Stunning progress at Elford Gardens

Real progress on the ground has been a long time coming at the Walled Gardens because of all the negotiating with Birmingham City Council who hold much of the land around Elford in trust.

But it’s here with a vengence now! The early days, over three years ago, when the restoration group were having little luck encouraging Birmingham to cooperate with their idea of restoration isn’t quite a distant memory yet but looking at the incredible transformation to the Gardens over the last few months, and particularly in the last six weeks, it may well be soon.

I don’t use the word transformation lightly either. One thing I’ve learned about Elford people is that they don’t do things by half. Whether it be the amazing village hall, their Christmas Market or the state-of-the-art children’s playground it’s always done to the maximum. And I’d certainly put the work on this project in the same category.

Last time I saw the Gardens they were knee high with brambles and although it was possible to see the potential it was difficult to visualise what it would be like when cleared.

The lease for the land was finally agreed with Birmingham a few weeks ago and that appears to have been the equivalent of firing the starting gun before a sprint race. With up to a dozen volunteers working on site each weekend since then and plenty of others doing their bit during the week things have moved on tremendously with an enormous amount of ground clearance and general tdying up. It is genuinely transformed and, strangely, looks a lot bigger now.

All in all an amazing difference in a short working time and the momentum and enthusiasm is building very nicely. Remember also the Friends of the Walled Garden scheme is well worth joining.

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