Who are we?
Bespoke Training Design (BTD) is an umbrella organization supporting projects which offer bespoke solutions to local issues: focusing on health, wellbeing and the environment. The Wildlife Garden is situated on the Cork Road Allotments site in Lancaster, Lancashire, UK. The garden was originally started by Chris Dovey in 2014. Chris was very passionate about regenerating a large plot of land that had previouly been used as a tip. He recruited a couple of volunteers and land clearance began. Sadly Chris didn’t get to see the fruition of his hard work as he died the next year. His parting words to Nicole were “I’m leaving you in charge.” Nicole brought the running of the project under the auspices of BTD and has secured a lease for the land in 2016. All the work is done by volunteers.
What are we doing?
About half of the landscaping has been done but some major work remains. The underlying ground is unsuitable to be worked so major earthworks are in progress to create a number of connected ponds and water features in the lower half of the garden. Large plantings are ongoing for plants for seed harvesting and the growing on of cuttings for next years planting. The only good soil on the site is several tons of soil gathered up by the Cork Road Allotment association when they did their paths which they kindly donated to the garden. This is a valuable resource that will be carefully applied to build up growing beds and for reshaping the lie of the land.
We are working to massively increase the biodiversity of the site and have already built up a stable planting of hundreds of species where before there were only a handful. The impact has been tremendous with a noticeable increase in the number of visiting butterflies, moths, hedgehogs, bats and birds.
Why are we doing it?
Being involved in the regeneration of land is a powerful experience. It is hard to express the satisfaction of being part of a group working together towards a common goal. Then again the cameraderie is also great fun. The ultimate goal is to create a beautiful space accessible to visitors and to create a dynamic enriched environment carefully designed to maximise the positive impact on fauna and flora.
