Garden Class
The ACE Garden is situated beside the Adult and Community Learning Centre at Brixham College accessed via the Westover Close entrance. The garden’s history started in 1999 with Chris Wardley, our chairman, listening to a programme on Radio Devon about the Prince’s Trust. Immediately the programme ended she rang the Trust and arranged for them to view our proposed site, kindly donated by the College. The Trust accepted the challenge to make a disabled friendly garden from this neglected patch of land covered in brambles and bind weed and soon an energetic group of young people set about designing and sourcing the materials. In just two weeks they constructed an access ramp, retaining walls and a level surface containing raised flower beds, made from marine plywood, and wooden benches. The results of their hard work looked very impressive, but unfortunately the gravel surface and the steepness of the ramp were unsuitable for our disabilities and the garden couldn’t be used as it deserved.
However, all was not lost, for in 2001 the ACE Gardening Class was formed with Brian Hoggard, a retired professional gardener, employed as the first tutor. Although the early lessons were classroom based attention soon focused on improving the Prince’s Trust Garden. With further funding from the Learning Skills Council and local businesses the garden was revamped with a more gradual entrance ramp, brick built raised beds with trellis and tarmac paths. It was planted, in the summer of 2003, with bulbs, herbs, flowering shrubs, climbing roses, clematis, wisteria and a pear tree. A brick barbeque area with seating was then added, followed by a wooden chalet, potting shed and pergola. The Mayor of Torbay, Jenny Faulkner cut the yellow ribbon at the official opening of the garden in July 2004 and we celebrated with a lovely barbeque lunch accompanied by the College steel band.
Later that year the College asked us to re-fashion the Memorial Garden to enhance the entrance to the College and made for ease of maintenance. Our design of six circular raised beds was accepted and built by the College and the next year we had the joy of planting out this new garden. The Chairman of the College Governors, Mr Mike Morey and the Principal, Mr Chris Turner officially opened the garden for the benefit of all College users.
The summer of 2006 was lovely and warm and the gardens bloomed. The Echium, from Tenerife, and the Hollyhocks, from the original Memorial Garden, grew to exceptional heights and the sparrows bred in the colonial boxes. On 13th October we were awarded the Smallridge Shield by Brixham in Bloom in recognition of our fantastic achievement that year in the Bay in Bloom competition. Lindsey Evans, Torbay’s Parks Development Officer and Ann Jones, Chairman of Brixham in Bloom kindly made the presentation to the class in the ACE garden.
At the end of this year Brian decided to retire as our gardening tutor and at his farewell party Ian White, the ACE chairman, wished him a long and happy retirement. Brian was very popular for his dry sense of humour and his practical gardening skills. We showed our appreciation with gifts for the garden, included a kneeling support, a beautifully prepared photograph album of the class and the gardens by Sue and Rosemary and a finely crafted glass Terrarium made by Stephen Roberts.
Brian in his reply speech was quite tearful. He thanked us for our generous gifts and six very enjoyable years as our tutor. He reminisced about all we had achieved together and thanked us for always being so cheerful, hard working, enthusiastic and forth right in our views. At first he was apprehensive about teaching people with disabilities but the spirit and openness of the group soon overcame these concerns. Brian did in fact continue for a further five weeks after ‘his retirement’ whilst we found his replacement Katie Babbs, a keen gardener and a member of the Royal Horticultural Society.
In 2007 the garden was extended with further raised beds that were filled by a team of volunteers who wheel barrowed soil from within the school and completed with purchased, quality top soil. We received £129 worth of goods from B&Q’s Better Neighbour Grant Scheme to help fund the planting. The chalet and the potting shed were moved by the school staff leaving the barbeque area and the pergola as attractive open spaces.
For the first time we ventured into growing vegetables and we extended our range of herbs to promote healthy living. This combined with our new flowering plants brought us further success on 20 August when the garden was judged first in the Club category and second in the Area or Road category for the Bay in Blooms Competition 2007. In consequence we are now competing in the Super Category.
In November we planted a large quantity of spring bulbs and prepared the garden for the winter. Katie gave us a series of interesting talks on pruning, taking cuttings, feeding and generally caring for plants, which we soon put into practise. We learnt about controlling garden pests and experimented with various methods of dealing with snails and slugs without using slug pellets.
In 2008 we enjoyed some fine displays of daffodils, crocuses and tulips. We developed our nectar bar to attract butterflies, held a competition to grow the tallest sunflower plants and tried not to disturb the Blue Tits nesting in a bird box in the pergola.
We planted broad beans using a novel idea from Sutton Seeds in which the seeds are pre-spaced in tape that makes planting quick and easy. The tape holds moisture and gradually decomposes giving the new seeds a good start in life.
We learnt an efficient way of watering thirsty pot plants by immersing the entire pot in a bucket of water until all the air bubbles cease and the air spaces are filled with water.
In 2008 we were judged third in the ‘Area and Road’ category in the Bay in Bloom competition and we participated in the South West in Bloom. After a very cold winter the garden bloomed beautifully as the pictures show.
In 2009 we purchased, from B&Q, three wooden, slated compost containers in which we have successfully made our own compost from garden and kitchen waste, horse manure and cardboard.
In late 2009 we decided to increase the scope of our garden by adding a polytunnel for general plant growing and a Community Garden in which to grow fruit and vegetables. We applied to the Plymouth and S.W Co-operative Society to fund the polytunnel and they generously granted us £1000. We purchased an 18 X 12 foot polytunnel from ‘Premier Polytunnels’ that was delivered in January 2010. A concrete base was first built by Dave Cuff of Paignton Tarmac and water and electric supplies were laid by Steve Underhay, a carpenter from Torquay. The polytunnel was installed on this base by the staff of Brixham College in February/ March when the weather had begun to warm up after the coldest winter for 29 years. Ramps and double doors were included at both ends to enable good disability access. Steve built the staging and the water and electric supplies were connected by the college staff, who also installed a raised heater. We now propagate seedlings, cuttings and plug plants in the early part of the season in a warm, dry classroom.
In the same period Dave Cuff built a new container garden beside the earth mound that resulted from the increased parking area. Steve Underhay built wooden planters, retaining walls, a central archway and installed two water taps and two power points. It was generous finance grants from AstraZeneca, Tesco and the Brixham Trawler race that enabled us to undertake this project. The garden has a smooth tarmac base and is wheelchair accessible.
We have planted roses, a Kiwi plant and sweet peas on the archway; onions, green beans, broad beans, lettuce, kale, potatoes, beetroot and peas in the containers and shrubs and wild flowers on the mound. Before the mound was planted we benefited from a day’s community work by trainee officer cadets from Britannia Naval College who prepared the ground.
Steve also built a wooden barrow, financed by Brixham Town Council, on which we sell our produce.
We have re-felted the potting shed roof and it’s new colourful look is thanks to a Summer Activity project financed by the Brixham Community Partnership. We have painted the chalet, re-felted the roof, and added guttering and a water butt.
We used the garden for our Summer BBQ, a talk by Tony Beard ‘The Widecombe Wag’ and a visit by Clare Milne, the granddaughter of A. A. Milne. Clare’s Trust has generously helped us with our transport costs over two years. We have also received substantial grants from Lloyds TSB to fund taster classes and the South West Foundation to fund classes and resources.
In 2010 the garden triumphed in the Bay in Bloom awards winning first place in the ‘Area and Road’ and second place in the ‘Public Building’ categories.
The garden is used by other classes than the ACE group, to develop people’s garden skills.
This year we have had a bumper crop of vegetables, grapes and pears.
We continue to attract numerous birds to the garden, notably a flock of cheeky House Sparrows. Blue Tits have raised two broods in one of the nesting boxes, but the communal sparrow boxes remain a disappointment after the first season.
Katie was runner up in the Torbay Community Awards for the green/environment award. The awards were hosted by Nick Bye, Torbay’s Mayor, to promote and publicise Torbay’s many community activities and achievements.
Now, in a bitterly cold December 2010, we are planning to buy seed and plug plants, extra digging tools, a gazebo for summer shade and a watering system for the vegetable boxes.