STAR BIRTHDAYS

Sir Tom Courtenay, actor, 84; Diane Baker, actress, 83; Lord (David) Puttnam, above, film producer and politician, 80; Elkie Brooks, singer, 76; Lee Evans, retired stand-up comedian, 57; Tea Leoni, actress, 55; Ed Balls, Labour politician, 54; Julie Hesmondhalgh, actress, 51; Jameela Jamil, TV and radio presenter, 35.

FACED with the lockdown, the Guerrilla Gardeners in Shanklin Drive turned from cultivating the areas around the trees in gossipy groups to solitary knitting.

With an ugly electricity substation to disguise (planting cuttings in the shade of three huge conifers had not been a success), we decided to cloak the railings in a woolly herbaceous border instead, thereby improving the view for people living opposite.

With no choice wool shops open we used what oddments we had to crochet flowers and knit a background of greenish foliage. Putting it up just before the snow came was perhaps not the best move but it has survived the adverse elements to surprise passers-by on their daily walks.

It has been interpreted both as Caribbean in flavour and as an Alpine meadow.

We are happy with either designation for as with all art, interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.

Twenty craftspeople from our street, friends and relatives provided the garden screen and thanks to social media we didn’t need to meet to create this result. We hope you come to enjoy it and it cheers you as we wait for better times.

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