One year of Groundwork in action

Organic gardening links - I will post more next week

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/composting/index.php
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo_now/index.php
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/index.php
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/index.php

…well not quite - but we now have running water on site! Many thanks to Sue and Steve at Weaver Vale Housing Trust for helping us out. Also to Roy and Eileen - who used to work on the site when it was a nursery - for pointing us in the right direction!

What appeared to be an easy task turned into a mammoth hunt! Well, not for mammoths….

Jo has now suggested we introduce beaver - but I feel it may be a bit early for such things…!

Afternoon,
As I mentioned yesterday - we are running regular weekly Saturday sessions now from 10-3. Meet on site or contact me if you need more information.

This is a link to a Google map of the site and how to access it. If possible, please park at the Memorial Hall carpark and walk the 200m across the field.

This Saturday is an open day and BBQ and we have one on the 25th September too. You don’t need to bring anything with you.

Please see below for a copy of the garden design as created by Steve Williams with help from the inter-generational garden design team and edited by the volunteers. Also, photos of the design exhibition and all the work which has been happening on site since the spring. The volunteers have done an amazing job!

Design exhibition in May

Link to garden design

Creating the raised beds

Hello, we are running volunteer sessions every Saturday now. 10-3. This Saturday (21st) we are having a BBQ too. We’ll be eating some of the produce from the garden.

Hope to see you there,

Beth

Working in conjunction with the Thursday sessions, a number of volunteer days have run on Saturdays allowing local people in Cheshire to come along and volunteer their time to help work on the Grozone site.

Running a similar format to the Thursday sessions, the days have been led by BTCV and supported by Groundwork Cheshire. The sessions have enabled the volunteers to learn about the site, the future development of the site and of course volunteer their time and energy to help regenerate the site.

The Saturday sessions continued the work started on Thursdays - scrub cleared, the new footpath layed and work towards finishing the raised beds completed.

Craig

For the past couple of months, on a Thursday each week students from Rudheath High School have come down to Grozone and taken part in a number of volunteer days.

The days were set aside to allow the students to help support other volunteers who came to Grozone on the Thursdays to help start work on site.

A lot of scrub clearing and weeding took place at the start to remove the years of overgrown vegetation that has quickly dominated the site. The students came down each Thursday helping remove the vegetationn and work on also building a set of raised beds and begin work on a new footpath.

Working with BTCV and Groundwork Cheshire, the students have really come to enjoy their Thursday visits to Grozone, learning about the tools and skills needed for the work involved in regenerating derelict sites into new community spaces.

Well done to those students and volunteers involved in these busy Thursdays.

Craig

We are on site every Saturday 10am-3pm from now up to and including July 3rd (and hopefully after then too). Everyone is welcome. Please contact me for more details - or just turn up on the day. More details below.

Also, Sally at the council has 500 geraniums arriving next week - to be planted at Greenbank, Mouldsworth, Delamere and Northwich Stations and she needs volunteers to help prepare the ground and plant them. If you can help at any of these locations (especially Greenbank) please contact Sally by email at

railofficer@midcheshirerail.org.uk

or call her on

01244 976788 or 0773 652 3863

Grozone volunteer sessions - run by Groundwork and BTCV are every Saturday up to and including July 3rd. All run from 10am to 3pm, with breaks for lunch and tea (hot and cold drinks provided). Please bring your own lunch. Volunteers are encouraged to attend the whole session but this is not compulsory.

A variety of tasks for everyone. Tools and protective clothing provided, but come nettle/bramble proof, in sturdy footwear, prepared to get dirty – and it’s helpful to bring your own gardening gloves. Also suncream or waterproofs depending on weather! Boots available if you send us your foot size ahead of time.

At the moment only volunteers over 14 years old will be allowed on site (this will change as the site is developed so younger children can get involved) and all those 16 years old or under should be accompanied by a responsible adult

Please contact Craig Morris or Beth Brockett at Groundwork for further info: 01606 723160, craig.Morris@groundwork.org.uk

Website: www.groundworkaction.org.uk/grozone

If you are driving to the site please park in the Memorial Hall car park and walk to the site as shown on the map. The railway station is in walking distance as are several bus stops. The address: Old Dane Nurseries Site, Off Vickers Way, Opposite Vickerway Park under Railway Bridge, Northwich, CW9 5QH (nearest postcode - for Vickersway Park).

Google Grozone location map - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=115594138130796317093.0004867ce8f91e4a0bc4d&ll=53.259257,-2.505269&spn=0.013632,0.027595&t=h&z=15

Hi all,

I’ll be writing quite a few updates over the next few weeks - to let you know what has been going on. My apologies for not writing for a while - it has been very busy at Grozone!

I will be updating weekly now - so do pop back as often as you can and comments are always welcome.

So first installment -

Since January we have been working with an intergenerational garden design team - consisting of community volunteers, Rudheath High Students and Reaseheath College students. They have conducted site visits, pored over survey reports, discussed, consulted and planned. I include photos from the process below.

Danny and Christine at Reaseheath

Making lists at Reaseheath

Yvonne talking to students at Witton Church Walk about the project and different plants

Found a spider!

As part of the continuing work for the Grozone Project, an exhibition was hosted at the Groundwork Office’s to show the designs being created by the students at Reaseheath College.  A number of people were invited to the exhibition including many of the partners who have supported the project from the start, the local council, funders, the Northwich Town Mayor, the volunteers who have been helping with work on the Grozone site and the students who have created the designs for what they think the Grozone site should look like.

The exhibition was layed out as a timeline showing the details of the project from it’s start to the present states of design creation.  Using photographs and press cuttings, the exhibition showed the varying stages that have taken place so far, including the consultation work, sites visits, work with Rudheath High School and Volunteer Days and the present stages of designs from students at Reaseheath College.

The day was a hugh success for everyone involved, with Councillor Miller making a speech about the success of the project so far and pleased at the work that had so far taken place on site.

come-and-volunteer-at-the-grozone-site

Come and volunteer at the Grozone site