A ‘park in the sky’ on an old viaduct in Manchester is to open at the end of the month, the National Trust has announced.
Located along the Grade II-listed Castlefield Viaduct, the 330m temporary park is inspired by New York’s High Line public park and features 3,000 plant species in gardens created by architects and community groups.
As part of the National Trust’s move into more deprived urban areas, the 12-month pilot project aims to explore Manchester’s history and inject some green into a post-industrial landscape dominated by gray and brown steel and brick red It will be open to visitors from July 30.
The £1.8 million development has been made possible thanks to funds raised by the village’s Postcode Lottery and public donations. The charity fundraiser aims to make the site a permanent feature of Manchester’s skyline.
The shape of the planters emulates the curve of the viaduct. Photograph: Mark Waugh/The Guardian
Speaking at a launch event on Friday, accompanied by Manchester rain and the soundscape of humming trams, National Trust chief executive Hilary McGrady described the development as “a collision of everything that the National stands for Trust”, which combines architectural beauty and gardens. and history
The viaduct was built in 1892 by the engineering firm behind the Blackpool Tower, Heenan and Froude. The shape of the planters emulates the curve of the viaduct and is the same width as the train tracks that once transported goods to the Great North warehouse. Diagonal flower hedges mimic the diamond shape of the viaduct’s crisscrossing steel structure.
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The viaduct was closed in the 1960s and the wildflowers that grew around it have been a staple window sight for train and tram passengers through central Manchester ever since. A much-loved filming location for Coronation Street, the area under the viaduct also recently gained fame as the setting for the Garrison pub in the final episode of Peaky Blinders.
Castlefield Viaduct Experience and Visitor Programming Manager Dympna Gould spoke about her hopes for the site, speculating on possible events, catwalks and collaborations with film and games students Happy Mondays.
The viaduct was closed in the 1960s and has often been used as a backdrop to Coronation Street. Photograph: Mark Waugh/The Guardian
Several community groups have collaborative plots on the site. Urban Wilderness has worked with Manchester-based charity 42nd Street, supporting young people who have experienced mental health issues. Its garden of possibilities includes plants known to have positive effects on mental health.
The Castlefield Forum garden symbolizes the topology of the area. The red caladiums reflect the red brick warehouses of Castlefield. The blue sages represent the blue of the canal and the steel of the viaduct. The taller foxtail lilies are a nod to the recent influx of skyscrapers on the Castlefield skyline.
Up to 100 people a day will be able to visit the viaduct and entry will be free, with a booking system to help manage numbers, a different visitor model to other National Trust properties.
Castlefield, nearby Hume and other areas of the city center are densely populated with a lack of green space. About 52,000 people live within 20 minutes of the site, Gould said, and he hopes every one of them will visit the garden.