Classmates have planted 1,000 daffodil bulbs as part of the redevelopment of a small South Lakeland park. Children from St Martin and St Mary C of E Primary School in Windermere were invited to help add a splash of colour to the patch of public open space at nearby Baddeley Clock. They did it in record time too, planting and covering all 1,000 bulbs and helping to rake the soil in less than an hour.
South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) has been thinning out trees and tidying up the park as part of a wider landscaping project which is expected to be completed by early next summer. Councillor David Fletcher, SLDC’s Portfolio Holder for Environment, says the green-fingered children were hand-picked for the job. “St Martin and St Mary’s is a Green Flag School which is part of a national project which encourages children to embrace and protect their environment and become shining examples to others.
“Some of the older children who took part in the bulb-planting are ‘school eco-warriors’ who are already showing real interest in green issues and behaving in a way which contributes to maintaining and improving their environment. “All their hard work will be rewarded when the daffodils reappear as the colourful centrepiece in the newly redeveloped park.” The redevelopment of Baddeley Clock park is the first project as part of SLDC’s new partnership with the award-winning grounds maintenance, landscape construction and street cleansing company, Continental Landscapes Ltd.
Caroline Gooch, Continental Landscape’s Biodiversity and Community Relationship Co-ordinator, said: “The kids were fantastic, they were so well behaved and responsible and worked so hard. “Although we have worked for SLDC since 1991, this is a new direction for us, sharing decisions and responsibilities and formalising the harmonious relationship we have developed with the council over the past few years.”