return to the secret garden the day before the election

yesterday I returned to my "secret garden" and found it full of birdsong. I entered via the bridge, found off Collyhurst Road, just beyond the weir on the Irk. I remember another railway bridge in my childhood - an abandoned RAF camp near our home was my playground - overgrown and a great place to play, to discover oneself, and it was entered via a similar bridge - intriguing graffitti, ignored corners piled with dust, weed clogged crevices, odd pieces of litter - a torn cardigan, crushed beer can, patches of burnt grass

There was frenetic birdsong, a distant mobile tannoy from a political party roaming the estate across the river valley goes in and out of earshot; a tinny radio somewhere with its jingles, and the clang and drone of the metrolink depot. Occassionally a distorted amplified call to someone on the shopfloor of some works on the Irk or from the back of The Fort crackles loudly. Someone taps a hammer, tinkering with a fairground ride in the caravan site. The air is damp but warm - and I smell a familiar sense of chilly summer afternoons. I sketch and try to spot birds.

It seems that my secret garden reaches all the way up to Queens Road - but there are no footpath signs from that end - I've emailed the council to find out why - and I've also asked who might be responsible for the footpath that skirts the caravan park, which is littered with junk and unpassable...
I stand on the ridge which over looks a re-claimed meadow. There are these vents which indicate this has been contaminated land - I wonder with what and how safe it might be and what the plans for it are...click here for a map of the area
The view from the ridge is panoramic, the surrounding hills, the new flats (apartments) and the skyline of familiar CIS, Arndale, Piccadilly Hotel, Beetham Tower, Urbis...Its the iconic skyline Manchester dosnt have from anywhere else perhaps...

drawing the scene slows me down, breathe in the air, look harder, think better, hear everything - brings me into the moment.

I'm hoping that some of the folk from St Johns will join me on a sketching trip up here sometime soon. I'm sorry I didn't drop in yesterday there, but I was trying to think something over - so, next week I hope...