From the Chair....
Hello and welcome to the web site for the Friends of Bolitho Gardens and Newlyn Green.
In March this year, shortly after the storms had battered our coasts of Britain, I wandered through the Bolitho Gardens. It was not only the storms which had left the flower beds and borders uncared for and bare, but the lack of funding to maintain and look after an area which could serve not only as a beautiful place once again to appreciate but also a haven for our declining population of bumblebees.
The Garden was sad and unloved. The Queen Bumblebee shortly to awake from her Winter hibernation would be foraging, but there was a lack of enough Spring flowers which would serve to feed her with rich nectar and pollen.
As a volunteer with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, I have become concerned, as many, for the population of Bumblebees. Along with many other pollinators these are essential to the environment and as with the honey bee and some species of butterfly they are in serious decline.
I help by supporting the Bumblebee Conservation Trust with talks, walks and various marketing, which includes charity stalls with information and merchandise and visits to schools, but there was something else I could do, here in the Gardens. I could find out about planting more wild native flowers and bumblebee friendly flowers here. Not a difficult task surely, just a polite letter to the Council!
It was not that easy.... From a small idea about planting native or wild flowers, this evolved into a Friends Group, volunteers managing the gardens with a Membership, Committee and a Constitution. It was hard work, but eventually with a sound Committee and an agreed Constitution the Friends of Bolitho Gardens and Newlyn Green was formed.
Every Wednesday afternoon, a group of us will be found in the Gardens, digging, planting, weeding. We now have funding from Penzance Town Council and The Councillors Community Chest. This allows us to buy native seeds for wild flowers, good quality plants and all bumblebee friendly for not all flowers are perfect for pollinators.
We work with Newlyn School, our Tresurer, Simon is a teacher there and our link within education, to help the Learning Through Landscape initiative. Already the children have joined us in planting poppy plants, collecting seeds for the Autumn sowing, designing our logo and will be gathering around the Remembrance Rockery on 11th November with photographs of their ancestors who fought or died during the First World War.
Our "neighbours" in the Gardens are the Penlee Bowls Club and from the very beginning they have supported us and allowed us to use their small outside hut for our use. This we call "The Hut" and it is crammed with tools, chairs, lots of pots and seed trays, donated by our Secretary, Clive, information on wild life and of course bumblebees, posters on the wall and the obligatory kettle and mugs for that wonderful tea break. The first volunteer day we cleaned and painted the hut and I am very gratful to Peter Morgan who spent two days painting the walls.
There is still much to do and with the help and advice from Cormac's Manager Tom Marks and Supervisor Phil Howell we hope to improve the Gardens and also provide a more natural habitat for wildlife.
Melanie
September 2014
Hello and welcome to the web site for the Friends of Bolitho Gardens and Newlyn Green.
In March this year, shortly after the storms had battered our coasts of Britain, I wandered through the Bolitho Gardens. It was not only the storms which had left the flower beds and borders uncared for and bare, but the lack of funding to maintain and look after an area which could serve not only as a beautiful place once again to appreciate but also a haven for our declining population of bumblebees.
The Garden was sad and unloved. The Queen Bumblebee shortly to awake from her Winter hibernation would be foraging, but there was a lack of enough Spring flowers which would serve to feed her with rich nectar and pollen.
As a volunteer with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, I have become concerned, as many, for the population of Bumblebees. Along with many other pollinators these are essential to the environment and as with the honey bee and some species of butterfly they are in serious decline.
I help by supporting the Bumblebee Conservation Trust with talks, walks and various marketing, which includes charity stalls with information and merchandise and visits to schools, but there was something else I could do, here in the Gardens. I could find out about planting more wild native flowers and bumblebee friendly flowers here. Not a difficult task surely, just a polite letter to the Council!
It was not that easy.... From a small idea about planting native or wild flowers, this evolved into a Friends Group, volunteers managing the gardens with a Membership, Committee and a Constitution. It was hard work, but eventually with a sound Committee and an agreed Constitution the Friends of Bolitho Gardens and Newlyn Green was formed.
Every Wednesday afternoon, a group of us will be found in the Gardens, digging, planting, weeding. We now have funding from Penzance Town Council and The Councillors Community Chest. This allows us to buy native seeds for wild flowers, good quality plants and all bumblebee friendly for not all flowers are perfect for pollinators.
We work with Newlyn School, our Tresurer, Simon is a teacher there and our link within education, to help the Learning Through Landscape initiative. Already the children have joined us in planting poppy plants, collecting seeds for the Autumn sowing, designing our logo and will be gathering around the Remembrance Rockery on 11th November with photographs of their ancestors who fought or died during the First World War.
Our "neighbours" in the Gardens are the Penlee Bowls Club and from the very beginning they have supported us and allowed us to use their small outside hut for our use. This we call "The Hut" and it is crammed with tools, chairs, lots of pots and seed trays, donated by our Secretary, Clive, information on wild life and of course bumblebees, posters on the wall and the obligatory kettle and mugs for that wonderful tea break. The first volunteer day we cleaned and painted the hut and I am very gratful to Peter Morgan who spent two days painting the walls.
There is still much to do and with the help and advice from Cormac's Manager Tom Marks and Supervisor Phil Howell we hope to improve the Gardens and also provide a more natural habitat for wildlife.
Melanie
September 2014