A popular park in Salford that’s home to its very-own ‘Secret Garden’ is to get long-awaited £680,000 transformation.
Salford City Council has confirmed that Islington Park is soon to be upgraded to provide “a green oasis for nearby residents”, as well as make walking and cycling through it easier, and to join it to the Greater Manchester ‘Bee Network’ – which will be the largest network of off-road walking and cycling routes in the UK when it’s complete.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has awarded Salford City Council a total of £683,249 in funding for the improvements to the city centre public greenspace.
Improvements to the park are aiming to make it “an even more pleasant place to relax”.
“The paths, cycle routes and lighting through the park will be upgraded along with the lawn and an area for pop up events or a café will be added,” explained Councillor Mike McCusker – Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development at Salford City Council.
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“More seating will be added, new trees planted to soak up rainfall, more plants including seasonal wildflowers, which will benefit wildlife and landscaping will make it an even more pleasant place to relax”.
“We’re adding cycle parking which includes Salford’s first stands for cargo bikes,” he continued.
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“We have an e-cargo bike library at Manchester Bikes in nearby Chapel Street to help more businesses try a green alternative to deliveries.”
As anyone who has ever been to Islington Park will know well, the park houses a mosaic that was designed by local school children all the way back in 1992 to commemorate Frances Hodgson Burnett – the author of the classic children’s novel, The Secret Garden.
Frances lived nearby as a child before emigrating to America, and published the book in 1911, drawing on her memories of England.
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Salford City Council has been awarded a total of £683,249 in funding for the improvements / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph)
“Unfortunately, after 30 years of weathering, damage and many, many repairs the mosaic has reached the end of its life but we will preserve parts of it in feature walls, so it lives on for future generations,” Councillor McCusker added.
“We will also work with local children to create new mosaic designs which will be printed on aluminium.”
The works to improve Islington Park are to begin at the end of this moth, and Salford City Council says that, while all nearby footpaths will remain open, the park itself will be closed the period of restoration.
All improvement works are expected to finish in September 2022.
Remarkable Lake District rescue of dog missing for THREE WEEKS
Daisy Jackson
A dog who was missing for almost three WEEEKS in the Lake District has, miraculously, been rescued.
Little Teddy went missing on 2 August, disappearing from his owner on Helvellyn.
Volunteers from Keswick Mountain Rescue Team spent the following weeks searching for the scrappy dog, with one eventually hearing him barking from Dry Gill.
The poor dog had got stuck in the gill in a dangerous location that required a full team of seven to bring him to safety.
Remarkably, Teddy appeared to be uninjured, though he had lost quite a bit of weight after three weeks living wild on the fell.
His rescuers gave him a small amount of food before securing him in a rucksack and carrying him back to Swirls car park.
The whole rescue took around three and a half hours, when Teddy was reunited with his very relieved owner and taken to the vets.
Teddy making his way down from HelvellynTeddy the dog was part of a rescue mission in the Lake DistrictTeddy was rescued after three weeks missingCredit: Keswick Mountain Rescue
Keswick Mountain Rescue said: “The team are absolutely delighted to share this update, as the news of this missing dog had deeply affected so many people across our local community.
“A remarkable outcome after nearly three weeks on Helvellyn, and a huge well done to everyone who kept searching and never gave up on Teddy.”
The mountain rescue team is funded entirely through donations – you can use ‘Buy me a coffee’ to make a small donation HERE, or donate the normal way HERE.
Full list of road closures for Manchester Village Pride 2026
Emily Sergeant
The full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Village Pride this weekend have been released.
Manchester Village Pride is a beloved celebration of LGBTQ+ life in Manchester, known for bringing thousands of people into city centre every August bank holiday weekend for four fun-filled, glitter-covered, disco-driven days… and although 2026 may look a little different to usual, you can always count on the city to welcome everyone in.
Every year, the lineup offers a wide range of activities for the LGBTQ+ community and allies to join together and celebrate, as well as provide opportunities to advocate for equality, engage families and young people, and celebrate queer arts and culture.
This year’s event is set to kick off this Friday 28 August and round out on bank holiday Monday (31 August).
🏳️🌈 On Saturday [29 August], it's the #PrideParade so you'll see plenty of rainbows in the city centre.
To allow the parade to take place: – There will be road closures in place – Some buses may operate on diversion – Trams in the city centre may experience minor delays
And of course, for the celebrations to all take place as safely and seamlessly as possible, a number of road closures and restrictions will need to be put in place, and Manchester City Council has now published a list of everything you need to know.
It’s advised that anyone making their way into and around the city centre this weekend use other modes of transport – such as buses, trams, and trains.
But for those who need to drive, you’ll want to pay attention to this list before setting out on any journeys.
The full list of road closures for Manchester Village Pride 2026 has been released / Credit: The Manc Group | Supplied
Saturday 29 August
All roads in this list will be closed from 6am to 7pm:
Liverpool Road (Water Street to Deansgate)
Wollam Place (30m south of Liverpool Road to Liverpool Road)
Potato Wharf (Castlefield Hotel entrance to Liverpool Road)
Old Medlock Street
Lower Byrom Street (40m north of Liverpool Road to Liverpool Road)
Duke Street (Rice Street to Liverpool Road)
Stone Street (Liverpool Road to Bridgewater Street)
Barton Street (Bridgewater Street to Tonman Street)
Southern Street (Bridgewater Street to Liverpool Road)
Bridgewater Street (Collier Street to Deansgate)
Tonman Street (Liverpool Road to Longworth Street)
Saturday 29 August
All roads in this list will be closed from 9am to 7pm:
Deansgate (Trafford Street to Peter Street)
Quay Street (Little Quay Street to Deansgate)
Peter Street (Deansgate to Oxford Street)
Camp Street (Deansgate to Longworth Street)
St James Street (Deansgate to Longworth Street)
Jerusalem Place (Jacksons Row to Deansgate)
Marron Place (Jacksons Row to Deansgate)
Watson Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Museum Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Mount Street (Windmill Street to Bootle Street)
Southmill Street (Windmill Street to Bootle Street)
Lower Mosley Street (Windmill Street to Oxford Street)
Oxford Street (Peter Street to Whitworth Street)
Chepstow Street (Great Bridgewater Street to Oxford Street)
Portland Street (Oxford Street to Abingdon Street)
Princess Street (Faulkner Street to Whitworth Street)
Whitworth Street (Beaver Street to Fairfield Street)
Samuel Ogden Street (Bombay Street to Whitworth Street)
Sackville Street (Bombay Street to Whitworth Street)
Fairfield Street (Whitworth Street to London Road)
Minshull Street (Fairfield Street to Aytoun Street)
Back Acton Street (Fairfield Street to Ebden Street)
Minshull Street (Fairfield Street to Ebden Street)
Bus lanes will also be suspended on Bridge Street from Gartside to New Bailey Street, Whitworth Street West from Deansgate to Albion Street, and Portland Street from Princess Street to Newton Street, on the Saturday (29 August) too – running from 6am to 7pm.
Emily Sergeant -
19th May 2022 
