Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2012 by Helen Lerner

Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2012

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Contents 1

Introduction

Walthamstow Village in Bloom and its Boundary

Gardening Club

Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Display

Front Garden and Communal Areas Challenge

Beautiful Premises Challenge

Flower Planting in Vestry Road Playground

10 Village Square – Eden Road Project 11

Garden for the Games

12 Plant, Seed and Produce Swaps 13 Our Green Spaces 14 Annual Spring Clean & Olympic Clean Up 15 Crime Prevention and Civic Pride 17 Bulb Planting 18 Fundraising and Awareness 20 Our Diamond Jubillee Meadow 21 Village Veg – Your Doorstep Allotment 22 Recognition 23 Henry Maynard Junior School Community Garden 24 Vestry House Community Garden 25 St Mary’s Churchyard 26 Sponsors and Credits

Walthamstow Village is an ancient nucleus of present day Walthamstow, located in north east London. The Domesday Book records that Walthamstow, at the time of the Norman Conquest, comprised four separate village settlements. The parish at the time was called Wilcumestou, probably Old Engish for the welcome place. The Village was designated a conservation area by Waltham Forest Council in 1967. At its centre is St Mary’s Church which was consecrated 900 years ago and a 15th century timber-framed hall house known as The Ancient House. From the 18th century the church common was encroached upon with the erection of the workhouse (now Vestry House Museum), the Squires’ Almhouses and the National School and other notable buildings, many of which will be seen in our tour of Walthamstow Village in Bloom. William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834 and the family lived locally and attended St Mary’s Church until 1856.

The coming of the railway in 1869 generated a rapid population increase and the railway cutting created a physical barrier between the old village centre and the Victorian development. With the houses came the shops and by 1877 Orford and Beulah Roads had become the shopping centre of Walthamstow. The relocation of the town hall from Vestry House to Orford Road in 1876 confirmed its status as the centre of Walthamstow.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Introduction

The Village was saved from modernisation by the opening of the station at the Central which drew commercial development away and the relocation of the town hall to a new building on Forest Road in 1941. In 2003 the WVRA successfully campaigned for Retail Parade Status to be re-granted to Orford Road and it is thriving, despite the recession. The Village has a very distinct atmosphere with its quaint buildings, alleys and quirky streets, shops, pubs and restaurants and has a superb community spirit. Those living here consider themselves part of a very special area. Walthamstow Village in Bloom includes the Walthamstow Village and the Orford Road Conservation Areas and surrounding streets. It encompasses areas of the Hoe Street and Wood Street wards of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Walthamstow Village in Bloom and its boundary In 2003 Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association (WVRA) formed its Environment Committee in response to concerns voiced by residents at Open Meetings. The Village was in a terrible state so we organised the first of our annual spring cleans and started a monthly gardening club and have, over the years, adopted most public spaces and added more events to our calendar. We first entered London in Bloom in 2008 and in September 2011 Walthamstow Village in Bloom achieved a gold award and was awarded London’s Best Urban Community for the third year running. We were UK finalists in the national competition RHS Britain in Bloom 2011 and achieved a silver award. This year we have entered the new London Village

category. Our boundaries are informally increasing with the surrounding areas being noticeably improved as residents further afield are inspired to adopt flowerbeds, public spaces, start Friends’ Groups and improve their front gardens. Being 100% volunteerled, raising our own funds and propagating plants from division and seed, we seem not to have been affected by the recession, but may be by the hosepipe ban. Again this year we have been invaluably assisted and supported by Waltham Forest council. WF’s Contracts Monitoring Officer Paul Tickner and his colleagues have worked with us in partnership and have been encouraged by our success to initiate policies based on our ideas to improve the whole borough as we welcome the London 2012 Olympics this summer.

The Walthamstow Village Residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gardening Club started in August 2004 to tend the garden on the corner of Eden and Orford Roads (later becoming the Village Square). We now also maintain the adopted planters, flowerbeds, tree pits and any public spaces that require attention. We have a core group of stalwarts who turn up every month, come rain or shine. Before each gardening day a reminder email is sent to the 600 people on the WVRA contact list; some of whom come along if they are available and if they want to participate in a certain project. Those who join in include families with children and people of all ages, abilities and from a variety of backgrounds.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Gardening Club

We meet on the first Saturday of every month until May when we increase meetings on an ad hoc basis. We have a year-round list of activities that includes weeding, planting and pruning, litter-picking, painting out and cleaning off graffiti, re-painting street furniture and clearing and cutting back vegetation from footpaths. We separate gardening waste and have installed a compost bin on the square. Volunteers bring their own tools and gloves and we are supplied with bags by Waltham Forest. All other equipment and items are funded by WVRA.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Displays Walthamstow is the birthplace of William Morris and, with this in mind, Graham Sherman of Outer Space Gardens has designed the planting for our many brick-built planters and flowerbeds. Plants chosen are hardy and drought-tolerant and we are able to collect seeds, divide the plants and take cuttings so that we can sustain and maintain them. Each year we add summer and spring bulbs to enhance the displays.

After

Before

The planters have been transformed from eyesores, with damaged brickwork, overgrown shrubs blocking sightlines, attracting litter, fly-tipping and providing cover for anti-social activity, to beautiful displays acting as gateways to the Village and providing year-round

interest in texture, movement and colour. In 2007 Waltham Forest ran an initiative to enable residents to adopt a flowerbed. The WVRA funded the planting of six planters with another being sponsored for planting and annual maintenance by Fullerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Builders, designed in their livery colours. In 2008 WVRA adopted and funded the planting of the flowerbed on Vestry Green and in 2010 we received a grant of ÂŁ6,740 from the local Community Council to adopt, repair and replant two more planters on Church Lane. Last year we replanted the Village Square.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

After

Before Three planters in Maynard Road have been unofficially adopted by residents and filled with donated plants and vegetables. Tree-pits are planted with drought-tolerant plants and bulbs.

We have a year-round programme of pruning, dead-heading, seed-collecting and weeding and we use no herbicides or pesticides and only organic feed. We divide and take cuttings from established plants. The beds are mulched to suppress weeds and retain moisture and, in times of drought, we put out a plea for residents to collect their â&#x20AC;&#x153;greyâ&#x20AC;? water to use on them .

Waltham Forest kindly supplies and maintains the lamppost baskets with summer and winter displays. Their contractor Kier and The London Gardening Club give us their surplus bedding plants that we use to brighten the communal gardens of our localauthority housing and sheltered housing complexes.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Front Garden and Communal Areas Challenge 2012 – Garden for the Games On 24 March the Front Garden Challenge 2012 was launched to encourage residents to participate in Walthamstow Village in Bloom. 2000 Village Magazines containing an entry form, information and in-Bloom news were distributed; another magazine is delivered in June. This year it’s being run with an Olympic theme! We encourage residents to use peat-free products, to use water wisely, to compost garden waste and to garden organically. All entrants receive a certificate of participation and are invited to our own awards ceremony at the WVRA AGM. The best Olympic themed garden will win a special prize and we choose one entry for nomination in the London in Bloom Front Garden Award. In 2011 we had over 60 entries with Dorry Ender’s cottage garden at 106 Beulah Road winning overall. Influenced by our success in improving the residential street-scene, in late 2010 Waltham Forest launched a

borough-wide Filthy Front Gardens campaign and has since cleared over 2000 front gardens. Residents are rewarded with a Best Kept Front Garden Award which was won in April at the Love Your Borough award ceremony by our 2009 winners Mr & Mrs Martin of 9 Church Lane; the runners-up were Don Mapp of 47 Maynard Road, our 2010 winner, and Caroline Barton of 13 Church Path. Don’s garden has been featured in the RHS The Garden magazine and national newspapers. We have gardens in Brunswick Street and Maynard Road that open under NGS. WVRA volunteers work with residents to brighten the communal gardens of flats in Grosvenor Rise East, Church Lane and Wingfield Road. We have large numbers of sheltered accommodation and almshouses in the Village and they all enter the challenge.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Beautiful Premises Challenge 2012 We launched the Beautiful Premises Challenge 2012 on 24 March and informed all businesses, schools, organisations, and religious and community groups within our in Bloom boundary. The Spring edition of The Village magazine contained an entry form, information and news, as well as our aims plus some encouragement and advice and ways in which businesses may wish to help by sponsoring a display or making a donation; another magazine will be delivered in June. We held our own awards ceremony at the WVRA AGM in October. Every entrant received a Certificate of Participation and the Best and Highly Commended entries received the Certificate of Excellence from London in Bloom and a Britain in Bloom tee shirt. In 2011 our Best Community Garden was won by Henry Maynard Junior School, Best Pub/Restaurant by The Queen’s Arms in Orford Road and Best Business Display by the Collard Court Almshouses in Maynard Road.

The Queen’s Arms Public House in recognition of achieving Best Pub & Restaurant Premises in the Beautiful Premises Challenge

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On 14 April we ran a free childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Olympicthemed workshop planting gold-medal coloured cottage-flower seeds including marigolds, sunflowers and black-eyed susans. Penny Wiles from the local Church Hill gardening group helped the children and explained to them about growing plants from seeds. Some were old-hands, having attended our workshops before and were proud to show off their planting skills. The children took their pots of seeds home with instructions on how to nurture them. On 2 June, during the Diamond Jubilee weekend, the children will return with their seedlings to a union-flag bedecked Vestry Road Playground to

plant them along the serpentine flowerbed against the mesh fence.

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The flowers will again cheer up the playground and give the children a sense of pride and ownership of their recreation area. They will attract bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects and their seed heads will feed the birds in autumn.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Olympic-Themed Flower Planting in Vestry Road Playground

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Village Square – Eden Road Project It started in 2003 when, fed up with the appalling state of the garden on the corner of Orford and Eden Roads, the WVRA Environment Committee ran a gardening day to weed and clean up the area. There was no bin, the benches were broken and often inhabited by street drinkers and the beds were full of weeds and rubbish and were being used as a toilet.

Since 2005 LB Waltham Forest has donated a Christmas tree and lights and the WVRA holds a carol singing event that in 2011 attracted 350 residents. The notice board is well used by local groups and residents. The Square is used for craft events, the Plant and Seed Swaps and by the Safer Neighbourhood Team for their crime prevention stall. In 2010-11 we were awarded £2,862.50 by Hoe Street Community Council to replant the Village Square. The Gardening Club cleared the beds, drastically pruned back the overgrown shrubs, spread tonnes of compost to improve the soil and mulched after planting. The flowerbeds are beautifully designed and planted by Outer Space Gardens to match the other areas we have adopted. In November we planted 500 triandus bulbs that gave a wonderful display in spring.

In 2005 we were awarded a Living Spaces grant of £3,970 for a bench, a bin and a notice board. Residents and a local builder supplied all the labour. A second bench was donated by a family in memory of a resident. These activities led to the birth of the WVRA Gardening Club; we still use the Square as our meeting point and start our day by weeding, sweeping and tidying it.

The Village Square is one of the focal points of the Village and is a pleasant place in which residents and shoppers can meet or sit.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Garden for the Games London 2012 Olympics As part of an Olympic host borough, the residents and businesses of Walthamstow Village are eager to welcome the Games and the extra visitors they will attract and we want to have the area looking its best. Helen Lerner is a Local Leader for the Olympic initiative Garden for the Games and we are running our 2012 Garden Challenges and summer events with an Olympic theme to encourage everyone to Grow for Gold! The producer of Gardeners’ Question Time, Lucy Dichmont who lives locally, has invited ten members of our Gardening Club to a guided tour by the designers of the gardens at the Olympic Park and after to participate in a recording of GQT at the Aquatics Centre on 14 June. In recognition of all the voluntary work she does in the Borough, our very own Teresa Deacon has been chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer and her Moment to Shine is on Saturday 21 July when she is part of the Torch Relay in Waltham Forest! We are very proud of Teresa and the work she does and will be lining the route, cheering her on.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Plant, Seed and Produce Swaps We held our first Plant and Seed Swap in 2009 to encourage residents to improve their front gardens, window boxes and planters, to grow fruit and vegetables and to raise the profile of our in-Bloom campaign. It was such a success that we now run Plant and Seed Swaps every spring and add a produce swap in autumn. In September 2011 we joined in with The RHS’ Dig Together Day and ran a workshop for children building an insect hotel for our wildlife area.

Packets of collected seeds are given out and people bring their surplus seeds, plants, pots, produce and gardening equipment to swap. Graham answers gardeners’ queries and identifies plants. Vegetable seeds and plants are swapped and we have made leaflets with foodgrowing advice. In April we joined in with The RHS’ National Gardening Week and ran a children’s seed planting workshop and sowed our meadow.

Our green spaces Being an Urban Village every green space is most important. The largest is the ancient St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Churchyard. We are in close consultation with the church groundsman Tim. The churchyard is spread over more than three acres in which there are about 1,300 monuments (the oldest dated 1710). There are over 26,000 burials, of which more than 16,000 since the mid 17th century are recorded in the registers. The south churchyard is cared for by volunteers from Mencap, the area adjacent to the Monoux Almshouses by residents as their garden and the remainder by the grounds staff. The church, after completing its programme of tree maintenance, has now planned a long-grass policy for the north churchyard. Some areas are left uncultivated to encourage wildlife and they are a haven for birds, insects and small mammals. There is a composting area and bird and bat boxes in the many trees. We and the church do a lot of work to keep Vinegar Alley clean and tidy but leave the native plants and wildflowers to encourage wildlife and to give the path a woodland feel. We have sown thousands of seeds and planted bulbs along the length.

with Network Rail to try and keep it as nice as we can. There is a small enclosed wildlife area in Vestry Road and last year we installed an insect house and created woodpiles. The bird boxes were used by families of blue tits. Vestry House Museum garden has a wonderful wildflower area.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Waltham Forest Friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of the Earth attend our events promoting The Bee Cause and handing out information, badges and stickers. We are working with bee-keeping residents to set up hives in the churchyard. We hope our new meadow will attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. The deep railway cutting is home to much wildlife and we liaise

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

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Annual Spring Clean & Olympic Clean Up We launched Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2012 on 24 March with our 10th annual clean attended by a record 90 people of all ages, abilities and from a wide variety of backgrounds. Residents were joined by Waltham Forest council officers and operatives from their contractor Kier. We laid on a picnic lunch on Vestry Green for all. We joined Waltham Forest’s second Spring Clean which was started as a direct response to our success. 66 cleans took place across the borough involving 3,000 volunteers. It all started in 2003 when Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association’s (WVRA) Environment Committee ran its first spring clean after many complaints were received from residents at an Open Meeting, concerning the litter, graffiti and fly-tipping that had been accumulating in every nook and cranny, path and alley of the Village.

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We divide spring cleaners into teams to tackle specific areas, clear rubbish, re-paint street furniture and garden communal areas and tree-pits while younger children litter-pick the local recreation grounds. The borough Enforcement Team came to witness the clearance of fly-tips which may lead to prosecutions. ��

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The Spring Clean is a very satisfying and enjoyable event and has helped instil pride in the area; it gives everyone a chance to work together, meet their neighbours and improve the Village. In June we hold a similar Clean Up to spruce up the area before judging. Today, if someone dumps something or graffiti appears it instantly stands out and we encourage people to report items to Waltham Forest Direct so that it is dealt with before it becomes a problem.

Walthamstow Village is a quaint area that has many old paths and alleys and a large churchyard. Unfortunately, over the years there have been spates of muggings and robberies and even a murder that have taken place in these areas. On the advice of the Metropolitan Police the Gardening Club carries out work to “eliminate recesses, blind corners and hiding places” and remove graffiti. Work includes: • reporting illicit satellite-dish installation in the conservation areas to WF Enforcement with proof from Google Street-View 2008 that they fall outside the four-year rule. • clearance of St Mary’s churchyard, Vinegar Alley sites and Beulah Path by the Community Payback Team and youth-offender groups. • clearance by Waltham Forest of the giant Leylandii from the green adjacent to The Ancient House • removal of graffiti and fly-tipping and maintenance of verges in Vinegar Alley • removal and painting over of graffiti on walls, signs and street furniture • reporting, and encouraging residents to report, lighting defects and street problems to Waltham Forest Direct • reporting fly-tipping and graffiti on the railway embankments to Network Rail • cutting back of vegetation blocking sightlines and pathways • running anti-dog fouling campaigns • liaising with property companies to ensure signs are removed within two weeks of let or sale • facilitating residents in swapping and sharing bins to reduce the number and size of wheelie-bins in front gardens.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Crime Prevention & Civic Pride

We also: • attend Ward Forum meetings to ensure residents’ voices are heard. • consult with WF and attend their meetings re planning, transport, environment, rubbish collection, cleansing etc. • hold open meetings for residents to voice their concerns and feedback • have set up a sub-committee to pass on residents’ concerns regarding the recently introduced controlled parking zone to WF council. • attend council Street Watchers meetings • liaise with and advise other community groups such as Cleveland Park RA.

Our dedicated PCSO, Russell Gillingham knows everybody, keeps an eye on elderly and vulnerable folk, deals with any problems, has moved on the street drinkers, encourages responsible dogownership and attends our events. Our friendly street cleansing operative Cecil works hard to keep Village streets and alleys spick and span.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Since 2003 weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve held a planting event every year and many thousands of bulbs have been planted throughout the Village area. In autumn 2011 we received crocus bulbs supplied by the Council via the nearby Organiclea group, 300 mixed spring bulbs from The Big Bulb Plant and the WVRA funded 250 Ice Wings (white) and 250 Hawera (pale yellow) triandrus daffodil bulbs. On 5 November our volunteers planted them in the beds of the newly designed Village square.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Bulb planting

Again our Megan Whitear donated thousands of snowdrops and planted them along Vinegar Alley. A resident gave us hundreds of muscari bulbs that we planted with fritillary and crocus bulbs in tree pits.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

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The WVRA has a year-round programme of events. The Annual Garden Party in the Museum garden in July attracted over 1,300 people and is our main fundraiser. The next is on 8 July. In November we hold our Annual Curry Quiz. The 120 tickets were again sold out in 2011 and a homecooked curry supper was served and a raffle held.

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Council contractor Kier and The London Gardening Club donate surplus plants. Three times a year WVRA produces a magazine that is delivered door-to-door to 2000 properties locally. Costs are covered by local business advertising.

The Asian Centre kindly lends us the hall free of charge for Open Meetings and the AGM. In October the annual Apple Day, held in the Vestry House gardens, was organised by WVRA, Organiclea and the Hornbeam Centre and attracted over 1,500 people. Local businesses donate money, goods or vouchers for raffles or to use at events. Our in-Bloom events were published in Waltham Forest News’ Green Celebrations that was distributed to every property in the borough. WVRA has an email list of over 600 residents and community groups who are sent details of what’s on. MP Stella Creasy advertises our events in her weekly e-newsletter. The notice board on the Village Square is kept up to date with posters and information.

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We have a Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association website and a Walthamstow Village in Bloom Facebook group.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

We apply for grants via our Wood Street and Hoe Street Ward Forums that replaced the larger Community Council and set up displays to inform residents of our work. We are members of Volunteering England and Litter Hitters and feature on their websites. We are advisers on the Hoe Street First Community Ward Panel that has a budget of £34,910 to spend over three years on improvements in the ward. We have close links with, amongst others, WF Civic Society, WF Friends of the Earth, Walthamstow Historical Society, the Drive Housing Co-op, Organiclea, the Hornbeam Centre, E17 Art Trail and WF Literature Festival and Friends of Wingfield Park. Helen Lerner spoke about community-led groups and getting volunteers involved at November’s RHS Britain in Bloom Forum in Nottingham.

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To commemorate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and 2012’s Year of the Meadow we decided to use the transformed corner of Orford and Church End to plant a perennial meadow. Before

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Our Diamond Jubilee Meadow

This piece of land, until last year, was completely dominated by a huge Leyland Cyprus that cut out light and was a magnet for anti-social activity. After consultation with Waltham Forest and the RHS a single-stemmed Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) was chosen to replace the Leylandii as it is historically in context and inspired William Morris’ design Arbutus.

Waltham Forest donated the seeds, which contain 70% grasses and 30% native wildflowers (10% of which are cornfield annuals), and cleared the area of the scrubby grass and the Gardening Club further prepared the area by digging and levelling it and, after a month, raking it to a fine tilth.

We divided the area into 96 metre squares and the seeds into 96 cups containing 5g for residents to each sow at our spring Plant & Seed Swap. We hope the April showers gave it a good start and look forward to seeing the results during this summer and next, when the perennials flower.

Over the past couple of years many residents have started using their front gardens to grow food and they look great! Growing food has so many benefits and is a good way of slashing the shopping bills. We are encouraging residents to grow-their-own and to adopt neighbours’ neglected gardens to do so; Graham has produced vegetable growing information leaflets, we provide seeds at the Plant & Seed Swaps and plant edible crops and herbs in some of our adopted areas for people to help themselves.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Village Veg – Your Doorstep Allotment

We already have some bee keepers in our midst and St Mary’s have funding to train new bee keepers and place hives in the churchyard.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Recognition

Your Loveroughn Bo ial editio spec

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: What they said

n told Waltham Beatrice Marti “It’s truly lovely Forest News: award for to have won the garden. Every best kept front and it’s year we get older garden but harder to do the it look nice. ng we love maki gardener keen very a “I’m pleased our and I’m really recognised.” efforts have been

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ard culture aw encourages in, or actively Arts andgrou p that is involved arts projects E17 Jazz Collec

or creative An individual participate in : community to What they said years this others in the For the last four ly concerts has involved week als and as well as festiv both children workshops for collective and adults. The ral life of ctive was enhance the cultu diverse E17 Jazz Colle a 2008 by the borough, with established in s Lopezding their many audience atten saxophonist Carlo local jazz ational the educ nise events. Their Real to galva The wider ow. urage amst enco Walth ties activi scene in n and all full time artistic participatio rtunity 15 members are run the oppo provide a great professionals and in their musicians. ctive for local amateur E17 Jazz Colle spare time.

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e year vement of th ie h c a s rt o p S Ward Cllrs Saima Walter Martin

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Mark Rusling

collect the award

al said: Carlos Lopez-Re ous evening “We had a fabul ed to and we’re chuff d. receive this awar grateful for “We are very we’ve all the support intend to use received and the that nition the recog to help us award brings e of the build the profil ctive.’ E17 Jazz Colle

award

ple events for peo nising sports coaching or orga r own time to dedicated thei s, ces suc sporting ity has achieved in the commun or group that rting initiatives An individual developed spo promoted and the of all ages or and help to put London map. They borough on the youngsters work with the sessions who attend the their families, but also with Forest communityam a is Walth Life Box4 offering h brings ative to gang whic ct altern an proje led youth gsters of all together youn culture. and cultures to backgrounds : said g. ct boxin What they learn non-conta Waltham s young Mark Rule told Box4Life build “We are really nce and Forest News: people’s resilie oyed to overj and and ct ted deligh teaches respe d. the individuals receive the awar tolerance. All for what project give involved in the “Being recognised everyone tarily with no gives doing are their time volun we pense. club a thought of recom promote involved in the t.” These volunteers s massive boos t acros Waltham Fores

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teach children

After

Potato planting

The garden has entered Walthamstow in Bloom every year since 2010 and has been commended by the judges.

It is also enjoyed by: â&#x20AC;˘ The After School Club - whose children regularly water the plants and have their own raised bed to plant, tend and cultivate. â&#x20AC;˘ The School Gardening Club - which this year have planted bulbs, potatoes, a variety of seeds and are working with a professional gardener each term to learn more about horticulture. â&#x20AC;˘ A parent led Art Club based in the garden where children are using the garden as an inspiration for their art and were part of the 2011 E17 Art Trail. They are now planning with the Henry Maynard art co-ordinator for a whole school participation in the 2012 E17 Art trail

Over the years since its conversion in 2009 - 2010, the garden has matured and grown to become an integral part of school life - a space used to support many areas of the curriculum -i.e. maths, science and art. It is also a special environment used for many activities such as a quiet place to sit with friends, read, perform music and hold community events.

The garden is over-seen by a committee made up of staff, parents and a professional gardener who meet regularly to plan schemes of work and tend to the garden.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

The main structural elements of the community garden were completed 3 years ago and it was officially opened in June 2010.

Before

Henry Maynard Junior School Community Garden

This year we have planted out a far wider range of fruit and vegetables such as broad beans, garlic, onions, squash, broccoli, courgettes, chard, carrots, strawberries, black currents and raspberries. In addition we have planted a special Jubilee display. We look forward to welcoming the judges once more and hope they enjoy these new features and seeing the way our garden has continued to grow and evolve over the past year.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Vestry House Community Garden The garden at Vestry House Museum was created with investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This project transformed a bare space into a delightful community garden which takes its inspiration from the fact that the Museum was originally built as a workhouse in the 18th century. The aim is to complement the heritage of Vestry House and to create a space for relaxation, enjoyment and learning for visitors and members of our local community. The garden is entirely maintained by volunteers.

Sustainability We are committed to ensuring best practice in environmental sustainability. Some of the ways we ensure this are by: • Making our own compost • Using organic methods and avoiding the use of chemicals • Leaving areas untouched to encourage biodiversity • Planting to attract butterflies • Using produce from our garden.

Garden layout and horticulture The planting of the garden is inspired by its history as a workhouse garden. There is an emphasis on useful plants including fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs and dye plants. There is also a woodland bed, gravel bed, wild meadow area and a bed designed to attract butterflies.

Interpretation and education This year we are starting to focus on enhancing the interpretation of the garden and the opportunities for learning that it presents. • We are labelling all the beds with the names of inhabitants of the former workhouse to emphasis the connection with the Vestry House building. • A volunteer who is a qualified herbalist is preparing a herb trail for children. • Another volunteer is preparing an information sheet for museum visitors • We are creating a web page on the Vestry House site dedicated to the garden.

Each bed is named after a former inhabitant of the workhouse, thereby increasing the heritage interest. • We aim to provide a mixture of aesthetic and educational interest year round. • To ensure continuity of interest we grow plants with evergreen foliage such as curly kale and ruby chard. We maintain a balance of perennial plants and annuals in addition to vegetable varieties. • A gravel area is planted with varieties of thyme offering the opportunity for a multi-sensory learning experience for visitors. • We maintain a balance of cultivated and wild areas to increase the biodiversity and learning potential of the garden. • Our dye plants are of particular horticultural interest. The volunteer team Our garden continues to flourish thanks to the help of our fantastic team of garden volunteers. The team is gathering momentum. In addition to monthly meetings the team now meets fortnightly to do extra gardening with more experienced members coaching and mentoring new recruits. Thursdays are also a regular drop-in day. We are actively recruiting new members and welcome volunteers with all ranges of ability. We are extremely fortunate that a team of young adults with learning disabilities from the 247 Markhouse Road Centre come in weekly to tend to the vegetable patches and help keep the garden tidy.

Community use Visitor numbers to the Museum continue to rise due in part to the continuing popularity of the garden as a space for families, adults and school groups to enjoy. Last year we attracted over 24,000 visitors, a significant proportion of whom used the garden. The garden is also a major factor for many people choosing to use the Community Room for events including parties, functions and wedding receptions. Events We have hosted a number of successful events in the garden, including Apple Day – a highly popular celebration of everything and anything connected to apples – and the Residents’ Association garden party. This year we are planning a volunteers’ garden party to celebrate the hard work of our teams.

Walthamstow Village in Bloom

St Mary’s Churchyard The St Mary’s Walthamstow - Nature Conservation Management Plan 1997 forms the basis of our ground works strategy and also includes a map, a survey of flora and fauna and a map with a full arboreal survey. In recent years there have been times when weeds, grass, ivy and bramble have overwhelmed the graves. The churchyard contains many hundreds of tombs and graves; four of these are Grade II listed. Whilst the most important tombs were restored as part of a two-year programme of work a few years ago, the condition of some of the other early tombs is deteriorating as a result of root damage from trees, the ingress of ivy and self-sown seedlings. Tim Daniels took over the management of the grounds in 2010 and set out an 18 month plan to return them to a manageable state where routine maintenance would be all that is required. On average there is one man working one day a week throughout the year. The areas just behind and south of the Church are subject to a separate maintenance contract with Mencap who have teams of supported adults to undertake the work as a therapeutic and meaningful activity. The whole site was subject to many broken and derelict graves; hundreds of self-seeded trees littered the site, often growing from within tombs. Most large trees were infested with ivy growth and a large amount of litter, concrete debris and fallen wood was strewn around. In particular the self-seeded saplings and extensive bramble growth are time-consuming to dig out as it is our policy not to use poison.

We started in the triangle by Church End by clearing unwanted growth, debris and then strimming/ mowing grass to desired length. Each month the cleared areas received ongoing maintenance and work commenced slowly and systematically moving across the whole site until all areas were included in the routine maintenance schedule; this process is almost complete. We have a “compost all waste” policy and have not yet had to resort to burning. We are planning to construct wooden bays on two sites to contain compostable material with a view to distributing compost and keeping waste materials in a controlled and tidy fashion. All fallen or pruned wood is stored in woodpiles to act as habitat for fauna. We encourage the growth of native wild flowers so they are spared the strimmer wherever possible. We are considering installing bird and bat boxes and starting a beehive. We have allocated sections in areas north of Vinegar Alley and north-west of the Church to leave “wild”. This “long grass policy” will include 10-15% of total site and at present these areas have much dense shrub, ivy ground cover and bramble. We plan to mark the wild areas into four sub-plots that will each receive clearance once every four years on a rotational basis. There will always be a corridor of wilderness to connect the remaining wild areas to allow animals to move freely. Areas around the Church and the Welcome Centre are kept relatively clear to improve sight-lines and visibility for people using the public paths and to open vistas of the Church.

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Walthamstow Village in Bloom

Sponsors & Credits • The Vestry House Museum, Lorna Lee, Vicky Caroll, the staff and the volunteer gardeners and 247 Group for all their hard work, for use of their wonderful premises for hosting the judging days and for the lunch provided. • Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association Committee – funding projects and support • Fullers Builders – sponsorship of planting and annual maintenance of the planter on the junction of Beulah and Grosvenor Rise East • Spar Village Stores – sponsorship • Musa Ballikaya and the staff and committee of the Asian Centre • John Chambers Plumbing & Building Services - sponsorship, labour, van, tools • Abbey Lithographic – printing and scanning • The London Gardening Club, Abridge – plants and bedding • Paul Gasson – portfolio design • Dave Gordon, Paul Gasson, Simon Chia, Teresa Deacon & Helen Lerner - photographs • London Borough of Waltham Forest, contractors Kier and WF Officer Paul Tickner – equipment, rubbish disposal and green waste composting, meadow seeds, floral lamppost baskets, extra cleaning etc. • Cllrs Saima Mahmud, Mark Rusling & Ahsan Khan and MP Stella Creasy for support and promotion of events. • I Kuan Taoist Temple – hospitality and refreshments on gardening and clean up days. • Nick and Sarah Trivuncic & Paul Gasson – poster design • East London Sausage Company – donations of products for events • La Ruga Trattoria, The Village Deli, Village Kitchen, Orford Saloon Tapas bar, The Nag’s Head, The Castle, The Village, Mon Dragone Restaurant, Petals in Bloom, Sean Pines, The Queen’s Arms, Penny Fielding’s Beautiful Interiors – for raffle prizes • Our apologies to all those who have helped or donated items that have been missed off the list above, or donated after the portfolio went to print. Walthamstow Village in Bloom Committee Helen Lerner, Teresa Deacon, Graham Sherman, John Chambers Monthly Gardening Club Stalwarts Helen Lerner, Teresa Deacon, Graham Sherman, Ivan White, Megan Whitear, Colin and Bonnie Stinton, Yvonne Cross, Paul Gasson, Shameem Mir, Richard Smith, Hilary Forbes, Gordon Harnett, Nicole and Joss Thomas, Daniel Barry, Marion Osbourne, Josh Lerner (tea boy and help in the hols). And to all the good folk who live, work or play in Walthamstow Village: for their remarkable community spirit, encouragement, support and enthusiasm for Walthamstow Village in Bloom. In memory of Tetley the Village Cat died September 28 2011