Open Gardens 2019
Sunday 9th June
10am-5pm
The Open Day this year has been our most successful so far, and it is all thanks to our Open Gardeners. Everyone I have talked to remarked on what an interesting and enjoyable day they had. In Berwick we are able to provide a fantastic range of experiences, from brilliant views of the Tweed to the charming small gardens with all their colour in the Greenses, and all those in between. An extra special thanks to those who worked hard all day doing refreshments. Also, knowing about your plants, and offering gardening tips, will have inspired many visitors with new ideas.
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The Friends really appreciate your involvement. We hope that you also enjoyed the day, seeing old friends and newcomers alike. If it wasn’t too much effort, we hope you will continue next year.
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We have added up the takings, which amount to a total of £2,067. After deducting advertising and printing costs this leaves a net profit of £1,813 - 73% up on last year! Of course, the weather continued to be on our side.
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I would like to emphasise that all this money will be spent on improving the Parks and subsidising popular children’s events, such as the Beastie Hunt on 20 July. If you have any ideas for events you’d like to see us run, please get in touch. The Parks are owned and managed by Northumberland County Council with a contribution towards the Parks Officer post from the Town Council. However this doesn’t include any new and replacement planting, the purchase of equipment for use by volunteers or the funding of any events for the enjoyment of local residents.
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Finally, we would welcome any suggestions about how Open Gardens can be better organised. Please don’t hesitate to give us your views. We are already aware that the ticketing needs some improvement.
Best wishes,
Sue Richardson (chair)
On behalf of all the Friends of Berwick Castle Parks
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Welcome to our fourth
Open Parks and Gardens Day
Friends of Berwick Castle Parks have teamed up once more with friends and neighbours who have kindly offered to open their gardens to the public for a day. All proceeds from this event go to Friends of Castle Parks to fund future events and to buy tools and plants. Open Gardens has become established as our primary source of income so your participation is very much appreciated.
This year we have expanded our range across the town to include over 20 gardens, many of which are new this year. Most of these new gardens are in the Greenses plus a large and interesting hidden one in Ravensdowne. We are delighted to welcome all new gardens on board and appreciate the hard work that goes into preparing all participating gardens for Open Gardens Day. As ever, the gardens are very varied - some formal, some modern, some very informal and some with lovely pieces of outdoor art. You are likely to spot some plants you haven’t seen before and get some fresh gardening ideas to take home!
If you haven’t seen them before, take time to visit the animal sculpture trail in Coronation Park and say hello to Bari Bear at the Railway entrance to Castle Vale. We have also built a “bug hotel” at Castle Vale with the help of Berwick Army Cadets for our smaller visitors. Another new feature in the Parks is our Orienteering Trail - you may notice the markers on your way round. We hope that this will encourage older children and families to enjoy our wonderful parks. Orienteering maps are available to download via our website should you want to give it a try at a later date.
Some of the gardens will be offering refreshments this year and some will have plants for sale too - check for the symbols in the leaflet.
Thanks for taking part. I hope you enjoy your day and that the weather is kind to us again this year.
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