Cuddington RA

THE BEGINNING

THE FRIENDS OF SHADBOLT PARK was started by Doreen Bennett and her avid interest in gardens, trees, parks and all things green. She was particularly interested in the Day Lily garden and the Hemerocallis collection that used to be there.

Doreen approached the Council with a view to finding out if the garden could be restored – they were happy to hand over the keys to the garden gate "to do what she wanted with it". She asked around for volunteers and very soon had at least 10 willing helpers. The Friends group was born!

BEFORE: THE DAY LILY GARDEN WITH THE FEW PLANTS THAT REMAINED

Work soon started in clearing the beds and trying to make something of the few plants we still had. Doreen managed to get back some Day Lily specimens from Wisley and also obtained some from Ewell Court.

It soon became clear to the Friends that "we should do this properly". The first official meeting took place on 16th November 2006 and a Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary were elected.

We have rapidly progressed – creating a new lawn, a wonderful Spring border, a large established herbaceous border, purpose built ‘Bug havens’, bird boxes and our own garden shed. This means that now, when the Daylilies are in bloom, we can open the garden to the public for everyone to enjoy.

BUT WE NEED VOLUNTEERS DESPERATELY! PLEASE GET IN TOUCH IF YOU CAN HELP.

AFTER: THE DAY LILY GARDEN IN FULL BLOOM - A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT!

We also have planted out a large bed in the park which we maintain and have ‘Task Days’ when all areas of the park are tidied up sometimes with the help of the Ranger team. We have seen new trees planted in the Paddock area and by Edenfield entrance of Shadbolt park.

A team of volunteers helped to restore the Wildlife Pond area – turning it from a place of neglect to a naturalised area of water. There are a great number of aquatic species - a great source of food for our bat population!

The pond is manned every Wednesday and Saturday mornings. We regularly have a ’Walkabout’ with the Ranger and Grounds Maintenance Service (Epsom & Ewell), who carry out maintenance work specified by the Friends team.