due to cruelty of hooligans towards the animals.

Marie Costello gives a vivid and humorous description of a ride on the boating lake where they ended up on the island with the birds, much to the amusement of the attendant. She remembers the Flower Show and Manchester Show with famous rider Harvey Smith.

Syliva Martigneau talks about times spent as a member of the choir of the Manchester School of Music. Every year they put on Gilbert and Sullivan concerts in the bandstand and performed madrigals in the Shakespearean Garden. The bandstand has gone but the Shakespearean Gardens are still there.

Dorkas Kelly, wife of show organiser Hugh Kelly describes the Manchester show and how it was in planning for most of the year. There was great excitement on the Thursday morning as the tents were cleared for the judges. The show was always packed and took over most of the park. The Manchester Show stopped some years ago.

Mary O’Brien, a local resident for the last 60 years, describes her enjoyment of the tennis courts and bowling greens, which are no longer there and also mentions Marie Louise Gardens, around 2 miles to the south on Palatine Road.

Oasis co-chairman Oliver Hall from Holy Trinity church describes how they have gone to the mound and held church services there, attracting many people who would not normally have gone into a church.

Finally Margaret Reynolds describes the meetings held in Platt Fields similar to those at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London, where people would argue over religion and politics.

Platt Fields ‘Speakers Corner’, like the WW1 tank, the paddling pool, the swimming pool, Pets Corner, the Manchester Show, the bowling greens, the Abraham Lincoln Statue, not to mention the cafeteria by the lake are aspects of Platt Fields which are no longer there.

Nevertheless things are still happening and to conclude, I asked Ann Tucker of the Friends of Platt Fields Park to bring me up to date with what is happening today. She is involved with Manchester International Arts who organise many of the events which attract large crowds to Platt Fields in contemporary times.

She talks about the reasons for the decline of the park and how there have been improvements, though progress is slow. The talks about plans to relocate the bandstand that used to stand in what is now Exchange Square.

The Friends of Platt Fields website is at www.plattfields.org.

To discuss this recording and provide your own insights and information, please contribute to the Manchester Forum.