Tuesday 28th December 2010 – Post-Christmas Garden Work Party
In early December we discovered that the topsoil that was stored for us on Mousehold Heath and delivered in November is full of bindweed roots.
Eight of us spent the morning removing the roots. It was good to get outside after all the snowy weather and heavy Christmas food!
Wednesday 15th December 2010 – Work resumes on garden
Work resumes on garden construction, with the trellis about to be fixed to the wall at the back of Valentine Street.
Tuesday 14th December 2010 – Fundraising Christmas Cards
A final reminder that our two Christmas Card designs are for sale – this year’s ‘Robin on Flowerpot’ and last year’s ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree’.
Both cards cost 40p each, £1.50 for five or £2.50 for ten.
Postage and packing costs 50p for every ten cards. E-mail us (stating designs and quantities) or phone Fran on 07729 540 482 to order.
Both designs are by group member Vanna Bartlett. Last year’s design is based on Danny’s GHCG logo.
‘Robin on Flowerpot’ (left) and ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree’ (right).
Saturday 4th December 2010 – Bulb Planting
Members of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group spent the morning planting daffodil bulbs in the garden.
Friday 3rd December 2010 – Bulb Planting to go ahead
Bulb planting will go ahead as planned tomorrow. A site visit this morning found that the ground where we will be planting has been protected by the snow so isn’t frozen.
If you wish to attend, please wear stout footwear (e.g. walking boots) as the ground is uneven and covered in snow, wear warm clothing and bring gardening gloves and a trowel if you have them.
Wednesday 1st December 2010 – Update on Bulb Planting
In spite of the cold, snowy weather we are still hoping to do some bulb planting on Saturday 4th December. But we will inspect the garden beforehand and will update this website late on Friday with further news.
Wednesday 17th November 2010 – View work in progress
Work continues on garden construction, with much of the hard landscaping now complete. The railings are being installed this week.
You can view progress in our Garden Construction gallery.
Tuesday 16th November 2010 – Public Meeting at Belvedere Centre
Last night’s public meeting at The Belvedere Centre was well attended. One of the main outcomes was the formation of a planting committee, which will plan how we will plant up the garden.
Wednesday 3rd November 2010 – Garden receives more funding
We are pleased to announce that the project has received a boost in funding from the Greater Norwich Development Partnership as part of the Dereham Road Bus Rapid Transit project. This will allow us to complete the hard and soft landscaping, including items that we were unable to pay for in the first phase of the project funded by Big Lottery Community Spaces.
The new funding will allow us to complete the raised beds, install the rainwater harvesting system and add trellising to grow more fruit trees and berries around the north and west borders of the site. It will also pay for the essential galvanising of the iron railings and complete the shortfall of funds to pay for the decorative gates. Finally it should cover the cost of the remaining soft landscaping.
Items that will still need funding are the bee hives, pedal powered fountain and rent on a nearby secure garage to store equipment. Any local sponsors or businesses willing to help with further funding can contact us. We would also be happy to receive donations or temporary loans of art works, sculptures etc that are in keeping with the design and ethos of this Community Garden project.
Saturday 2nd October 2010 – Fundraising Gig by The Ouagadougous
The Ouagadougous played at our third fundraising gig, at the Belvedere Centre in Norwich. Another enjoyable evening, which raised £275 for the garden.
Wednesday 15th September 2010 – No more tarmac!
Today the layer of tarmac covering the garden site was stripped off.
You can view how garden construction is progressing in our Garden Construction gallery.
Monday 13th September 2010 – Construction starts this week
Work starts this week on the construction of the garden, which will include removal of the tarmac, construction of gates and railings and hard landscaping. This phase of the work is expected to take around nine weeks.
The work will be carried out by local construction firm N D Willan Building Contractors.
Once hard landscaping is complete, we will be able to start planting out the garden. We hope to involve volunteers from the group and the local community in the planting process.
Sunday 5th September 2010 – Co-op donates vouchers
Many thanks to the East of England Co-operative Society for the donation of vouchers, which we use to buy prizes for our raffle at the fundraising gig on 2nd October 2010.
Tuesday 31st August 2010 – Contractor chosen
We have now chosen our preferred contractor for garden construction. Thanks to all the bidders for their hard work.
Monday 9th August 2010 – Contractors invited to tender
Tender documents have been issued to contractors today, inviting them to quote for work on construction of our garden, which is due to start later this year.
Saturday 7th August 2010 – More site clearance
This morning members of the group cleared vegetation from the walls at the back of Valentine Street, ready for work to start on garden construction next month.
Thanks to everyone who took part.
Thursday 5th August 2010 – Garden awarded a fruit trees grant
More good news! Norfolk County Council have awarded us up to £550, which is a 100% grant toward 20 fruit trees and planting accessories as part of their Conservation Grant scheme. Many thanks to Jason Kidman for alerting us to this grant when we met at the St Benedict’s Street Fair in July, and for approving our application.
Monday 2nd August 2010 – Garden awarded grant towards gates
We have just accepted a grant from Norfolk Community Foundation Grassroots grant fund of £2000 specifically to pay toward the £3000 gates. Combined with the £250 received from the John Jarrold Trust we now only need a further £750.
Any local businesses willing to sponsor this final amount will be recognised by signage on or near the gates and in all our publicity.
Friday 30th July 2010 – Garden featured in Eastern Evening News
Earlier this week the garden featured in an article in the Eastern Evening News. See ‘Community garden gets cash boost’.
Monday 26th July 2010
Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.
Sunday 11th July 2010 – St Benedict’s Street Fair
We were fortunate to have another hot and sunny day for the St. Benedict’s Street Fair, which brought a real buzz and carnival atmosphere to the Norwich Lanes. Our fundraising stall was very popular – especially the strawberries! We made a profit of £112.18.
Thanks to Caroline and Peter Brimblecombe for sponsoring one of our fruit trees.
Tuesday 6th July 2010 – Latest news on our gates and railings
Rackham Engineering Ltd have started work on our iron railings.
Many thanks to the John Jarrold Trust for a contribution of £250 towards the garden’s iron gates. We have applications pending with the Norfolk Community Foundation and the East of England Co-operative community fund to cover some of the remaining £2750 we need to raise.
We would welcome any other donations from local businesses or individuals.
Tuesday 6th July 2010 – Tenders welcome for landscaping work
Technical drawings for the tender documents have been made by Mark Ashurst of A Squared Architects. These are now with Andrew Morton QS to draw up a schedule of works.
Any landscape contractors who are interested in receiving an invitiation to tender for the £50,000 work should contact us.
Monday 5th July 2010 – Mile Cross Community Festival a success
We had a fundraising stall at the Mile Cross Community Festival and Classic Car Show in Sloughbottom Park, Norwich.
We sold bric-a-brac and home-grown plants, met many members of the public and found new supporters for our garden. We made a profit of £80.
Thanks to David Smith for agreeing to sponsor one of our fruit trees.
Saturday 3rd July 2010 – Successful Lottery Bid
We are pleased to announce that our lottery bid for £50,000 has been accepted by the Big Lottery Community Spaces fund. We are now in the process of putting together tender documents and are looking for a suitable landscaping contractor to work on the hard landscaping.
Tuesday 15th June 2010
Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.
Sunday 16th May 2010 – Garden featured in Eastern Evening News
Several group members assembled this morning for a press photograph for the Eastern Evening News (see top right photo on this page). On Tuesday 18th May the newspaper is going to feature an article on the group’s appeal for funding for a pair of iron gates for the entrance to the garden.
Wednesday 12th May 2010 – Help needed with iron gates
£3000 is needed to complete security for proposed community garden.
We are appealing to local companies and businesses to fund the cost of some rather splendid iron gates to secure the garden at night time. Having been awarded £9,400 in January, specifically for iron railings, we were approached by three Norfolk engineering companies. Having looked at all three quotes we have decided to appoint K Rackham and Son Engineering Ltd who come with some excellent references. Examples of their railings can be seen all over Norwich including the Cathedral Close and many city parks.
Saturday 1st May 2010 – Inanna’s Festival sponsors a fruit tree
Thanks to Inanna’s Festival for agreeing to sponsor one of our fruit trees.
Food producing ‘Druid Trees’ include apple, hazel, elder and heather.
Apple is the sacred tree which rules the half of the year from Mayday to Hallowe’en and provides many wonderful things to eat and drink. Hazel is the sacred tree for the moon-month 5th August-1st September, and has nourishing and delicious nuts and a variety of magical and medicinal associations.
Inanna’s Festival, 2 St Andrew’s Hill, Norwich, NR2 1AD. Telephone: 01603 626133.
Thursday 22nd April 2010
Committee meeting held at the Belvedere Centre, Belvoir Street, Norwich.
Friday 9th April 2010
Fiskars are donating funds, tools and materials to community garden groups. Please visit the Fiskars Orange Thumb website here and nominate Grapes Hill Community Garden.
If we win we will have the assistance of a team of Orange Thumb volunteers and Fiskars garden tools.
Saturday 13th March 2010 – Successful second fundraising gig
Our successful second Fundraising Gig at the Belvedere Centre in Norwich raised £235.90 for the group. Curly Blows It Dry played some very danceable music, and were supported by John Brown and Urban Oasis.
Tuesday 9th March 2010
Saturday’s upcoming gig is featured in South Norwich News.
Sunday 7th March 2010 – Site clearance takes place
Members of the group spent the day clearing litter and bushes from the site. We had to do this work before the start of the nesting season, so that site work can be carried out during the spring and summer without disturbing nesting birds. Thanks to everyone who took part.
Friday 26th February 2010 – Garden wins a Norwich EcoAward
We were extremely pleased to win an award at yesterday’s Norwich EcoAwards 2010 ceremony, in the category of Eco Community Group.
The award was made by the Sheriff of Norwich, Professor Tim O’Riordan, at City Hall in Norwich.
Four members of the group attended the ceremony.
Friday 29th January 2010
Good news! We have just received £9,400 via Norwich City Council for the installation of secure railings and a gate for the garden.
We are now looking for a local business to bid for the work. Interested parties should contact us on 07729 540 482.
The money is provided as part of RESPECT funding provided to Norwich City Council by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in recognition of Norwich’s work to tackle Antisocial Behaviour as a RESPECT Action Area.
We are also in the final stages of submitting an application to Open Spaces Lottery fund to pay for the construction of the garden itself having recently completed local consultation on plans drawn up by City Council architect Lara Hall.
Wednesday 13th January 2010
Thanks to everyone who commented on the garden plans.
The final deadline for comments was Tuesday 12th January 2010 and we are now in the process of submitting a lottery funding application to pay for building the garden.