Fog Lane Park

Purchased in 1926 by Manchester's town planning committee, Fog Lane Park was one of the city's first public parks. It is said that Fog Lane Park earned its name from a grass commonly known as Yorkshire Fog, which still grows throughout the park.

The park owes its early and rapid development to the local community who with the council were able to create the much loved park of today.

The original design incorporated

1. 14 football and hockey pitches
2. 24 tennis courts
3. 2 bowling greens
4. a sunken bandstand with seating (now replaced by the Rose Garden) 
5. numerous flower beds and borders. Of these, most interesting is likely to be the 36 different varieties of Rhododendrons planted around the rose garden perimeter.

Fog Lane Park has a third of an acre dedicated to the growth of wild flowers. These attract wildlife such as butterflies, dragonflies and a large selection of insects, which in turn provide food which attracts a wide variety of birds to the park to nest, including mallards, moorhens, Canada geese, Kestrels, Wood pigeons, Coots and an occasional Heron.

The park has a variety of trees and shrubs, including Dawn Redwood, Silver Birch, Laburnums and Flowing Crabs as well as a number of unusual specimens which have reached maturity, including Hornbeams, Alders, Poplars, Norway Maple and Indian Beans.

Fog Lane Park sits amid the heavily populated residential areas of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury. The site is comprised mainly of amenity grassland and woodland, but accommodates other diverse landscape elements such as two waterbodies, naturalised grassland, shrub beds, scattered trees, rose gardens and a sensory garden.