Collaboration can create colour – Mountsorrel Peace Garden
Mountsorrel has overcome its “mucky Mountsorrel” tag to become a village rich in a history of medieval conflicts and artisan enterprise on an industrial tapestry of pink granite serving railways, roads and London streets. Near the iconic Buttermarket a stretch of grass – The Peace Garden – is lifted by a granite circle around which poppy wreaths have been placed each Remembrance Day since 1995.
In the Summer of 2016, murmurings of discontent about lack of care prompted action by the Mountsorrel Heritage Group (MHG) in approaching the local Parish Council to seek their agreement to gradual and sustainable improvements to the appearance of the Peace Garden. A modest budget and a lot of goodwill by local people resulted in a raking, pruning, trimming and planting Action Day in early November 2016.
Since then there has been further group and individual initiatives not only to keep the Peace Garden tidy but also to plant vegetation with hints of red in berries and flowers to complement the poppy wreaths. The consistent intention has been to plant easy-to-maintain shrubs, bulbs and plants in extended flower beds which now lie inside the granite wall boundary while robust shrubs, saplings and ivy vines are trimmed or restricted to expose the “marbling” of the local granite. Local people have also taken the hint by not only keeping the garden tidy but also supporting with donations of colourful plants.
Mountsorrel Parish Council has been kept informed of actions and progress while it continues to provide financial support, encouragement and verbal gratitude to the group of volunteers – collaboration can create colour!
25th July 2017 (CWB)