I’m a voluntary guide for people wishing to trace the final resting places of relatives buried in Philip’s Park cemetery. I also collect history of some of the interred prominent individuals who came from this vicinity, and a lot of interest is taken in this part of my tour.

My walks and talks through the cemetery take me into the park section of the flower valley, which was famous for a wonderful display of flowerbeds each year on what became known as “Tulip Sunday”. This annual event attracted numerous families to the park just to witness the magnificent sight of multitudes of tulips. The families would later spend the rest of their visit in Philips Park.

An attempt was made when the Commonwealth Games were in Manchester, to make the flower gardens look less neglected than in recent years; but a recent ’walk and talk’ brought to my attention the fact that there is no Tulip Sunday this year!

My latest group of walkers included a few senior citizens as usual. It seems that facilities for people who need to spend a penny have also disappeared, there is a toilet inside the offices at the gate on Alan Turing Way but it isn’t available to the public.
John Nolan