Overgrown Doncaster area village wasteland transformed into stunning community gardens

The beautiful new garden will be launched in Gringley on the Hill on April 30 after weeks of work from villagers who have worked for years to revamp the patch of land into a tranquil spot for all ages to enjoy.

The Finkell Street project, spearheaded by Gringley on the Hill Allotment and Garden Society, will see the ribbon on the new gardens cut by Annie Hargrave, whose late husband was a member of the Parish Council and committee member of the society.

The launch will take place at noon and visitors will be able to enjoy food at Your Plaice Or Mine’ fish and chips van while there will also be a coffee van in attendance.

Spokesman Alex Morris said: “The creation of the village gardens were truly a community event, bringing teams of volunteers together numerous times through the year to help clear, weed, spread soil, muck spreading, grass laying and planting.

"With the help of local companies and lottery money, the gardens were completed providing Gringley with a wonderful place for the whole village to enjoy with the vision to create a relaxing space for families to come and find a peaceful, tranquil place for everyone to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the countryside.”

A memorial bench was donated by the Gringley Allotment and Garden Society and Gringley Parish Council each paying paying half for a bench in memory of Annie’s husband Paul Hargrave.

Signage has also been designed showing all the locals landmarks on the horizon beyond the gardens.

The society approached the parish council about the possibility of developing an unused area of land on the village playing fields as a community garden.

The council gave it their approval and so an application was made for Lottery funding. That application was successful and work began in July 2020.

A survey of all the village residents was carried out, to find out what things they would like to see in the garden and plans were then drawn up.

Added Alex: “The area was very wild with waist high weeds and it took a lot of hard work by a large group of volunteers to clear the weeds before we could get a digger in to help us.

“A double hedge was then planted all around the site consisting of a mix of 420 trees that will bear fruit, berries, nuts, blossom and give Autumn colour. All the trees were donated to us by The Woodland Trust under their, 'Schools and Community Group' scheme.

"A gentle slope was created to give access to the site and plastic mesh put down to reinforce the grass for wheelchair users.”

The army of volunteers were once again called upon to prepare the ground and lay 400sq m of turf and the garden also features two mixed shrub borders producing interest throughout the year with reds and yellows.

There are cherry trees donated by community members under planted with various different types of bulbs as well as mosaics created by local school pupils which will be displayed on picnic tables and notice board supports.