Our Allotment Yellow Book Open Day

This was our 4th annual NGS Open Day at our allotments, Bowbrook Allotment Community. In the past we had been dogged by bad weather, heavy rain, high winds and once even excessively high temperatures. But today was to be different – the weather was perfect so we were set for a successful day. We open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme and thus we are proud to appear in their famous Yellow Book.

Members of the public are invited to look around the individual plots and all our communal spaces. They can follow our Interest Trail, look at the wildlife areas and the communal gardens and the children have quiz sheets to enjoy and can use the features we have made for our members’ children such as the Willow Dome, Turf Spiral and Willow Tunnel. We turn our Communal Hut and the area around it into a Tea Shop for the day so that our visitors can indulge in tea, coffee and home made cakes and biscuits.

All the money raised goes to the NGS’s charities including Macmillan Nurses, Marie Curie and Help for Hospices.

Here are a few of the scarecrow creations members came up with. Little Miss Muffit, Peter Rabbit, Little Red Ridinghood, Dr Foster et al.

   

 

      

 

On one plot visitors were asked to help Little BoPeep find her lost sheep. I will admit it took me ages to find him for a photo shhoot

 

 

The Wildlife Trust brought all this equipment for bug hunting and the volunteer from the Shropshire Mammal Group stayed on all afternoon entertaining and informing.

 

  

 

Visitors took every chance to sit and enjoy our tea shop, where refreshments were on tap all afternoon.

 

 

 

 

A few of the younger members just relaxed in the sunshine!

 

 

Jude the Undergardener found a good spot to set her stall selling our herbaceous perennials she had grown from seed.

Members were on hand to talk to our visitors, give advice and answer questions. Some visitors found comfy seats all round the site.

A good day was had by all and we felt proud to have raised over £1000  for such good charities.