Community Garden, Bowthorpe

 

Bowthorpe is a largely residential suburb of Norwich on its western side. It has developed enormously since the 1970s and now comprises three major housing estates and a large industrial estate. You may have seen steam pouring from the Kettle Chips factory that is situated on the industrial estate or collected an item from the sorting office there. Other than that its not the sort of place that you might stumble upon unexpectedly. If you do ever make your way there it becomes obvious that the roads have been designed to keep Bowthorpe slightly detached from the rest of Norwich. For example if you lived on Earlham Green Lane and you had bought a TV from someone on Clover Hill Road you would need to drive 2.4 miles to get to their house even though there's a reasonable chance that you could see it from the front of your house.

 

If you are walking, cycling or taking public transport though its a different matter. Just make sure that you've got a big enough backpack for the TV. Someone did buy a TV from me a couple of years ago and took it home in his backpack on his bike. He didn't live particularly nearby. I hope he is OK.

 

It does reduce the traffic though and this together with a network of cycle and bus lanes make it feel like one of the safest places to cycle in or around Norwich. Just don't try and take a shortcut along one of the residential roads. You'll spend 20 minutes heading in what feels like the right direction and end up back where you started.

Tucked away at the centre of all the housing, just south-west of the shopping centre, there is a charming area that has been designated for leisure and recreation. There are play spaces for children of all ages, a large playing field, a village hall and a community garden. 

My commute has taken me through this area for around eight years and the garden in particular always lifts my spirits when I pass it. It seems that there was a website for the garden but it defaults to a BT site now. Luckily there is still a cached version at the Internet Archive. It tells me:

The Bowthorpe Heritage Group was formed, and registered as a charity, in 2000 to create and maintain a community garden. The group is run entirely by volunteers and funded by donations.

It also gives a brief history of the garden including a bit about what preceded the garden on the site:

In 2001, a half-acre field of disused farmland was cleared, and a crumbling 19th Century barn was demolished. A small group of residents, keen to see the land put to good use, set up the Bowthorpe Heritage Group and approached the Norwich City Council to lease the land to create a community garden.

There were a few years of planning before a butterfly shaped flowerbed was built in 2006. Most of the main features were in place by 2011 allowing volunteers to use their imagination and passion for gardening to create beautiful floral displays throughout the year.

On the north side there is a small entrance which also functions as a noticeboard, a shed, a shelter and a trellis. If you are just passing by, further on you will notice the World War I memorial flowerbed. It is a touching reminder of the fallen and the volunteers had done a good job of refreshing it in time for Remembrance Day which was the day after my visit.

The main entrance is an impressive arched pergola. Beyond and either side of the pergola is where the volunteers get to show off their skills with the flowerbeds.

The wall to the left is a history wall which has some colourful mosaics and a slightly sun bleached map (sorry about the shadow).


I was really taken by how much thought had gone into the design in order to make it a space for everyone. The volunteers can get creative with the planting but you can also see on the map that the far end of the garden has a range of habitats to encourage biodiversity.

It makes space for art in the shape of mosaics, the garden design itself and this curved, mossy bench:

The noticeboards had photos of many different groups getting involved. 

There has obviously been a huge amount of thought, effort and imagination gone into this joint venture and the result is a brilliant community resource that gives Bowthorpe a unique heart.

Instagram

Norfolk Corners now has an Instagram page. Since I started adding photos the site has directed my attention to the photographic talents of LizzieLorie who has taken some stunning photos of the community garden amongst many others:

Thanks to Lizzie for letting me brighten my page with her amazing photo.

I recommend a song at the end of each blog entry just to give a bit more of a flavour for the feature. Summer of Their Dreams by Virginia Astley is on her album titled 'From Gardens Where We Feel Secure'.

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