Neglected Bulwell garden is transformed

HALF-term events at Bulwell Hall Community Gardens this week showed how the site is being transformed from a ‘jungle’.
Half Term activities at Bulwell Community Gardens/ Pictured top left and bottom right are activity organisers Andrea Jones and Beth Hemus.Half Term activities at Bulwell Community Gardens/ Pictured top left and bottom right are activity organisers Andrea Jones and Beth Hemus.
Half Term activities at Bulwell Community Gardens/ Pictured top left and bottom right are activity organisers Andrea Jones and Beth Hemus.

The ambitious project to restore the gardens, off Grindon Crescent, is led by Andrea Jones and Beth Hemus, who have set up a training company to work from the venue.

Their aim is to co-operate with groups across Nottingham to promote organic horticulture and environmental education.

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The gardens were launched a few years ago but then fell into what Andrea described as ‘a horrendous state of neglect’.

Over the past year, Andrea and Beth have led a team of volunteers who buckled down to tasks which included de-turfing and re-seeding a badly decayed lawn, clearing a mass of brambles and replacing a ramshackle tool shed.

“We have weeded for England,” said Andrea. “On one occasion, we filled 10 refuse bins with garden waste in an hour.”

A five-year lease has been obtained to restore the gardens and the intention is that they will eventually be passed on to the local community.

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This week’s ‘happenings’ have included jam-making and clay craft sessions, a wine workshop, ‘bug bedsits’ and Nottingham’s first community rocket stove workshop.

A rocket stove mass heater is a sustainable space-heating form of technology that embeds a stove in a thermal store.

Andrea and Beth would be pleased to hear from any groups or individuals interested in getting involved with the gardens. Contact can be made via the website www.grogarden.org.uk