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Castlefield Viaduct - Manchester's 'Garden In the Sky'

LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
edited October 2023 in Garden design
Maybe not one for the garden purists but a visit to Castlefield Viaduct is a must for anyone in Manchester city centre with an hour to spare. Described by the National Trust (who now look after it) as a "Striking Victorian-era steel viaduct, hoping to become a green ‘sky garden’ in the heart of historic Manchester".

We have wandered around the Castlefield area many times, blissfully unaware that sharing the space above our heads were not only active train tracks and tram tracks but also this wonderful space, until we saw it featured on the local BBC evening news.

But there are no pretensions of it being 'a garden' - more just a green space, an oasis in a busy city. Plus it's free to enter, even without NT membership.

This first image shows the scene at the entrance with the huge Beetham Tower in the background.




Amazingly the original site had laid untouched since 1969. This is what it would have looked like. (This is a yet-to-be-developed section.)




This is the first section beyond the entrance showing what can be done with minimal intervention. Much of the beds either side have been left to native flora, just tidied occasionally with a few ornamentals dotted here and there.




Further on there are some flower beds, sympathetically raised up behind rusty metal retainers. I'm sure there would be many more flowers in peak season.













And of course this wonderful prostrate plaque, again in rusty metal, tells the story.




Castlefield Viaduct | Manchester | National Trust
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. 

I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
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Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I thought it looked fascinating when Adam Frost visited it on Gardeners' World @LunarSea .
    Thanks for posting the photos  :)
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Good to see your photos @LunarSea. I think it was featured on a recent GW episode too.  Impressed with the use of rusted steel and good old Calamagrostis!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited October 2023
    Yes, on GW I wondered how they cope with all the watering so far up. The tall trees must take up so much water - all in containers and so exposed. Did you notice if they had an irrigation system put in?  I would guess if they have sense. Min 4.30 on GW


  • LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
    Fire said:
    Yes, on GW I wondered how they cope with all the watering so far up. The tall trees must take up so much water - all in containers and so exposed. Did you notice if they had an irrigation system put in?  I would guess if they have sense. 


    Sorry @Fire it didn't occur to me to look or to ask but I'm guessing they would have. Down below the viaduct there is a canal basin where two canals and a river meet so maybe there's a pump down there and some tubing going up. I'll have a closer look next time we go. But it rains a lot in Manchester you know :)

    I'd forgotten it had been covered by GW but now I've seen the clip it's all becoming clear again. Thanks for that.



    Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. 

    I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    That's a really brilliant looking and sympathetic piece of public realm landscaping, I hope to visit someday.

    Reminds me what could have been if we'd followed through on delivering the Garden Bridge down here in London. 
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    The Camden Highline is a better idea (than the garden bridge), I think.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Highline 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited October 2023
    It can be tricky to run these big public planting projects just using volunteers and very little ongoing budget. It would be interesting to see what their plan is for continuity. I say that as someone involved in public planting projects run by volunteers that struggles with continuity planning.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I thought the NT had quite a lot of money for these projects. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited October 2023
    I hope so. The GW segment said it was run by local volunteers, but maybe I got the wrong end of the cat.
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    LG_ said:
    The Camden Highline is a better idea (than the garden bridge), I think.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Highline 
    They've been talking about this for some time - nice to know a section got planning earlier in the year. Anecdotally I know the proposal fairly well having delivered the majority of the public realm and rooftop landscaping to the Kings Cross estate over the past 12 or so years. 
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