Welly Road gets the boot in! will link into Secret Gardens of Oxton

Wellington Road is just outside of the conservation area of Oxton Village, actually to be exact about 2 metres of Wellington Road is in the area and the rest isn't. We (Welly Road gets the boot in!) are going to be linking up with the event. In fact that is when I am focusing the unveiling of our project.  Darren from the Coffee Shop on the street has ideas-a-plenty and we have the support of the scout troup from Birkenhead School too.

Here is the information about The Secret Gardens of Oxton:-

Sunday 13th May 2012 10.00am to 5.00pm the Secret Gardens of Oxton.

Bring your family and friends to visit 30 hidden gardens in the historic conservation area of Oxton. Walking round this pleasant village you will come across a wonderful array of plants and flowers and be inspired by a variety of creative garden designs.
This annual event is enjoyed by newcomers and regular visitors who return every year. In addition to the gardens, musical entertainments and art shows will be taking place in the village centre. For children there are Punch and Judy shows and pony rides. Village shops, plant and craft stalls, cafes and pubs will all be open on the day.

Selected charities play an active role by helping the organisers to run the event. All proceeds are shared by the charities.

There is a Park & Ride located on the corner of Woodchurch Road and Storeton Road (post code for Sat Nav CH43 5TW)

Tickets price to be confirmed. For tickets visit www.oxtonsociety.org.uk or ring 07963 248 268 for more details.

Buy tickets in advance and save money.

Wellies in the snow

On the 16th of December, Wirral was hit with a flurry of hail and possibly snow so I nipped out to take some shots of the wellies for you all.

Photos from the planting at Overdale

First, take a welly and add a layer of gravel and then a thin layer of soil,

put in 2 or 3 bulbs with the shoot up and the roots down,

top up with soil and tamp it down, do it to within a centimetre of the top of the boot.

Lots of lovely wellies donated by parents at Woodchurch Road Primary School and patrons of the Green Community Shop and Centre

On the steps of Overdale for now

Please water occasionally

Some of the years 7 & 8 at Birkenhead School who took part

The pupils help load up in my car for me to look after the majority of the wellies until spring. When I got home I added some more gravel on the top and some ivy and other cuttings to take root. The gravel on the top should keep down the slugs who have taken a liking to our bulbs who have sprung up early.......shredding them! Naughty slugs...can't let them put our project in jeopardy!

Let the planting begin (again)

I am off to do some community planting at Birkenhead School today at lunchtime with Overdale, so had the car loaded with umpteen wellies (but umpteen more required) bulbs, gravel, tarpaulin....think I am going to get very messy later....The planting will going on inside the lovely foyer of Overdale (years 7 & 8 at the school).

 
Today, I have been scrounging for pallets too. I got one from my friend, Theresia Cadwallader and was just on the way to Rightway to ask for some as they frequently have them available and spotted a building site in Oxton Village and they gave me all their broken ones and an opportune stop off to The Green Community Shop and Centre with some donations gained me some spindles for staircases which Cornerstone, the vocational training place in Birkenhead who are making the planters can use for either demonstration purposes or re-create into something else.

Desperately seeking Wellies- even leaking wellies

Wellies galore
ANY WELLIES GLADLY RECEIVED AT THE GREEN COMMUNITY SHOP AND CENTRE on Christchurch Road, Oxton Village

We now have a Facebook page  

Bought more compost and bulbs today

Went to our chosen provider of plants,  a special place for adults with autism where they can get a chance to learn about gardening and growing plants. I purchased more compost and bulbs for future community plantings. Established in 1992, Bromborough Pool Garden Centre (formerly Raby Hall Garden Centre) is part of Wirral Autistic Society and has a wonderful selection of plants, seeds and bulbs as well a nice little selection of seasonal goodies. They were wrapping presents as I went in and having the same dilemma I have every year, how do you wrap odd shaped presents!

Collect all the lovely wellies  that have come into the Green Community Shop and Centre, either by word of mouth or by the request on Freecycle.

Leaflet-ed the neighbourhood today

I took a few of neighbourhood kids out to leaflet every door on Wellington Road with a little flyer to inform the neighbours about the blog and the project, in the hope that more people will get involved and more wellies will appear. Nice to meet some of our new neighbours as well as folks we have met before.

Presentation Birkenhead School

I was invited to give a powerpoint presentation this morning to years 7 & 8, in Overdale and I now have a couple of young men who are going to help with posters and organisation. Hopefully, they will bring lots of wellies in for planting.

I have left 2 pairs of planted wellies with them for the stairs of their house to inspire them.This is a shot of their house pre-welly additionsfrom their website.

Powerpoint slides for presentation tomorrow

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150941804170171.765907.742795170&type=1&l=3b9f33abe4

We need your wellies

We need 300 wellies to create planters for the whole street of Wellington Road before May 2012. We are getting them in slowly...they can be delivered to The Green Community Shop and Centre in Christchurch Road in Oxton between 9 and 4 Monday to Friday, Saturday is a little more pot luck as to whether someone is there (we rely on volunteers).

Neighbours will recieve a little flyer about this in the next few days and local school Woodchurch Road will also get information about the project so they can save their old wellies.

Welly Road Gets the Boot in!

The "Welly Road Gets the Boot in!" project is to make a community focus for Wellington Road (Oxton, Wirral). Neighbours, businesses and local organisations will be encouraged to join in creating planters from donated recycled Wellington Boots to go outside local businesses and individual houses on the street to beautify Wellington Road and integrate all aspects of the neighbourhood.

The planters will be created by the community from Wellington boots donated by request to the Green Community Shop and Centre (GCS&C) and requests on Freecycle. The project co-ordinator, local artist Alison Bailey Smith has designed wooden structures to be created from recycled pallets by The Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre for the shops for each of the businesses plus Birkenhead School and the Green Community Centre & Shop. Each house will be offered the opportunity to plant a pair of welly boots to display on their property and those unable to plant themselves will have wellys planted for them (if they want to be involved). The boots will be planted by the neighbours, members of the Green Community Shop and Centre in Oxton Village,  Birkenhead Woodcraft Folk who meet in Christ Church at the botttom of Christchurch Road in Oxton, the children of Birkenhead School, local businesses and will also draw on the artistic skills of Wirral based arts network- With These Hands. The project would initially be opened in time for the Sunday of the Secret Gardens of Oxton in May 2012. The planters will not be removed at the end of the festival and can remain in situ. The plants where possible will be chosen to reflect the nature of the business (ie grasses for the hairdressers and herbs for the Coffee shop)

Wellington Road and surrounding streets have suffered a number of burglaries earlier this year and this project is being supported by Merseyside Police Property Act Fund and Your Wirral to improve the quality of life in the neighbourhood. Neighbours and business will create a community bond by working together on this project, through having a mutual goal to beautify the street. If the householders, tenants and businesses are familiar with their immediate neighbours, it is easier to be aware when activities appear to be out of the ordinary and also to know who to contact it you suspect something is wrong. The Green Community Shop and Centre will become a collection point for wellies, donated plants and a place for volunteers to sign up to help with the project. Birkenhead school have offered assistance with providing space for the neighbours to plant the wellies, as well as collecting welly boots.

The grant money is being used to purchase plants and soil from the Wirral autistic society's Garden Centre at Bromborough Pool, and the creation of planters/tiered platforms  by Cornerstone Vocational Training in Birkenhead (the wooden structures to support the Wellington boots outside the businesses). They are committed to working with young people 14 -19 years of age offering a range of vocational courses designed to develop confidence, self esteem along side vocational skills. 

Finally, just a little bit about us,

The Green Community Shop and Centre (GCS&C) is a not-for-profit community endeavour, based on the values of co-operation, sustainability and local participation.  GCS & C aims to empower people to take responsibility and make decisions about resources, life choices and community action, based on an awareness of themselves and the local and global communities. The GCS&C has always actively encouraged community projects from members which create community involvement and environmental awareness.