Walled Garden gets make-over
Alistair Neil • Published 2 Nov 2011 13:45
Share this
click to enlarge
DIGGING IN: Alan Titchmarsh, HRH and Fiona Lees
THE Historic Walled Garden area on the Dumfries House Estate has received a long-overdue revamp thanks to the hard work of local volunteers.
On Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23 they got to work on the heavily overgrown area which has been neglected for a number of years.
The overall aim at Dumfries House is to return the area to productivity to include allotments for use by local community organisations.
Over 160 volunteers from a range of community groups took part over the weekend.
Invaluable support came from East Ayrshire Council Chief Executive Fiona Lees alongside volunteers from a number of council departments and affiliated groups including Community Care Services, Riverside, Ad Action and Turning Point.
Support also came from Provost Stephanie Young and groups including Friends of Hollybush House, the head teachers and senior pupils of Auchinleck Primary School and Netherthird Primary School, the 104th Ayrshire Scouts, yipworld, Auchinleck Community Development Initiative, Mauchline Parish Church and Mauchline Horticultural Society and Dumfries House Volunteer Peach Garden team.
Excellent catering support was supplied by DSH staff ensuring a steady supply of food and hot drinks for the volunteers.
The end result saw a large pre-defined area of the Walled Garden being cleared of undergrowth ready for the next stage of the development.
Two sets of stone steps which had been completely covered in undergrowth have been uncovered giving possible clues as to the layout of the formal part of the walled garden.
The Walled Garden was visited on Sunday, October 23 by HRH and Alan Titchmarsh, with HRH touring the garden speaking to the many enthusiastic volunteers who were involved in the event.
Alan Titchmarsh visited Dumfries House as part of an ITV documentary which is currently being filmed by Spun Gold TV and is due to be screened next year.
The documentary is about the restoration and regeneration of Dumfries House and the surrounding estate and will include the regeneration of The Walled Garden.
This article appeared in Cumnock Chronicle 02 Nov 11
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
