Lockdown gardeners join forces to transform historic church yard in Milton Keynes

The garden at St St Mary Magdalene Church in Willen had not been touched for 30 years and was overrun with brambles, ivy and rubbish.

Resident Pip Coyne put out an appeal in the village residents' Facebook page for volunteers to tidy up the area.

The church congregation is small (30 approximately) and many are well past gardening age so that’s why I appealed for local muscle," said Pip.

Soon a small army of volunteers was formed. Every Saturday morning during last year's lockdown, and during the summer months between lockdowns, they turned out for socially distanced sessions to tackle the garden outside the ancient church, which was built in 1680.

With each week that passed, more the the neglected garden was revealed. A memorial country-style border has been planted with 700 bulbs, promising a riot of colour in the spring.

A Just Giving Page was set up to raise much-needed funds to pay for rubbish clearance, shredding of debris and new plants and bulbs.

"The herculean effort to restore this special place has paid off with compliments pouring in from the increased number of visitors," said Pip.

"What I love about the whole thing is that friendships have been formed and that people really feel that they own the garden, which is a local amenity crying out to be loved.

"Gone is all the graveyard rubbish, old jam jars, broken pottery, weeds, plastic bottles and cellophane. It just goes to show what community can achieve. Local residents have excelled themselves themselves with muscle, enthusiasm and great humour in between lockdowns."

The team is currently taking a well-earned rest during the cold weather and to comply with Covid-19 rules. But everyone is looking forward to meeting up again on Saturdays, between 10am and 12pm when the weather improves, said Pip.