SPARK #26: Castlefield Viaduct - Connecting with Nature, Green Spaces and the Urban Environment

For our August SPARK event, artist Jane Andrews will host a session on Castlefield Viaduct. 

The session will start with a guided visit at 11am sharp to the “Sky Garden” - the accessible green space that has been created by the National Trust in the heart of the city. Dunham Massey Ranger Lloyd Ross will talk about the ecology and environmental challenges at Durham Massey and about the National Trust’s work on green spaces and the urban environment, including work with young people and communities.

We will explore how we can connect with nature; how artists might help people in urban areas connect with the natural world; how artists can innovate, create or develop green spaces; and how artists can support young people and communities to sustain green spaces. Participants will be invited to make use of a workshop space on the viaduct to explore ideas and their responses to the urban garden in prose, poetry and drawing. Please bring a notepad or sketch book and pen or pencil with you. 

There’s no café at the Viaduct so please bring any refreshments you need with you.
The viaduct is wheelchair accessible and there is a toilet.

Please arrive at the Viaduct at 10:45 as the guided walk will start promptly at 11am.

Background to the Viaduct
The Victorian viaduct in Castlefield has been transformed into an urban green space by the National Trust. Climate change is the single biggest threat to our precious natural and historic landscapes including those in urban settings like Castlefield Viaduct. The Nationl Trust has worked to ensure the project has environmental sustainability at its heart. The project has been designed to produce minimal waste and developed using sustainable material wherever possible.

In the garden, peat-free compost is used, and all plants have been grown in peat-free environments, supporting the National Trust’s mission to protect peatlands. Rainwater is harvested using water-butts on the deck, which is then used to water the plants. Increasing biodiversity is another important aim of the project, and new wildlife habitats have been created within the sky park.

Jane Andrews is a photographer and film maker inspired by the natural world with a particular interest in landscape and nature. Jane has volunteered at Dunham Massey for 6 years.
@janeelizabethart

SPARK
The SPARK network was set up by Castlefield Gallery in 2022 to facilitate a Greater Manchester/North West-based network of artists wanting to intervene in the climate crisis. The gallery initiated SPARK in response to the high demand for places on the 2021/22 SUSTAIN programme focussed on low carbon artmaking.

SPARK #26 follows on from the first twenty-five SPARK sessions at Manchester Art Gallery, Rogue, The Birley (Preston), Eccles Friends Meeting House, Manchester Museum, AIR Gallery, Paradise Works, Editional Studio, Cadishead and Little Woolden Moss, Gallery Oldham, the John Rylands Library, Dunham Massey and Lindow Moss. SPARK recently had a group exhibition, also called SPARK, and events programme at Rogue Studios.

Photograph by Jane Andrews