On the Move!

Time to move the 7 barrier troughs back into place on the railings. They are the ones that are planted up with alpine plants and had to be taken down due to work on the new bus station. No mean task as they are incredibly heavy and had been in storage for quite some time behind the greenhouse in the park.

They needed tidying up and had become quite water-logged which is not good for alpines, but the spring bulbs had started to flower so they looked quite colourful.With the aid of a trolley and some helping hands they were trundled through the park one at a time to be put back on the railings where they had come from.

At long last...a new home for the tripe baths

We are very pleased to report that after being in storage for many months, and with great thanks to Farmac, the tripe baths were safely transported to their new home in the Lowtown garden very early on the morning of November 6th.

It was quite a military operation, but with many hands on deck things went like clockwork.
Just after 8am, the truck arrived from Farmac carrying its precious load.

Then they were lifted off on the hoist and transported on wheels up the path:

It took four strong men to move them into position and a bag of rubble was emptied into each one to add even more weight and help reduce the amount of compost needed to fill them.

Now all that needed doing was a bit of planting, I`ve heard of `crock in the pot` but this was on a rather large scale!

And finally here`s what they look like planted up, perhaps not the prettiest of planting troughs but they certainly are historical and have had an amazing journey, this should now be their home for a very long time to come. The Civic Society have also played a large part in this adventure and are funding some plaques that we will postion near the baths to tell folk all about them, have a look next time you visit the garden, oh and many thanks to `Lightbite` who kindly made us a cup of coffee!

The Tripe baths are coming home!

Thanks to Farmac building supplies and the civic society who are arranging the transportation of the old tripe baths that have been in storage since the start of the bus station build.
On the 6th November they will be moved to their new home in the Lowtown garden, with a bit of help from friends.
Photos and a post on this event to follow.

It`s that time of year again!

Time to start the replanting of the troughs and flower tubs with primulas, pansies and bulbs. Twenty troughs to plant up, that`s quite a feat!
Trying to make Pudsey looking its best at the moment is a challenge with the continuing mayhem caused by the building of the new bus station, but the end is in sight, and in the meantime we carry on with the good work...we hope that everyone appreciates our efforts!

And here they are!

We mangaed to get the fist sign in place in one of the flower beds in Pudsey today during our `pre-judging` tidy. It`s only temporary for the moment until we get time to cement them in, but at least we can show it to the `Yorkshire In Bloom` judges when they visit tomorrow.

New signs for the Flower Beds

As we work so hard trying to improve the flower beds in Pudsey, we wanted people to see the areas the group have planted, as many still are under the impression that it is Leeds City Council who are doing the hard work. We have used some of the grant money we received from YEP `cash in the community`to have some new signs made that will shortly be appearing. Thanks to Warbla Forge for making them for us and to Teal Signs for the very eye-catching design.

Leeds wins GOLD at Chelsea!

I was fortunate to visit the RHS Chelsea flower show this year, my first ever visit. How wonderful too that Leeds City Council won its first Gold medal with their `Hesco Garden 2010`

The garden created by the council`s Parks and Countryside service with support from sponsors Hesco Bastion Ltd.attracted huge interest as the show was visited by over 150,000 people from all over the world! Based on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, the garden had a stunning centrepiece- a pair of twelve feet high lock gates and a canal section.The garden made history three times over: Leeds City Council`s first ever gold award at Chelsea; the first time any local authority has won a gold medal for an outdoor show garden in the history of the event and the first time a water feature of its type has ever been seen at Chelsea. Apparently offers were made to buy the garden, including one person who wanted to take it back to Dallas in America, but have no fear it is heading back to Leeds with the intention of putting it permanently in one of the public parks in Leeds within one year.

Even better news, as a yorkshire lass, I was invited to take a special tour of the garden, I felt like a celebrity!

Another winner for our region was the Yorkshire Rhubarb Cumble and custard Garden ,as well as winning a Silver medal it was also awarded the peoples vote for best in show in the courtyard gardens section: