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Registered Charity number 1176172 SPRING 201 9 Welcome to the latest issue of our newsletter. As the weather slowly warms up, we are getting on with sowing and growing new plants for the coming seasons and for our longer term planting plans. We have a busy year ahead, aiming to complete the hard landscaping and to start putting in the permanent beds. We are also actively trying out new ways to encourage people to visit and volunteer with a new calendar of events and activities. Read on for more information. Green Flag Assessment Come and see how the garden is progressing with activities for all the family. Free entry. Welcome In this Issue Spring Diary 20th May 2019 Newsletter of the Friends of Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden The Walled Garden Welcome Spring diary Garden design news Summer events calendar Have a Grow Day Remembering Peter Kelly Hospital build news News in brief Grow Wild Winners Contact Us "Have a Grow" Open Day 1st June 2019 Walled Garden to be judged by Keep Wales Tidy for the Green Flag Award. Fingers crossed!

Transcript of SPRING 2019 The Walled Garden › 2019 › ... · 2019-05-20 · 3 THE WALLED GARDEN SPRING 2019...

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Registered Charity number 1176172

S P R I N G 2 0 1 9

Welcome  to  the  latest  issue  of  our  newsletter.  As  the  weather  slowly  warms  up,  we  are  getting  on  with  sowing  and  growing  new  plants  for  the  coming  seasons  and  for  our  longer  term  planting  plans.  We  have  a  busy  year  ahead,  aiming  to  complete  the  hard  landscaping  and  to  start  putting  in  the  permanent  beds.  We  are  also  actively  trying  out  new  ways  to  encourage  people  to  visit  and  volunteer  with  a  new  calendar  of  events  and  activities.    Read  on  for  more  information.  

Green Flag Assessment

Come  and  see  how  the  garden  is  progressing  with  activities  for  all  the  family.    

Free  entry.  

Welcome

In this Issue

Spring Diary

20th May 2019

Newsletter of the Friends of Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

 

• Welcome    • Spring  diary  • Garden  design  news  • Summer  events  

calendar  • Have  a  Grow  Day  • Remembering  Peter  

Kelly  • Hospital  build  news  • News  in  brief  • Grow  Wild  Winners  • Contact  Us  

"Have a Grow" Open Day

1st June 2019

Walled  Garden  to  be  judged  by  Keep  Wales  Tidy  for  the  Green  Flag  Award.  Fingers  crossed!  

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Northwest quadrant work plan

Southwest quadrant design In  our  autumn  issue  we  reported  how  the  design  for  the  southwest  quadrant  of  the  garden  was  developing.  Since  then  we  have  worked  up  some  more  of  the  detail  for  the  design  with  our  Garden  Design  Team.    We  have  added  some  cherry  trees  to  the  northern  edge  of  the  lawn  for  height,  colour  and  shade.  The  detail  for  the  oriental  garden  has  also  been  developed  in  terms  of  layout  and  the  types  of  plants  to  include.    We  are  planning  to  seek  the  advice  of  the  Japanese  Garden  Society  before  finalising  the  design.    A  few  further  adjustments  to  the  shape  of  the  beds  along  the  north  /  south  path  will  allow  an  area  for  growing  a  display  of  dye  and  physic  plants.  Advice  on  dye  plants  will  be  sought  from  the  Gwent  Guild  of  Dyers,  Weavers  and  Spinners  and  we  plan  to  visit  the  Physic  Garden  in  Cowbridge  for  further  inspiration.  

Garden design news

The  northwest  quadrant  of  the  garden  is  going  to  be  our  biggest  project  over  the  coming  year.  This  is  planned  to  be  the  reflective,  sensory  garden.                      So  far,  we  have  cleared,  leveled  and  rotovated  the  ground.  We  have  also  been  marking  out  the  dimensions  and  route  for  the  little  twisting  paths  and  seating  areas  that  will  make  this  area  a  quiet,  calming  space  for  visitors  who  want  to  enjoy  some  time  out  for  contemplation.    We  hope  to  be  able  to  install  the  paths  and  water  feature  over  the  summer  months.  Volunteers  to  help  with  this  would  be  most  welcome.  Please  keep  an  eye  on  our  Facebook  page  and  website  for  call-­‐outs.  

Dye  plant  Alkanna  matthioli.    Source:  Barnaba  Marinosci

Latest  draft  of  the  design  for  the  southwest  quadrant.  

Dye  plant  Indigofera  tinctoria.    Source:  Pancrat  [CC  BY-­‐SA  3.0]  

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Saturday 1st June, 10.00 - 4 .00 p.m. An opportunity to see how we are developing the Walled Garden and learn some new horticultural skills. We will have a number of displays, activities and demonstrations going on, including:

• Hands on seed sowing • Up-cycling your plastic waste for the garden • Plants for sale • Refreshments

• Art in the Garden activity • All Creatures Great & Small Petting Corner • Craft items for sale • Free entry

A fun day out for all the family.

Summer Events Calendar

Thurs 9th May 2 - 4 pm Garden Design Team workshop

Sat 1st June 10 - 4 pm Have a Grow open day - Free entry (see details below)

Mon 22nd July 2 - 4 pm Meeting of the Trustees

Mon 29th July 2 - 6 pm Annual General Meeting - Friends of Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden and Open day

Mon 19th Aug 1 - 4 pm Volunteers Social - BBQ

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Born at the Grange - Remembering Peter Kelly A fond farewell to the late Peter Kelly, one of our regular visitors with a very special connection to

Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden

Born  in  1928  in  the  Gardener's  Cottage  at  Llanfrechfa  Grange,  Peter  Kelly  was  the  third  child  of  the  resident  Head  Gardener  in  the  days  when  the  Grange  was  still  a  private  mansion.        Peter  got  in  touch  with  the  Walled  Garden  project  in  2015  following  an  article  in  the  South  Wales  Argus.    We  have  since  spent  many  enjoyable  hours  listening  to  his  amazingly  detailed  memories  of  the  Grange,  which  he  called  his  ‘childhood  playground’.      

   

Peter  described  the  crop  rotation  his  father  used  in  the  garden,  the  fruit  trees  that  clothed  the  walls,  a  huge  rhubarb  patch  and  the  many  glass  houses  on  the  outside  –  all  long  since  gone.    He  told  hair-­‐raising  tales  of  running  around  the  top  of  the  walls;  of  attending  services  in  the  chapel  with  his  mother;  and  playing  by  the  huge  rhododendron  that  still  grows  behind  the  house.  

Left:  Peter  with  his  mother  and  brother  John  at  Gardener’s  Cottage,  Llanfrechfa  Grange,  May  1941.  Above:  Plan  of  the  Walled  Garden  drawn  by  Jan  Smith  based  on  Peter’s  memories.  Right:  Peter  with  regular  volunteer  Graham  Wookey,  2017.  

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One  of  his  favourite  stories  was  telling  us  how  at  the  age  of  8,  he  shook  hands  with  King  Edward  VIII  who  visited  the  Grange  in  1936  when  it  was  used  as  a  Domestic  Training  Centre  for  unemployed  boys.        In  2018  he  again  made  a  royal  connection  when  the  Lord  Lieutenant  for  Gwent,  Brigadier  Robert  Aitken  CBE,  visited  the  garden  -­‐  a  special  day  for  all  of  us.  

 

Peter  Kelly  died  peacefully  on  6th  March  after  a  short  illness.  Always  cheerful  he  was  a  very  special  man  indeed  and  will  be  remembered  with  great  fondness.    His  contributions  to  our  history  of  Llanfrechfa  Grange  are  priceless  and  for  that  we  will  be  forever  in  his  dept.    Rest  in  peace  Peter.    

 Peter  served  in  the  armed  forces  before  returning  to  the  Grange  after  WW2  as  an  ambulance  driver.    The  Grange  was  then  a  maternity  hospital  and  Peter  helped  deliver  many  of  the  babies  born  there.    

During  one  of  Peter's  visits,  Jan  Smith  showed  him  inside  Grange  House.  He  recalled  that  the  entrance  hall  had  been  two  rooms  with  a  conservatory  off  the  inner  room.  When  the  Grange  was  used  as  a  maternity  hospital,  the  Committee  room  was  the  ward  where  mothers  and  babies  slept;  the  Boardroom  was  the  dining  room  and  the  Library  the  Matron’s  office.  The  delivery  room  was  further  down  the  corridor,  in  the  servants’  quarters,  and  beyond  there,  the  kitchens.    He  remembered  there  was  a  huge  stove  set  into  an  alcove  where  the  Victorian  fireplace  had  previously  been.    He  was  delighted  to  see  that  the  chapel  was  still  there  and  clearly  moved  by  the  visit  said  ‘You  have  made  an  old  man  very  happy’.    

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Grange University Hospital building progress With the new hospital scheduled to open in just two years’ time, it has recently reached an important new milestone with a 'Topping Out' ceremony to mark completing the highest point of the building.

Vaughan  Gething  AM,  Minister  for  Health  and  Social  Services,  was  recently  welcomed  to  the  Grange  University  Hospital  to  mark  the  "Topping  Out"  of  the  building  with  a  concrete  pour.  In  front  of  an  invited  audience  that  included  the  construction  team  from  Laing  O’Rourke  together  with  representatives  and  staff  from  the  Health  Board,  he  said  “It’s  fantastic  to  see  another  landmark  being  reached  in  this  state-­‐of-­‐the-­‐art  project."      Judith  Paget,  Chief  Executive  of  the  Health  Board,  thanked  all  the  staff  and  construction  partners  involved  in  the  project  and  said:  “The  Grange  University  Hospital  represents  a  key  milestone  in  our  Clinical  Futures  Programme  –  our  plan  to  deliver  NHS  health  services  that  are  of  the  highest  quality."    Ann  Lloyd  CBE,  Chair  of  the  Health  Board  added  ”One  of  my  first  official  engagements  as  Chair  of  the  Health  Board  was  to  attend  the  cutting  of  the  first  sod  ceremony  in  July  2017.  We  have  come  a  long  way  since  then  and  just  20  months  later,  The  Grange  University  Hospital  is  almost  built.”          

Topping Out

The  Project  Team  at  The  Grange  University  Hospital  site  is  busy  equipping  two  sample  bedrooms  -­‐  one  standard  and  one  bariatric  -­‐  to  provide  a  quality  baseline  and  to  enable  them  to  demonstrate  their  size  and  how  allocated  equipment  will  fit  into  the  space.    Some  areas  are  also  being  painted  and  fitted  with  plugs  and  bedhead  trunking  (see  picture),  ready  to  be  checked  and  handed  over  for  inspection.    With  more  than  two  thousand  rooms  to  quality  check,  this  will  be  an  ongoing  process  for  the  next  year  and  one  that  the  Project  Team  takes  very  seriously.  

Kitting Out

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Volunteers  from  the  Llanfrechfa  Grange  Walled  Garden  were  delighted  to  represent  the  project  at  an  award  ceremony  at  St  Peter's  Community  Garden,  Cardiff  on  Weds  20th  March  2019.  The  awards  by  Social  Farms  and  Gardens  recognise  local  communities  who  manage  green  spaces.  The  Walled  Garden  was  one  of  12  communities  from  across  Wales  to  be  celebrated  and  presented  with  certificates  from  the  Deputy  Minister  for  Housing  and  Local  Government,  Hannah  Blythyn  AM.      

Wilko Donation We  are  grateful  to  Wilko  for  their  generous  donation  of  non-­‐saleable  goods  over  the  last  12  months.    These  have  included  broken  bags  of  compost,  dented  tins  of  wood  stain  and  other  garden  sundries.    Compost  is  always  welcome,  the  shed  is  now  protected  in  a  lovely  shade  of  green  and  we  have  a  few  seats  ready  to  place  in  the  reflective  quadrant.  

News in Brief Achievements

A  big  thank  you  to  everyone  who  turned  up  to  volunteer  for  our  working  party  weekend  on  6-­‐7  April.    We  were  lucky  with  the  weather  and  managed  to  get  a  lot  done  in  the  time.    

Despite  the  short  notice,  9  people  turned  up  on  Saturday  and  3  on  Sunday.  Between  us  we  sorted  stones  for  building  walls,  primed  and  painted  up  some  ironwork  tree  grills,  filled  in  sections  of  trenches  to  bury  the  power  and  water  cables  and  potted  on  some  seedlings.  

Please  contact  us  (details  back  page)  if  you  are  interested  in  volunteering  for  a  future  working  party.  

Community Managed Green Spaces Award

Working Party weekend Our  volunteers  Graham  and  Brian  have  taken  

the  lead  on  building  a  new  retaining  wall  and  steps  between  the  Therapeutic  Horticulture  greenhouse  and  shed  and  the  area  that  will  become  our  cafe  area.  This  is  in  the  southeast  "social"  quadrant. The  upper  section  is  meanwhile  being  cleared  of  rubble  and  levelled  ready  for  landscaping.

Landscaping Works

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Friends  of  Llanfrechfa  Grange  Walled  Garden,    Llanfrechfa  Grange,    Cwmbran,  Torfaen,    NP44  8YN    

Email:    [email protected]    Website:  https://llanfrechfawalledgarden.wordpress.com/    

     Or  on  Facebook  at  llanfrechfa  grange  walled  garden    

Grow Wild Winners

Our  young  gardeners  have  won  a  £500  ‘Grow  Wild’  Youth  Project  award!      Supported  by  the  National  Lottery  Community  Fund,  ‘Grow  Wild’  is  a  national  outreach  initiative  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Kew.  The  youngsters  have  called  their  project  'Granting  Flower  Power'  and  plan  to  find,  photograph  and  identify  wild  flowers  and  fungi  and  to  produce  a  poster  and  prints  to  share  their  work.    They  also  want  to  sow  wild  flower  seeds  for  our  wildlife  patch.    Glyn  Matthews  from  Growing  Space,  our  chairman  Jan  Smith,  and  professional  wild  life  photographers  Chris  and  Karen  Hatch  will  support  the  project.  The  young  team  will  learn  about  flowers  and  fungi  and  gain  photography,  research,  team  working  and  presentation  skills.        For  more  information  about  the  scheme,  please  visit  https://www.growwilduk.com/  

Contact Us

THE WALLED GARDEN SPRING 2019

Registered Charity number 1176172