Old Railway Becomes New Urban Garden
By Vanessa Richins
An old railway in Furness, England had become a seedy location.
As the project website describes, “The land and buildings proposed for development have been derelict for almost 30 years and until a recent clean up, had been used as an area for fly tipping, arson, under age drinking and drug abuse.”
All that has changed now.
A new urban garden is about to be opened to the public. With monetary help from several different groups, the railway was turned into a beautiful area that will be for the community to use. Access work needs to be done before it will open, but they will hold escorted tours for anyone interested on every Thursday afternoon in October.
The website says that the garden has three main features:
1. The picnic area, where families can eat outside and use the BBQ area.
2. The quiet area, where people can sit or walk around and see a variety of plants and trees with a central feature which includes herbs and fruit trees.
3. The promenade, which is the main route to the gardens and will also allow access to the arches.
In developing the garden area, one way that the community was able to participate was when local schoolchildren helped out with the planting. A local wildlife group, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, also held workshops about the local wildlife for children.
This is just another great project I learned about recently. Slowly but surely, we are reclaiming our world to make it a more beautiful place. I am excited to go find out about other works in progress now. It gives me hope.
Do you know of any urban gardens being created in your area?
October 18th, 2008 at 4:13 am
What a great use for the abandoned land. Makes me wonder what we can come up with around here that hasn’t already been developed into condos.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
it’s wonderful!