Planting begins at Castlefield Viaduct as £1.8m ‘urban sky park’ set to open next month

Castlefield Viaduct is springing to life as planting gets underway ahead of the urban sky park’s launch next month.

National Trust gardening specialists and apprentices are busy planting 3,000 trees, flowers and shrubs on the historic viaduct as part of plans to bring an innovative green space to Castlefield.

The selected plants have taken inspiration from what had already started to grow on the viaduct with shrubs, ferns and grasses providing a frame for more colourful seasonal planting.

Sections of the planting will mimic the diamond shape of the viaduct’s criss-cross steelwork, achieved through diagonal blossom hedges and other plants.

National Trust

The urban park – billed to be Manchester’s very own High Line – was originally poised to open on July 3rd,  but bosses at the National Trust have now said ‘unexpected delays’ has pushed the opening back to ‘no later than the end of July’.

Free tickets to the park will be made available to the public later this month, they added.

A spokesperson for the National Trust said: “Due to an unexpected delay to work on Castlefield Viaduct we are unable to open to visitors on July 3rd as planned.

“Work is happening behind the scenes to get the site ready to welcome visitors and we’re planning to open no later than the end of July.

National Trust

“We’ll be sharing more updates soon and contacting members of the public who have booked a free ticket to let them know about these changes.”

The pilot phase of the project has cost £1.8 million in public donations, and will see a green space stretching half way across the elevation of the viaduct, with trees, flowers and shrubs planted to attract wildlife to the once industrial structure.

A section of the viaduct will be left untouched to demonstrate how nature has reclaimed the space since the site was closed, and will boast several new features including installations, a community space to hold events and other native planting.

The Science and Industry Museum are also planning their own garden with heritage plants, trees and flowers that will be seen from the viaduct. There, they will host themed special talks and events for all ages across the summer and autumn.

National Trust

The park will be completely free to enter, and opinions and feedback from visitors will be welcomed in order to determine its long term plans.

You can find out more about the project over on the National Trust website.

Built in 1892, the historic Grade II listed structure used to be used to carry heavy rail traffic in and out of Manchester Central, but it closed down in 1969 and has sat derelict and unused ever since.