A group of volunteer gardeners, including Castle Park trustee Peter Vickery, are in the process of redeveloping a forgotten corner of the Park gardens.

The plot, which sits to the side of the Arts Centre courtyard, was made into a sensory garden back in 1987. However, when the neighbouring tennis court was repurposed as a playground in 2010, it fell into disuse and was buried under mounds of earth.

However, this year, with Covid-19 restrictions reminding people of the value of their outdoor spaces, attention turned to the old garden once again.

When the Arts Centre reopened after lockdown, the café was effectively forced out into the courtyard to allow for social-distancing, and the Castle Park trustees thought that reviving the garden would be the perfect way of optimising this space for customers.

Peter also thinks that the garden's patio area could make a suitable stage for open-air productions from groups such as the Frodsham Players. Being able to lend the space to such events would help the Arts Centre to recuperate some of the income that was lost during lockdown.

In June, the gardening group posted an appeal for volunteers on social media, and has now grown a small community of helpers who come to work on the garden on Wednesday and/or Saturday mornings.

"We want to bring it back to life," says Peter. "We're trying to recreate a nice quiet space to welcome people coming from the park into the Arts Centre."

"It needs to be attractive and easy to maintain," so that it can be enjoyed all the year round.

Having already uncovered the garden's old pathways and replanted its borders, the volunteers are now fundraising for new sleepers to protect the flowerbeds.

They would also like to resurrect the old vegetable patch, in order to create an interactive and educational feature for visiting children.

Peter will be delivering letters to local businesses, asking for donations of anything between £5 and £50 to help collect money for these projects.

Garden upkeep and design has always been an area of interest for Peter, whose grandfather was a head gardener in Edwardian England.

On his retirement from a long career in engineering in 2016, Peter decided to follow in his grandfather's footsteps by getting an allotment, and completing an RHS course at Reaseheath College.

"It's been great getting involved with redeveloping this garden," he says. "It teaches you a lot about garden design. I love it."

Peter and his fellow volunteers are still keen to welcome anyone who would like to help restore the garden. If you are interested, you can get in touch via the Castle Park Arts Centre website.