Newsletter

February 2016

To celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday in June

there is a national campaign to tidy up her realm –

“Clean for the Queen”. It kicks off with a weekend

of litter-picking March 4th to 6th. We are holding a

community litter-pick in the Valley Gardens,

Bluebell Steps and Passage on Saturday 5th at 2pm.

Come along and help clean up Pontefract.

Funding Success

We have been awarded £1190 from Wakefield

District Housing 10 year Anniversary Community

Grant Scheme to renovate the inside of the former

aviary building in preparation for its conversion to

a camera obscura. We also plan to decorate the

metal door with tasteful artwork. This project will

be progressed very soon.

Other funding applications in the pipeline

Applications have been made to Wakefield

Council’s Neighbourhood Improvement Fund for

planters to be placed on the paved area in front of

the former aviary and also to tidy up the unsightly

green lock-up container which has recently been

the target of graffiti vandalism.

In collaboration with Pontefract Education Trust,

11 Pontefract schools (2 senior and 9 junior) will

be involved in the mural painting project. A Leeds

urban artist, Elliot Wigzell, has been engaged to

supervise the project, starting with a workshop at

Kings School with the pupils, followed by the

actual mural painting session in the Valley

Gardens. Apart from the funding required for the

project, we are awaiting the approval of the

Council for the mural project – an objection has

been voiced that mural painting is not appropriate

for the Valley Gardens.

Here’s an example of Elliot’s work with a Leeds

school – surely more appropriate than the

tasteless graffiti we currently put up with.

Pruning in the Rose Garden

We need to prune all 31 rose beds this month, so

if you have an hour to spare join us for one of the

gardening sessions: Saturday 20th February,

Tuesday 1st and Saturday 12th March at 1.30pm.

We provide secateurs but you’ll need gardening

gloves. Then we have to keep the beds free of

weeds and maintain the herbaceous borders.

There’s plenty to do to keep the Valley Gardens

looking good.

We have planted 10 standard roses in the “star

beds”: Blessings (salmon pink) and Fragrant Cloud

(red). You can sponsor one of the roses for £30

including the plaque specifying the rose variety

and name of the donor.

Easter Egg Hunt

We are planning an Easter Egg Hunt for Thursday

17th March for pre-school children. It’s the week

before the Easter break so that older children will

be at school. The event will start at 1pm, so that

it’s over in good time before children have to be

collected from school. We are inviting local

nurseries and of course parents/grandparents

with toddlers. Help in supporting the event will

be welcome.

Other events for your diary

We will be organising activities in the Valley

Gardens for the following events:

Pontefract Cycle Fest, Sunday 12th June

Liquorice Festival, Sunday 10th July

Yorkshire Day, Monday 1st August

Lantern Festival, Saturday 15th October

Pontefract Cycle Fest: June 2015

Information Boards

Four information boards have been installed:

History of Friarwood Valley Gardens: at

the restaurant entrance.

Sensory Garden: at the bottom of the

steep steps

St Richard’s Friary: at the north east

corner of the Rose Garden

Liquorice: next to the liquorice bed

We have also installed notices on the

Southgate railings to direct passers-by to the

Rose Garden and Sensory Garden. This project

was funded by a £250 grant from WDH

(Wakefield District Housing) Community

Grant Scheme.

Infrastructure Repairs

The Council have been patching up the potholes

in the paths and plan to repair the Friarwood

entrance fence and pillar which collapsed over a

year ago. We are also hopeful that a handrail will

be installed down the Rose Garden steps.

Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bench

Located close to the liquorice bushes, this bench

had a curious plaque “commemorating” the 40th

anniversary in 1985 of the atomic bombs dropped

on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Having

survived for over 30 years, the plaque disappeared

a few weeks ago and raises the question of

whether to replace the plaque and if so, should we

alter the wording. The plaque read:

9th AUGUST 1985

TO COMMEMORATE THE 40th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE FIRST USE OF THE ATOMIC BOMB

ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

6th & 9th AUGUST 1945

PRUNUS SUBHIRTELLA AUTUMNALIS

Was the plaque stolen for its metal value

(unlikely), as a curiosity or because the

perpetrator took exception to the wording?

Should we replace the plaque and if we did, the

same or amended wording? We think that the

bench was installed around the time that a party

of Japanese pharmacists visited Pontefract for the

liquorice connection, so it is a part of the history

of the Valley Gardens.

Call for new members and volunteers

We’ve achieved a great deal since 2012 when

Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens was formed

but we need more people to help us maintain the

momentum, so please help with recruitment.

Get in touch:

friends.friarwoodvalleygardens@gmail.com or via

www.friendsfriarwoodvalleygardens.btck.co.uk

or find us on Facebook