Hulme Park

I think this park has been really nicely done and what looks like a small patch of grass from Stretford Road actually extends way back with a nice adventure playground for kids plus football pitch. Whoever was saying they couldn’t understand the Treasure Island theme of the playground someone missed the giant climbing frame in the shape of a shipwreck…
Obviously it’s never going to be the most peaceful place to sit, owing to its roadside location, but the grass bordering Stretford Road slopes up to some trees which is ideal for sitting on a sunny day. A nice place to stop by for a little while.

Sometimes it is possible for a place to rise up in standards simply by virtue of its location, and Hulme Park is one such place indeed. Whether it matches the description bestowed upon it by a slightly, shall we say, overly generous council or not, the fact remains that it is quite possibly the only decent thing in Hulme.
Hulme is one of those places that just exists as somewhere for people to be when they aren’t anywhere else. If you don’t live there the only reason to be near it is because you’re traveling through. In a sea of grey anything green stands out, and such is the position the park finds itself in, offering something to look at if nothing else. It really doesn’t matter much whether there is a true adventure playground or football pitch or not, because at least there is a playground and a football pitch.

Hulme Park is decent. It’s a green space in the middle of Hulme, which alone makes it nicer than anything else in Hulme.
According to the council, it is the first large scale new park to have been built in Manchester for over 50 years, and was built in 1999 at a cost of £3 million pounds. Sounds reasonable, however…
The council also claim that the recreational facilities on offer include an adventure playground with a Treasure Island theme, a high quality football pitch, a basketball/​netball court, a skateboard area, a «sunken sensory garden» and last but by no means least, a granite paved performance area «known as» Zion Square, and picnic tables.
I’m afraid I find myself obligated to dispel the images conjured up by a few of these descriptions. I would describe them as perhaps more than a little over the top. A bit of embellishment on the council’s part here to say the least! Why have they tried to make a small green park sound like a suitable venue for a family holiday?
As for the adventure playground, there’s a few swings and slides which are pretty nice for kids, but the Treasure Island theme remains a mystery to me. High quality football pitch, not really but there is a place to play football. The skate park exists, so no problems there.
As for the «sunken sensory garden», come off it! All there is is normal grass! I don’t even know what a ‘paved performance area’ is but I do know that this concrete slab is not the talk of the townspeople who affectionately refer to it as ‘Zion square’. Sounds like a Shakespearean market.
It’s a decent place to take the dog for a poo, and its got a nice view of the Hilton hotel, why didn’t the council just say that?