Vision for the park
THOUSANDS OF HOURS’ WORK TO RESTORE CUCUMBER HOUSE
RESTORATION work continues on an old cucumber house at Wollaton Park – and volunteers have spoken of their vision for a farm shop and restaurant.
The site of the building, next to Wollaton Park, had been lost among weeds and undergrowth for decades.
The only remaining part of the decrepit greenhouse – its base, built in 1864 – was found by volunteers when they were cleaning up the area.
The Friends of Wollaton Park, along with councillors, have been spending their time restoring the site – aiming to turn it into a multipurpose tourist attraction.
Retired teacher Kevin Beswick, chair of the Friends of Wollaton Park group, explained: “We want to have a multi-purpose area that could be used for school camps or the archery group and big marquees.
“This has been a millstone around the council’s neck because it had to be free to the people of Nottingham – the council can’t charge.
“So the problem the council have had is how do you get money to maintain the upkeep of a big estate like this?
“The council are certainly for restoration of this – they have been very supportive.
“We found all sorts of things that had been forgotten about once it was overgrown with brambles.
“If you looked at it carefully you knew it was there and through many hours – we put in over 1,000 hours collectively in September – we are managing to restore it.
“When you think about councils, the most important things are policing, old people’s safety, young people and young children’s safety.
“So money got taken away from parks and parks went down and down and down.
“I’m not being political here, I think this is just what’s happened.”
Plans to introduce a farm shop and a restaurant against the north wall of the garden are also hoped to be put into place once the site has been fully renovated.
When visiting the site and talking with volunteers, any guest can sense how this walled garden has brought a community together in a bid to restore it to the state it was once in.
Another volunteer, Jane Bowden, 65, said: “When we started at the beginning of 2019 it was just decades of neglect.
“The first two-and-a-half years we just had to slash and burn all this just to be able to even start to do anything; to be able to grow any produce.
“We’ve had the most amazing crop of tomatoes and cucumbers and melons and peppers and goodness knows what in there so it’s really done the trick.
“We’re doing about 1,000 hours with volunteers a month. “It’s the most amazing site! “Especially through Covid times its just been so brilliant because we can come through here; outdoors, socially distanced, in the fresh air.
“It’s good for your mental health and your physical health – you’re with your pals and most of us are retired.”
The historical walled garden also has a cottage that was once frequented by Lord Middleton.
In July, workers close to the house set about raising £30,000 in a bid to secure funds for a new roof for the building so that it can continue to be used to grow various fruits and vegetables.
The fundraising, led by Wollaton Historical Conservation Society chair Andrew Hamilton, has managed to hit more than £20,000 so far with donations large and small from various sources – including a generous £5,000 donation from Lord Middleton himself.
Councillor Steve Battlemuch, who represents Wollaton West for Labour on Nottingham City Council, said: “It is a really nice story for Nottingham that people are coming together and testament to the volunteers that have put an incredible amount into the garden already.
“It all came about by the work starting and clearing this part of the park and now the plans to restore it to its glory are excellent.
“And the best part is that this will be a tiny area of what they want to restore – it’s just the start.”
Since 2019 volunteers have collectively put in more than 11,000 hours of work in a bid to restore Wollaton Park’s cucumber house.
Readers that would like to make a donation to the restoration can do so at spanglefish.com/wollatonhistorical/