Author: Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during August.  We litter picked in the Children’s Play Park and surrounding areas, continued our work on the stream in Beach Lawn and did some pruning and path clearing in Adelaide Garden.

Our big event this month is our annual Autumn Festival which will take place on Saturday 14th September between 12.00pm and 4.00pm.

If you are able to help us, even for an hour or so, we will be setting up from 9.00am and would be very grateful for any help, and again at the end of the day to pack up.  If you can spare any time to help us, please do let us know.

Our volunteer events this month will take place on :

Tuesday 10th September at 9.30am – litter picking & tidying in Marine Garden
Sunday 15th September at 2.00pm in Beach Lawn and
Wednesday 25th September at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden

Looking forward to seeing you,

Best wishes, 
 
Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who has helped in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during July.

We had 12 at our litter pick in Adelaide Garden, when we were able to spread out into Beach Lawn and Crescent Garden, and some of us worked on clearing brambles and branches overhanging the pathways.  

At our regular Tuesday garden maintenance session we had 7 volunteers, and were also joined by 10 from Royal Sun Alliance, when we worked on the rockery/steps area in Marine Garden.   The RSA workers were fantastic, and as well as working on the steps, cleared and edged a large area of the crazy paving pathway.

Our Sunday maintenance session coincided with the Outdoor Theatre visit to Marine Garden, where we provided seating and refreshments, and 3 of us went up to Beach Lawn to continue our work on the stream.  We had 4 at our Wednesday evening session when we worked on the rockery in Beach Lawn.

We also had two volunteer days on 18th and 25th from the Plant Health Agency, who are part DEFRA. Three volunteers helped to tidy up the rockery at Marine Garden and five helped work near the rockery at Beach Lawn Garden in preparation for our visit from the In Bloom judges. The photo’s below shows how they uncovered some of the old stones along the pathway. 

Sadly, after many years of being allowed to use the lock-up next to the Waterloo Sunset Cafe, because of redevelopment of the building we have now moved all our equipment to the Green Sefton Depot in the car park behind Beach Lawn.  We would like to thank Angela Pooley for allowing us to use the lock-up for so long – it has been a fantastic help!!

Our volunteer sessions during August will take place on the following dates:

Saturday 10th – Litter Picking at 10.30am in the Marina Play Park, 
Tuesday 13th – Garden Maintenance at 9.30am in Adelaide Garden,
Sunday 18th – Garden Maintenance at 2.00pm in Beach Lawn,
Wednesday 28th – Garden Maintenance at 7.00pm in Adelaide Garden,

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments.

A date for your diary next month is our annual Autumn Festival which this year will be held on Saturday 14th September – more information to follow next month! We looking for volunteers to help set up the event and clear up afterwards. We also have some stalls we need help manning, one of which is our coconut shy, a popular stall which needs a couple of enthusiastic volunteers to help run it.  If you can help in any way please let us know.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Best wishes,  
 
Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during June.  We had 8 at our litter pick in Crescent Garden, and a total of 15 at our three garden maintenance sessions.

We have continued to work on clearing the stream to the pond in Beach Lawn and on the rockery area in Marine Garden.  At our Tuesday session we were pleased to be joined by a group of 11 volunteers from Crown Commercial Services who did some great work clearing ivy off the walls and weeding and tidying around all the benches in the centre of Crescent Garden.

Our volunteer sessions during July will take place on the following dates:

Tuesday 9th July – Garden Maintenance meeting at 9.30am next to the Cafe;
Saturday 13th July – Litter Picking at 10.30am in Adelaide Garden;
Sunday 21st July – Garden Maintenance meeting at 2.00pm in Beach Lawn;
Wednesday 24th July – Garden Maintenance meeting at 7.00pm at the Cafe.

All equipment for garden maintenance and litter picking will be provided, as well as refreshments.

On Sunday 21st July there will be an open air theatre production of Twelfth Night, presented by the Wanderlust Theatre Company.  This will take place in the rockery area of Marine garden commencing 2pm.  More details including booking can be found on our website here

Another date for your diary is our annual Autumn Festival which this year will be held on Saturday 14th September – more information to follow next month! 

Best wishes, 

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during May.  We had 17 at our litter pick at the Children’s Play Park, 5 at our Tuesday morning session when we weeded the raised bed in Crescent Garden, and 8 at our Sunday afternoon session when we worked on the stream in Beach Lawn.

We removed some more of the reeds and mud filling the small ponds in the stream and it was exciting to see at least 4 newts in one of the sections we had cleared earlier in the year.  The big pond is looking good too, with lilies just starting to flower.

Our Wednesday afternoon session was rained off, but two of us had joined with a group of hardy volunteers from Crown Commercial Services in the morning.  We worked with them on clearing the weeds from the steps in Crescent Garden.  There was heavy drizzle when we started, and they did a fantastic job, but we all decided to give in at 11.30am when the rain got even heavier!

Our volunteer sessions in June will take place on:

Saturday 8th – Litter Picking in Crescent Garden between 10.30 and 11.30am
Tuesday 11th – Garden maintenance meeting near Waterloo Sunset Cafe at 9.30am
Sunday 16th – Garden maintenance meeting in Beach Lawn at 2.00pm
Wednesday 26th – Garden maintenance meeting near Waterloo Sunset cafe at 7.00pm

Please note that our Wednesday session will be at 7.00pm in the evening (our “summer time”).  All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments.

Best wishes, 

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to all those who came along to help in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during April.  We had eight join us in Marine Garden for litter picking and some work on the rockery, and six at each of our gardening sessions.
 
Our Tuesday garden maintenance session was unfortunately cancelled because of high winds, but at the Sunday session we continued our work on the stream in Beach Lawn.  We’ve now cleared the worst of the blockages but there is still more to do tidying up around the edges and in the nooks and crannies of the stone.  We turned the water on a couple of days later and it was good to see that it now runs much more smoothly along the whole length!  At our Wednesday session we continued to work on edging the top path in Adelaide Garden.

Our volunteer sessions in May will take place on:
 
Saturday 11th May – Litter Picking in the Children’s Play Park near the Marine Lake, meeting at 10.30am
Tuesday 14th May – Garden maintenance, meeting at 9.30am 
Sunday 19th May – Garden maintenance, meeting at 2.00pm 
Wednesday 22nd May – Garden maintenance, meeting at 1.00pm 
For all of our garden maintenance sessions we meet near Waterloo Sunset cafe.
 
All gardening and litter picking equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and chocolate biscuits!
 
We hope to be able to hold some book sales during the summer months (weather permitting) and will publicise the dates in advance.  Another date for your diary is our Autumn Festival, which will be held on Saturday 14th September in Marine Garden.
  
Best wishes, 
 
Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during March.

We had 12 at our Saturday litter pick in Potter’s Barn, when we also pruned the Waterloo rose bed, cleaned out the fountain and did some edging of the pathway.  At our Tuesday and Wednesday sessions we had 7 and 4 volunteers, who continued to work on edging the top path in Adelaide Garden.

We were involved in some productive talks with Green Sefton last month when we discussed various projects we have planned for the year, including work in Adelaide Garden, Beach Lawn, and Potters Barn.  We also hope to work with Green Sefton to replace some of the older railings and repair the wall in the centre of Beach Lawn.  These are just some of the things we have planned for the future.

Our volunteer sessions during April will take place on:

Tuesday 9th at 9.30am – garden maintenance, meeting near Waterloo Sunset cafe
Saturday 13th at 10.30am – litter picking and gardening in Marine Garden
Sunday 21st at 2.00pm – garden maintenance, meeting near Waterloo Sunset cafe
Wednesday 24th at 1.00pm – garden maintenance, meeting near Waterloo Sunset cafe.

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments.

Best wishes, 

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came along to our volunteer sessions in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during February.

We had our annual weekend of working the pond in Beach Lawn to keep it clear of overgrown reeds and weeds, with 8 workers on the Saturday afternoon and 10 on the Sunday.  We removed some of the new growth (amazing how much grows and how big the roots can get in just one year!) and invasive weed, along with lots of bricks and rubble that have been thrown in over the years, and cut back the grass and reeds on the two islands.  All the vegetation removed was left on the bank for a couple of weeks so that any wildlife could escape.  I even saw my first newt, swimming in the stream leading down to the pond!  

At our Sunday volunteer session later in the month, we helped Angela from Green Sefton, to load up the debris from the pond into her van and made three trips to their depot at Cambridge Road.  We’ve had many compliments about the work that we’ve done, both on our Facebook page and while we’ve been out and about in the gardens.

We had twelve volunteers at our Saturday session, when we litter picked and did some weeding around the steps in Beach Lawn, five at our Tuesday session when we finished edging around the benches in the centre of Adelaide, and six at our Wednesday session when we completed the edging on the top path in Crescent Garden.  

Our volunteer sessions in March will take place on:

Saturday 9th at 10.30am – in Potter’s Barn.
Tuesday 12th at 9.30am – meeting outside Marine Garden near Waterloo Sunset Cafe.
Sunday 17th at 2pm – See below.
Wednesday 27th at 1.00pm – meeting outside Marine Garden near Waterloo Sunset Cafe.

All equipment, and refreshments, will be provided. 

We are also pleased to partner with Sefton Hearts at 50 and Britain in Bloom’s 60th anniversary to celebrate the place our gardens have in community and friendship. We are hosting a guided walk of the gardens on Sunday 17th March from 2pm to 4pm. We are keen to hear your stories and record these for future generations – washed down with some tea and cake! Meet at 2pm at the South Road entrance of Marine Garden. If you are unable to join, please feel free to reply with your memories and how these gardens have helped your friendships. Our intention is to collate these memories and include them on our public website.

Hope to see you at one of our events this month.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during January.

We had 16 hardy litter pickers in Adelaide Garden which meant that we were also able to spread out into Crescent Garden, Beach Lawn and the pavements, and a couple of us did some edging around the central bench area too!  We had five at our Tuesday session in Crescent Garden when we continued edging the “top” path, and then four and six at our Sunday and Wednesday sessions when we carried on with edging the central bench area in Adelaide – it was a tad windy, but we weren’t going to be put off, and one more session should see that area completed!

Our BIG project in February is this weekend, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th at 1.30pm when we will be having our annual tidy up of the pond in Beach Lawn.  We plan to remove some more of the reeds and moss, carrying on our work of the last couple of years, and to try and prevent it getting so solidly overgrown again.  Any work has to be completed by the end of February to limit interference with the wildlife in the pond, so fingers crossed the weather is kind to us!  We will also be working on the stream leading into the pond, again clearing reeds and silted up areas.



Our regular monthly volunteer sessions in February will take place on:

Saturday 10th at 10.30am meeting at Beach Lawn,
Tuesday 13th at 9.30am meeting outside Crescent Garden near the cafe,
Sunday 18th at 2.00pm meeting outside Crescent Garden near the cafe,
Wednesday 28th at 1.00pm meeting outside Crescent Garden near the cafe,

All tools and equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and refreshments.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Happy New Year to all our supporters and Friends of the Waterloo Seafront Gardens.
 
A big thank you to everyone who came along to help in the Gardens during 2023 – a quick tot up from my record book shows that we had 158 volunteers at our monthly litter picks (1 hour), and 199 at our three regular monthly gardening sessions (usually 2 hours each), which means that we have spent at least 556 hours working in the gardens!  We know that others also spend time gardening and litter picking on their own, so thank you to those people too.
 
Our first volunteer sessions of 2024 will take place on the following dates:
 
Tuesday 9th January – Gardening/Tidy Up at 9.30am meeting outside Waterloo Sunset cafe.
Saturday 13th January – Litter Picking at 10.30am in Adelaide Garden.
Sunday 21st January – Gardening/Tidy Up at 2.00pm meeting outside the cafe.
Wednesday 24th Jan – Gardening/Tidy Up at 1.00pm meeting outside the cafe.
 
All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments, and please don’t be put off by the “Gardening” title – most of our work is clearing and tidying the pathways and not at all technical!
 
We plan to have another weekend of working on the pond in the Beach Lawn during February – watch out for more details.  At the moment I think waders may be needed rather than wellies!
 
With best wishes for 2024.


 Janet Markland
Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens