The inspiration for the garden comes from the famous ginnel behind Corrie’s iconic pub the Rover’s Return, creating a ‘green alleyway,’ designed to promote neighbourliness and community cohesion through gardening.
Working with the Coronation Street The Tour team, Manchester City Council’s Customer and Community Engagement team will build a ‘model’ alleyway greening scheme installation; to create a back alley effect and demonstrate the many benefits of alleyway greening in creating shared community spaces.
Coronation Street actress and Manchester local Jennie McAlpine, who owns city restaurant Annie’s, said, “As a city centre resident and a business owner in Manchester, I think Dig the City is a wonderful event for locals and visitors. It’s great to encourage more people to consider alleyway greening– if we can turn a ginnel into a green space we can do it anywhere!”
Sarah Hawkins, Customer & Community Engagement Lead explains, “The mock up alleyway is designed to illustrate how alleyway greening can transform a public space; simultaneously engaging a community in a gardening project and making it lovelier to look at.”
“There are some brilliant funding opportunities available from Manchester City Council for Manchester residents and communities who would like to adopt the greening scheme, and the Coronation Street The Tour Show Garden will provide a platform to promote this to locals and the many improvements projects the scheme offers.”
As part of the exhibit Coronation Street The Tour will be bringing a delivery from Newton and Ridley – in the form of a real prop brewery delivery van, beer crates and barrels from the street and planted pots to promote Coronation Street The Tour as the perfect Manchester attraction to visit this summer.
After Dig the City, the installation will be used to green up a new alleyway in central Manchester.
