In the autumn of 2023 EFG volunteers approached the Lord Gascoigne landlords (at the time) Mel and Andy about the possibility of developing the overgrown land at the bottom of the pub car park into a Community Garden.
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With their support and permission from the landowners Greene King, we set about clearing a way in. Four skips of rubbish, over 1,000 hours of volunteer time and exactly one year later, we held our first Wildlife Friendly Gardening event and received an award from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust!
During 2025 with the encouragement and ongoing support of the new team in the pub, Neil and Claire, we have hosted families and other local groups, arranged educational visits for Brownies and Rainbows and provided arts and crafts activities for adults.
Early in 2026 we were informed by Greene King that they were planning to redevelop the pub. As a result, they told us they would need the land on which we had developed the garden.
Whilst this is a shame, we are focussing on all the positives – the volunteering, the groups and individuals who have visited and enjoyed the Garden and the improvements to the space we made.
We have not had to leave at the time of writing, but we have started to relocate some of the items and plants we had put in the garden as we are anticipating not being there at the end of 2026.
It was a very successful project while it lasted. Many thanks to all who helped in any way.
We are currently thinking about what we might do next.
Watch the short video below to find out more about our garden, and why people volunteered regularly to come along and do work on it.
For more details follow us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/ecogarforth
Watch this space or email us at ecofriendlygarforth@gmail.com and use the subject “FAO: Community Garden”.