From Inside Blogs: Public Planting

Monday, April 4, 2011

OOTS: Almond Blossom with Bees

If the above YouTube video isn't working you can watch it here.

March 'roared out like a lion' so I'm really pleased I was able to capture the glorious almond blossom hanging over the pavement round the corner from our house before it was turned into confetti. The air was alive with the hum of honey and bumble bees all crowding in to drink their fill of the available nectar. I was happily just standing under there taking it all in when I realised I had my camera with me to capture it to share with you :)

It's also a great way to introduce this month's Out on the Streets, where I invite you to share the plants and flowers which can be seen publicly in your neighbourhood. I'm planning on telling you about the Green Flag scheme for our public parks and perhaps showing you a little of the public planting I found on College Green in Bristol last Saturday. You can choose to share whatever you like, as long as it's in the public domain.

If you'd like to join in but are unsure of what to contribute, you might like to look at the Out on the Streets and the Public Planting labels for inspiration. I'm particularly looking for good planting ideas whatever the season and/or planting using edibles. Those of you in the UK you might like to tell us how the spending cuts are affecting what the council is planning for your neighbourhood this year.

Mr Linky is set up below ready for your contributions. Do please remember to paste in the link to your specific post rather than your blog's URL, so we can still get to see your contribution after you've gone on to writing about other things :)

I'll also be using Mr Linky to post in any news items I find instead of my usual roundup post. I'm just about to start on my Census work, so I'll be pushed for time to write posts containing lots of links. I've found quite a few items to share with you the past couple of weeks, which are worth a look at.

So, see you soon, Out on the Streets!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

ABC of Chippenham: John Coles

I've often wondered who exactly John Coles was and now have the answer courtesy of my research for today's post. He was a pharmacist who owned a pharmacy and general grocer's store at the top of the town where Coates' flower shop is now. There he made medicines, invalid wines and other products such as garish dyes, furniture polish, insect powder and 'Chippenham Scour Mixture', a cattle remedy. He was a keen supporter of secondary education and was Chippenham's Lord Mayor three times in 1891, 1898 and 1914, so he must have been well respected during his lifetime.

On his death in 1916 he left a legacy to the then Chippenham Borough which they used to purchase a suitable plot of land for the provision of a public park. When I was researching D for Donkey Field, the purchase of this land was also documented in the papers I was looking at: just over £4,000 for 15 acres of former farm land.

John Coles Park opened in 1923, which I believe makes it one of the younger parks of its type in this country, those resulting from a local benefactor. This kind of philanthropy was more common during Victorian times when the provision of open spaces became a popular way to improve a town and general public health. However, age doesn't really matter: its continued presence and use in the heart of the town is much more important.

Changes are afoot at the park this year which I hope to tell you more about in my regular Out on the Streets meme. The Town Council - who look after the park nowadays - have decided to apply for Green Flag status and to have a Friends of the Park scheme to help with upkeep. I'm expecting the latter to happen all over the country this year when the fallout from the round of local government spending cuts bites ever deeper.

Talking of Out on the Streets: look out for my kick-off post in early April where I'll be asking you to show us what's out and about re public planting in your neighbourhood.

This is for ABC Wednesday and is the tenth in my themed round of posts about Chippenham.