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• The hidden garden which plays a vital role within the community

• Date:

  14th March 2005

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

Enclosed within a sturdy brick wall close to the centre of Liverpool lies a hidden gem, a secret garden that provides a valued spot of respite for its surrounding residents and a natural educational resource for local children.

Everton Park was developed in the 1980s when a more sociable style of housing was introduced to reform a deprived area of Liverpool following the disaster of high rise dwelling in the sixties.

Within this open green space, a nature garden was created between 1990 and 1992 with funding from Urban Programme. This tranquil spot was constructed in response to the desires of the local community following extensive consultation and now comprises a lake divided by a stone weir with footpaths and meandering boardwalks. Two beautiful pebble mosaics are situated at opposite sides of the site, depicting wildlife that can be found in the garden. These were designed by children from nearby schools and created by local artist Allun Jones.

A wide variety of native flora provides a wildlife haven within semi-natural habitats formed to provide educational opportunities for local residents, organised community groups, youth clubs and, in particular, local school children. Between April and September, the site entertains various groups of pupils, aged between 3 and 11, from surrounding primary schools who come along for a half day tour, walking from their school and back. Liverpool City Council’s enthusiastic rangers are fantastic advocates of the site, taking great pleasure in conducting tours around it.

Local community leaders, clergy and the schools work together in protecting the facility and encouraging responsible use of the garden. Those running the adjacent Shrewsbury Community Centre allow gardeners and visitors to the site use of its facilities at the centre due to basic provision in the garden. However, it does house two mess rooms that have been renovated by the Probation Service to provide shelter and space for simple interpretation and teaching.

Everton Park Nature Garden has also been further enhanced with the construction of an Accessible Garden for the disabled involving consultation with local groups. Senior Ranger at Liverpool City Council Derrick Jones said: “Providing facilities for disabled people is all about talking to the potential users. Many assumptions made in the past about what disabled people actually want, has been way off track but that is all changing now. For instance, there is a common misconception made about blind people. If you empty a cereal packet and hold it up in front of your face, that’s what many blind people actually see, rather than the blackness that many people think.”

A group of local wheelchair users were brought in to provide measurements for the raised beds to provide a tantalising sensory experience for visitors to the Accessible Garden. And Liverpool John Moores University zoology undergraduate, Kate Deane, has devised a proposal for a Tactile Trail for the nature garden as a whole. This would be marked out on tarmac in contrasting colours around the main features of the garden with signage using contrasting colours, large print and tactile pictures and letters. To complement the trail, Kate suggests using auxiliary aids such as magnifying glasses, hearing loops and audiotapes to illustrate key features within the garden.

All this dynamic activity is part of an ongoing evolution of the nature garden, which the council’s parks department hopes will eventually became an attraction for the entire city and beyond.

The site has held a Green Flag Award since 2003. Judges have highly praised the community involvement in writing the site’s management plan and the varied ongoing programme of events lead by the rangers which encourages people of all ages to get enthusiastic about the garden, commenting: “Everton Park Nature Garden is an excellent piece of countryside housed within a very urban and otherwise deprived area. Community involvement is a very strong and important feature of the site.

“The park has built up strong ties with local community groups and churches and is also a very important asset to local schools for whom it provides splendid educational opportunities. However, these opportunities are not just open to school children, the park invites everyone to ‘come and learn.’ Everton Park Nature Garden met the Green Flag Award criteria by a very comfortable margin and should be extremely proud of its achievements.”