Bayer Street Allotments is a thriving green hub in the heart of the Coseley where people are passionate about sharing knowledge and growing tips with people of all ages. Not only does it provide an excellent space for community projects and events, but with the support of East Coseley Big Local, the people there are on a mission to make Coseley a better place to live, improving and starting gardening projects in vacant green public spaces, forming fabulous partnerships along the way.
Ron and Maria Wedgbury, Natalie Partridge and Dave Williams, creative green-fingered gardeners from the allotments, are transforming Coseley Station’s northbound platform embankment by maintaining beautiful flower displays and window boxes, continued from the marvellous work started by Tom, Kerry and volunteers last year, catching the eye of many local people and commuters.
They have now joined West Midlands Railways ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme, with a vision to continue to improve the station for the benefit of all who use it.
The scheme started back in 2003, originally created to improve relationships between the train operator and station users. Over the years it has grown to become much more, with station adopters now playing an active role in keeping stations looking good through innovative gardening projects and creative community art projects.
To thank volunteers and station adopters, West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway organised a picnic and day out to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway, an opportunity to meet directors from the railways and volunteers from other stations around the Midlands, a great day for making new connections.
Ron found the day great for making new connections, “What’s great about the day was that there were no formal presentations or speeches, they kept the day really casual, there were no speeches or slideshows. It was nice to meet other people that were involved in local station projects.”
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Husband and wife, Ron and Maria, first got their allotment on Bayer Street Allotments 4 years ago. Maria said, “Ron took on the allotment because when he retired he wasn’t the type to sit at home and do nothing, he needed something to do…and the vegetables were a bonus!” Ron has lots of useful tips on how to grow prize winning tomatoes, he also makes his own gin and whiskey from his brewing shed in his garden.
Dave grows all sorts on his allotment, cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes and much more, but warns “you have to pick them fast in this hot weather before they go brown!” He has took great pleasure in being part of the Coseley station project, “I’ve had my allotments for nearly 13 years now. I like gardening because it gets me out of the house and gets things off my mind. A good many people say how nice the station is, people often stop to look at the embankment.”
Natalie previously worked with the council’s ground maintenance team, looking after parks, bowling greens, cricket, football and rounders pitches for 20 years before leaving to have children. “My children come down to the allotment with me every day, they come on their bikes and have a picnic, sometimes they play in the woodchip piles, or in the horse manure! Sometimes they go train spotting behind the back of the toilets. They have got their own shed, and I’ve got my shed. They help me water the plants and love picking all the fruit.”
East Coseley Big Local, has recently funded £1,000 so that the allotments team can use their gardening expertise to the full and buy news tools, flowers and shrubs for the station project. With this extra bit of funding, they plan to purchase perennials that come up every year, and a camellia, which would be one of the first plants to flower.
Peruvian lilies were donated from Ron’s garden, he said “It feels good to be doing something for the community, it also gives you something to do. We thought we would get vandalism on the embankment, but we haven’t.”
A lot of research suggests that cleaning and turning vacant plots into vibrant green spaces, beyond the aesthetic benefits, creates a respected and therefore safer environment. It’s also not just people who benefit from green spaces, it can become home to all sorts of birds, insects and other creatures.
So what are the benefits of adopting a station? Well, it allows the volunteers to have better access to the station, whenever needed, which helps with regular maintenance.
A wonderful partnership has now formed between East Coseley Big Local, Bayer Street Allotments and West Midlands Railway. Last year a plaque was erected on the platform to recognise the allotment team’s work to maintain the flowerbed on the station.
Ron, Marie, Natalie, Dave, and others at Bayer Street Allotments also play a huge part in encouraging young people or people who may be a little isolated in the community to spend more time outside. The allotment is a perfect base to share gardening knowledge with people of all ages.
Maria said, “It’s a little community, you have always got someone to talk to, you go up there do an hours work and sometimes spend 3 hours talking! It gets you meeting other people, we have quite a few little community events, we have barbecues and bonfires, we try to do lots of things that include the community. We also bring children on to the allotments to teach them how they can grow their own food and to give them an idea of where food comes from. We have bought tools for the playgroup at Darkhouse Baptist Church, they come for two hours, have a walk around the allotments, and they learn that food doesn’t just come out of a plastic bag.”
So what have the team got planned for the future of Coseley Station? …a wildflower garden, artwork and mosaics, restoring heritage, lots of exciting ideas on the horizon!
Big Local is an exciting opportunity for residents to make a lasting positive difference in their community. Find out how you can get involved or start projects in Coseley www.eastcoseleybiglocal.net/community-support/
Read more about East Coseley’s response to the pandemic here: http://www.eastcoseleybiglocal.net/covid-19-review/
