‘All the makings of a really nice area’ - inside the park once ‘plagued’ by drugs

When police busted a drug dealing racket in Piccadilly Gardens, they said a small park on the outskirts of town would see the benefits. We spoke to locals to find out if that’s true.

It started as a private green space for the Victorian residents of Ardwick.

But in recent years, Ardwick Green has been battling an unsavoury reputation.

Police say the spot - just a stone’s throw from Manchester Apollo - became ‘plagued’ with drug users who would ‘descend’ from the city centre to buy heroin and crack from local dealers.

They were preyed upon by brothers Martin and Dougie Joyce and their gofers - who used the park to run a drugs line.

Earlier this year, members of the gang were jailed after being busted in the park by undercover cops posing as users.

After repeatedly calling the 'JJ' line, an officer met with two mountain bike-riding runners at Ardwick Green Park on at least 10 occasions and was sold crack cocaine and heroin.

When police raided Martin Joyce's girlfriend’s home, he fled in a pink dressing gown - a scene captured by drone footage.

The Joyce brothers and 'runners' Thomas Hulme, Mark Togher and Dean Graham were among 22 people to be dealt with at Manchester Crown Court following a mammoth police operation into dealing in the city centre.

"Apart from Piccadilly Gardens having an issue with the supply of class A drugs, Ardwick Green Park - which is meant to be a local community resource, including a children's play area - also suffered from the same issue with the surrounding anti-social behaviour because it had become a hotspot for the supply of the most addictive class A drugs," prosecutor Henry Blackshaw told Manchester Crown Court.

A year on from the arrests, the Manchester Evening News visited Ardwick Green Park to see if locals feel any safer now.

‘It was rife’

On a sunny afternoon in May the trees float gently in the breeze and a squirrel munches on a nut as it perches on the side of a bin.

Twin girls play on swings pushed by their mum and a woman walks a small, yappy-type dog on the grassy spot nearby.

Colourful hoardings around a housing development bear slogans advertising ‘urban living’ and ‘beautifully designed modern homes on the city’s edge’.

So have things changed since the police action at Ardwick Green? And what’s it like to use this busy walking route and children’s playground?

“It’s been quiet for a while now,” says mum Nicole, before pointing out a man zipping past the playground on a mini bike. “Although you do still get things like that. Maybe the past year or so it’s been better,” she says.

Nicole, 34, grew up in Ardwick and came to this park as a child herself. She brought her eldest son here when he was young but stopped coming when, she says, it was taken over by ‘gangs of people’ that would congregate and lads on bikes.

“You could tell they were serving people who were on drugs,” she says. “I didn’t come here with the kids before because it was rife.

“And it wasn’t nice to be here because there were beer cans everywhere and you would find needles. There were people serving people who were clearly on drugs. It was really bad.

“They would sit on the benches and grass drinking and fighting. They sent the police loads.”

Now Nicole feels the park is safe enough to bring her twin daughters.

“We come every day now,” she says.

Ardwick is the new Ancoats

Linnie, 32, also grew up around Ardwick and works in the area, so cuts through the park most days.

He says he doesn’t find it dangerous but believes police have been targeting drug users and people who need rehabilitation to ‘clean up’ city centre areas.

“It’s getting to the point where they are jumping on addicts and people drinking in the park,” he says. “They might be using drugs but it’s a community in itself.”

As we talk he gestures towards a development of townhouses which are being built directly opposite the park, advertised as offering ‘a welcoming community atmosphere, an urban retreat’.

“It’s getting to a point where they’re saying Ardwick is the new Ancoats. It’s social cleansing,” Linnie says.

“If you’re looking at the homogeneous picture it’s driving up the prices and pushing people further and further out.”

He adds: “Ardwick has a train station and I think they are trying to build up a population around it.

“This area is going to be like Brixton or Peckham - there are a lot of cultures here. Some people would have been able to buy property when it was an ‘undesirable’ area. But they can’t now.”

A reputation

One mum, who is walking through the park with her two children, is on her way to the nearby Mayfield Park - Manchester’s newest park.

“Now we’ve got Mayfield, we mostly go there,” she says. “It’s got cameras and security, it feels much safer.

“This park has its reputation but the only time we walk through is schooltime and it’s okay then.

“Maybe if they made it more of a park we’d come here. That playground has been the same for years. I’m nearly 40 and I remember it like that.”

Dog walker Deborah also comes mid afternoon each day to walk her pet. She prefers it to Gartside Gardens, which is nearer her home but busier.

“To be honest I come here because it’s quiet,” she says. “You see the odd thing now and again. But I think it’s quite a good park. It’s so open so it’s fine for me.

“The only time I didn’t come was when caravans were parked on here but only because they had dogs with them.

“You do see the drinkers here but that’s later at night.”

All the makings of a really nice area

But Warren - who is in the park with his three kids - has some concerns. He moved to the area a year ago and has complained to the council several times because of some of the people hanging around the park.

“It can be a bit unsettling,” he says. “There do seem to be some drug users.”

He also mentions a recent incident nearby during which two teenagers were stabbed.

“We go to Mayfield Park,” Warren says. “This has all the makings of a really nice area but it’s being spoiled a little bit.

“It’s okay at this time of day but when it comes to night-time there are some people walking up and down the street like arguing with themselves who are clearly struggling.

“It’s a shame because everyone deserves a chance.”