Join us on Sat 8th Jan 2011 with pick axes, sledge hammers and other such tarmac smashing equipment! We'll be digging up the plot on the corner of Churchlands Road and West Street from 10am...do come and get involved in anyway you can.
Donations to the project are very welcome - make cheques payable to 'Churchlands Community' or contact us to find out how to make gifts of plants and shrubs.
Upcoming fundraising events include the pub quiz at The White Horse on Thurs 27th Jan - £2 per person, max 6 per team. Prizes donated by the good people of West St and Churchlands Road. All proceeds go towards topsoil, shrubs, flowers and other greenery loveliness for the Churchlands Community Garden.
We'll also be running a table top sale in February - contact us for more information!
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Monday, 13 December 2010
Christmas tree!
Fundraising updates ...
The lovely Malago Guesthouse on West Street have very kindly donated towards the Churchlands Garden project! Brilliant! Many many thanks!
The quiz has been booked for Thursday 27th Jan...pop it in your diaries!
The quiz has been booked for Thursday 27th Jan...pop it in your diaries!
Plans for the plot
Here's the lovely plant schedule that New Leaf have very kindly prepared for us ...
Get in touch if you'd like to see these as a PDF file!
Sunday, 12 December 2010
The digging begins...
Alex has made a start on the tarmac removal...hurrah! We're going to get in there with picks, sledgehammers and shovels at 10am on Saturday 8th Jan...join us for a smashing time...
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Take action!
NOTES FROM GROUP MEETING
SUNDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2010
- Several of us had met last Sunday morning to clear up the site. Not much litter has appeared since – any which has, was swiftly dispatched to the rubbish bin by those of us passing by.
- Andrea’s colleagues had produced a brilliant professional design, with advice on plants, etc. Top soil will be the biggest cost – they estimate approx. 20 cu. Metres at a cost of £740 wholesale
ACTION: - everybody to think about where we can get topsoil free or cheap
- Ali to check with Graham of SBCC whether we can dump topsoil when we get it, at the back of the site.
- They had also estimated £500 for plants, and it was agreed that as well as buying, we could beg and borrow some, and in any case stage development of the site.
- Kath had approached the Guides/Brownies, and they are interested in having a small plot to grow veg
- It was agreed that we could remove the tarmac ourselves, but that we would need a skip. Estimated cost of skip circa £180. It was also agreed that we would need to wait for better weather to get this work done.
- Malcolm had met with the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership, who have granted us £200 – with a suggestion that we could apply for more in the new financial year.
ACTION: - Rose and Stef to go to Nationwide to set up a Bank account.
Both to be cheque signatories
- We will hold a raffle at the Christmas ‘round the houses’:
ACTION: Everybody: source raffle prizes. Already volunteered:
Alex/Rose: Thai Garden
Al: Paramount
Alex: Graham
Stef: hairdressers
- Sponsorship was discussed:
ACTION: initially, Ali volunteered to approach garden centres, and Stef to tackle Estate Agents. Other ideas welcome!
- It was agreed that a Christmas card would be designed and printed which would be posted through doors in the streets leading off Churchlands, inviting people to make a donation, and/or contribute to the table top sale in February, and the pub quiz in January.
ACTION: Ian to design a card incorporating the site with a Christmas tree provided and decorated by Rose/Alex. Ali to write the text, which would include the dates for the pub quiz in January and the Table Top in February. Card to be printed and ready for envelope stuffing and delivering by Sunday 12 December.
- Geoff agreed to find some solar lights for the rowan tree.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Sunday 12 November at 5 pm (Alex suggested port and mince pies!), when we will stuff the envelopes and deliver the cards
Sunday, 21 November 2010
The clear up begins!
This morning we made a start on clearing the Churchlands garden patch. We swept up the leaves and rubbish from the area and it's looking better already!
Monday, 15 November 2010
Street meeting - 14th Nov
Our first street meeting was well attended yesterday - thanks to everyone for turning out and showing interest!
Stef chaired the meeting and prepared an agenda - great for keeping everyone focused! We discussed the background to the community garden idea and talked about how we have contacted the trustees of the Christian Centre. We want to create a more welcoming entrance to our street that has plants and flowers, rather than the scruffy concrete area we currently see. The trustees are keen for us to go ahead and beautify the plot and are happy to contribute to the costs of the project. Their only concern is that they would want residents to look after the garden on a long term basis.
In our brainstorm session we discussed the need for the fence around the area, and concluded that it is probably going to have to stay as it is private land. It does mean that litter collects easily in the area and we agreed that we can all take responsibility for clearing this on a day to day basis.
In terms of preparing the ground, the general feeling was that it would be best to dig up the tarmac. Alex and John volunteered to take charge of this and before our next meeting will find out what sort of a job that will be. Rose reckons its very easy and she has a sledgehammer. They will find out the cost of hiring a skip.
There was some discussion about having a bench in the garden, though we decided that perhaps with a fence and locked gate this would be less popular! Members of the public would not be able to get in, and people felt that they were unlikely to sit in there themselves ...
Malcolm suggested that we ask the Brownies, Girl Guide and Girls Brigade groups which meet at the centre, whether they would like to have a section of the garden to maintain. Kathleen will approach the group leaders and find out.
We all agreed that whatever we choose to go in the garden needs to be low maintenance. There is currently a splendid rowan tree in the centre and we may have to keep some tarmac around this because of the leaves and berries that fall from it. Evergreen shrubs requiring effort to keep were a popular option for the rest of the area and some people would also like to see flowers in there. Andrea is going to ask the landscape architects in the office next to hers to suggest some plants for us. We can then look at prices for these and come up with a more definite fundraising plan.
In time we would like to raise the sign for the centre so that we can plant beneath it and we would like to have a litter bin on the street.
Stef is going to run a table top sale in February to raise funds, and we will have a raffle at our Christmas house-to-house party in December. Al has already contacted Riverside Garden centre requesting their support, and has been in touch with the Pigeon free magazine who are happy for us to run an editorial. Stef has been in touch with the Best Garden Group who are looking for streets to support as 'flower streets' this year. She has also spoken to the Greater Bedminster Community group who already have a Patchwork group involved with tidying up the area. Jon and Al will organise a pub quiz and Alex said he would talk to local businesses about supporting the project. Rose agreed to be treasurer for the group. In the event that we raise more funds than we need for the garden, we will use them to buy window boxes and hanging baskets for the rest of the street.
Malcolm suggested that in the meantime we get on with tidying up the area, perhaps putting in a few temporary pots of plants and a sign to let passers by know what we are doing.
Al will contact the trustees to request a key; to find out about changing the padlock on the gate for a combination lock; about running a table top sale one weekend in February; to gain permission to dig up a section of the plot to test the tarmac and about holding our next meeting on Sunday 28th November.
If you were unable to attend yesterday, and want to be involved in the Churchlands Community Garden project, send us a message!
Become a follower of the blog and please do post comments with your suggestions and ideas.
Cheers!
The Churchlands Community Garden Team
Action plan:
Al to phone trustees with queries and get hold of key asap Monday 15th Nov
Stef to run table top sale Feb 2011
Jon & Al to prepare pub quiz Jan 2011
Malcolm to organise tidying up the plot as soon as we have key
Kathleen to talk to the leaders of Brownies and Guides groups by Sun 28th Nov
Alex to speak to Graham at the Carpet shop about donating by Sun 28th Nov
Alex & John to test the tarmac and find out about skip hire by Sun 28th Nov
Andrea to find out about best plants and possible design by Sun 28th Nov
Stef chaired the meeting and prepared an agenda - great for keeping everyone focused! We discussed the background to the community garden idea and talked about how we have contacted the trustees of the Christian Centre. We want to create a more welcoming entrance to our street that has plants and flowers, rather than the scruffy concrete area we currently see. The trustees are keen for us to go ahead and beautify the plot and are happy to contribute to the costs of the project. Their only concern is that they would want residents to look after the garden on a long term basis.
In our brainstorm session we discussed the need for the fence around the area, and concluded that it is probably going to have to stay as it is private land. It does mean that litter collects easily in the area and we agreed that we can all take responsibility for clearing this on a day to day basis.
In terms of preparing the ground, the general feeling was that it would be best to dig up the tarmac. Alex and John volunteered to take charge of this and before our next meeting will find out what sort of a job that will be. Rose reckons its very easy and she has a sledgehammer. They will find out the cost of hiring a skip.
There was some discussion about having a bench in the garden, though we decided that perhaps with a fence and locked gate this would be less popular! Members of the public would not be able to get in, and people felt that they were unlikely to sit in there themselves ...
Malcolm suggested that we ask the Brownies, Girl Guide and Girls Brigade groups which meet at the centre, whether they would like to have a section of the garden to maintain. Kathleen will approach the group leaders and find out.
We all agreed that whatever we choose to go in the garden needs to be low maintenance. There is currently a splendid rowan tree in the centre and we may have to keep some tarmac around this because of the leaves and berries that fall from it. Evergreen shrubs requiring effort to keep were a popular option for the rest of the area and some people would also like to see flowers in there. Andrea is going to ask the landscape architects in the office next to hers to suggest some plants for us. We can then look at prices for these and come up with a more definite fundraising plan.
In time we would like to raise the sign for the centre so that we can plant beneath it and we would like to have a litter bin on the street.
Stef is going to run a table top sale in February to raise funds, and we will have a raffle at our Christmas house-to-house party in December. Al has already contacted Riverside Garden centre requesting their support, and has been in touch with the Pigeon free magazine who are happy for us to run an editorial. Stef has been in touch with the Best Garden Group who are looking for streets to support as 'flower streets' this year. She has also spoken to the Greater Bedminster Community group who already have a Patchwork group involved with tidying up the area. Jon and Al will organise a pub quiz and Alex said he would talk to local businesses about supporting the project. Rose agreed to be treasurer for the group. In the event that we raise more funds than we need for the garden, we will use them to buy window boxes and hanging baskets for the rest of the street.
Malcolm suggested that in the meantime we get on with tidying up the area, perhaps putting in a few temporary pots of plants and a sign to let passers by know what we are doing.
Al will contact the trustees to request a key; to find out about changing the padlock on the gate for a combination lock; about running a table top sale one weekend in February; to gain permission to dig up a section of the plot to test the tarmac and about holding our next meeting on Sunday 28th November.
If you were unable to attend yesterday, and want to be involved in the Churchlands Community Garden project, send us a message!
Become a follower of the blog and please do post comments with your suggestions and ideas.
Cheers!
The Churchlands Community Garden Team
Action plan:
Al to phone trustees with queries and get hold of key asap Monday 15th Nov
Stef to run table top sale Feb 2011
Jon & Al to prepare pub quiz Jan 2011
Malcolm to organise tidying up the plot as soon as we have key
Kathleen to talk to the leaders of Brownies and Guides groups by Sun 28th Nov
Alex to speak to Graham at the Carpet shop about donating by Sun 28th Nov
Alex & John to test the tarmac and find out about skip hire by Sun 28th Nov
Andrea to find out about best plants and possible design by Sun 28th Nov
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Welcome!
Churchlands Road is a friendly street in South Bristol where residents have come together in the past to celebrate and socialise.
At the entrance to our street is a plot of land that is owned by the South Bristol Christian Centre, which is currently tarmacked, fenced in and is home to a Rowan tree, some discarded rubbish and bits of smashed glass.
Householders on Churchlands Road have been in contact with the Trustees of the Christian Centre who have granted us permission to take over the plot of land and transform it into something more beautiful. Over the coming months we intend to raise funds to dig up the tarmac and replace it with shrubs and flowers, making the entrance to our street more welcoming and lovely.
Follow our progress here and if you want to get involved, or make a donation to our project, please get in touch!
The Churchlands Community Garden Team
At the entrance to our street is a plot of land that is owned by the South Bristol Christian Centre, which is currently tarmacked, fenced in and is home to a Rowan tree, some discarded rubbish and bits of smashed glass.
Householders on Churchlands Road have been in contact with the Trustees of the Christian Centre who have granted us permission to take over the plot of land and transform it into something more beautiful. Over the coming months we intend to raise funds to dig up the tarmac and replace it with shrubs and flowers, making the entrance to our street more welcoming and lovely.
Follow our progress here and if you want to get involved, or make a donation to our project, please get in touch!
The Churchlands Community Garden Team
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The plot
November 2010
As it is now...
Before...
The entrance to Churchlands Road..
Watch this space...