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A Green Space in Your Local Community

The Netteswell Garden, at Rhodes has been redeveloped using funding provided by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund and BBC Breathing Places.

The site has been re-designed by local natural history expert Peter Ta’Bois to include wildlife habitats for birds, bats, and insects and is complimented by sensory and wild flower planting. The garden provides excellent learning opportunities for local schools and youth groups, and it provides a restful, sensory experience for everyone from the local community to enjoy.

Features of the garden include:

• Raised beds to allow wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments including the elderly to get closer to the plants.
• A loggery and habitat pile to encourage invertebrates.
• Wood slices which provide easily accessible ‘mini beast’ areas for children to explore.
• Planting of new hedging and transplants to establish a hedgerow
• Planting schemes which include native wild flora, plus shrubs to attract wildlife, especially butterflies.
• Nesting boxes for bats, birds, lacewings and ladybirds

Young adults from St Elizabeth’s College, Much Hadham are working in the garden on a weekly basis during term time helping to maintain it. The garden is already reaping the benefits of their work.
A scheme has also been launched to enable local schools to ‘adopt’ part of the garden for a year at a time.  The first of the schools to take on this challenge is Little Hallingbury Church of England Primary School.  Twelve pupils attended an initial Digging Day on 2nd July and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They have ‘adopted’ the raised bed area and we are very grateful to the Bishop’s Stortford branch of Homebase who have provided bulbs and plants free of charge.

The children, along with the young adults from St Elizabeth’s College attended the official opening of the Garden by Bishop’s Stortford’s Mayor, Cllr Colin Woodward at a coffee morning on Tuesday 7th July 2009. 

Would you also like to get involved with this on-going project?  We are looking for volunteers with a real passion for gardening and wildlife to work to an annual maintenance and development plan for the garden which has been devised by the designer Peter Ta’Bois.  If you would like to help, please contact Jill Daniels on 01279 651 746 or e-mail on: info@rhodesbishopsstortford.org.uk We would also like to hear from Schools interested in following Little Hallingbury Primary School in adopting an area of the garden.

But you don’t have to work in the garden to appreciate it.  Just come along and rest a-while, away from the bustle of the town, listen to the birdsong and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee from the Trinity Cafe/Bar at Rhodes!

The Rhodes Arts Complex and Bishop’s Stortford Museum are delighted by the enthusiasm for the project shown by St Elizabeth’s College and Little Hallingbury Primary School and we appreciate all their help. 

We are most grateful to the Big Lottery Fund and BBC Breathing Places for the initial grant allowing redevelopment of the Netteswell Garden and the follow-up grant of £5,000 which has paid for the creation and installation of a ‘Sign For All’ guide to the garden, designed by the RNIB, and the provision of tools for the children and volunteers.