Blaenavon was a farming community in the 1790s, they
opened a coal mine and then an iron works here, It's a deprived area now even
though we got world heritage status the the town it is is
really lacking in everything so something like this will bring
the people together. Forgeside village has had a rugby club since
1880, it stopped during the World Wars it was reformed then
in 1947, they've been playing on here since then on this
ground.
The the rugby club itself is a is a focal focal hub there's
there's two clubs in Blaenavon you got Blaenavon and
ourselves our club is sort of in the center of the town so
you find a lot of people will sort of mix around that we we
have a quite a few people when the weather is nice come up to
the ground because it is nothing here there's no benches
no seating or anything like that you know you know you
don't sort of get the older person coming because they
haven't got anywhere to sort of sit that's that's something
that we want to address. We seen the the competition online and
we thought well you know let's let's let's apply and let's see
what's happened you know when it come through and we we'd
actually turned around and won it it was you know much shock to
everybody it's a right buzz around it around the town at
the moment. The space at the moment is is is not really used
for anything it is just just grass we we we wanted to give
something to the community there's nothing in Forgeside
Village really there's no meeting points the future plans
is is is to build a community kitchen you know food poverty
in the area is is is quite high we've got a healthy town
officer Rebecca Smith she comes out she runs classes with with
like school kids and single parents of you know how how to
cook different vegetables different fruits. It's an
isolated town so pre COVID 45. 1% of people lived in poverty
and we don't know the up to date figures and it cost about
9 pound to get out of town and it cost an extra couple of
pound to get out from Forgeside as well on top of the
9 pound return out of town to the local supermarkets so being
able to have a community garden has been on my agenda for a few
years. In Forgeside, most people have got a yard rather
than a garden. Um so this gives them the space to be able to
grow those things. We really want the garden to bring a lot
more people here. There's the area we live in is there's a
lot of food poverty so if we can help that by growing veg
that people can take and help themselves and hopefully they
can come watch us play rugby as well so it's a it's a it's a
that big full circle we help each other out. People would be
more involved with the club that they have a purpose is for
everyone so it's it's bringing the community together. Not much
of a gardener myself at the moment but I'm willing to learn
and with this exciting opportunity we have it's no
doubt I'll get my hands dirty. Yeah we were really impressed
with how they wanted to bring gardening into the community
and having it as part of the rugby club was just a really
lovely way. It's a long skinny space at the moment and we're
going to be designing sort of sort of core section of that
area but the idea is that the community can take the design
and expand it over time and one of the things that they were
really really keen to do was to bring the industrial heritage
into the garden so we've used rusty steel planters which are
going to really just sit into the landscape here and just be
a bit of a nod to the sort of industrial past. Yeah the time
pressure is definitely definitely a challenge but we
can definitely make that work. The sort of the plan is to to
plant follow that process through then plant look after
it grow it and then pick it harvest it and then actually
cook with it you know and and it's sort of the whole process
from from start to finish.
Actually seeing the the start of the work and how far it's
come on it's it's really emotional and I'm just so proud
of the achievement that the club and the community have
made. Yeah it's been pretty bonkers I won't lie it's I
think this garden is totally unique I don't think anybody's
created a garden quite in this setting before which is what
makes it really really exciting and a completely you know
unique project. So this area was the heart of the industrial
revolution and everyone here is really proud of their
industrial heritage so we wanted to bring some of those
elements into the garden. The planting we thought we'd have a
bit of fun with that and we've gone for really fiery colors so
things that will represent the kind of fiery furnaces that
would have once burnt here. Everything we've designed is
designed to be really really robust so we've gone for
materials that will just weather down really nicely so
rather than trying to sort of battle with the elements we're
kind of working with it so we've really taken a queue from
the industrial heritage of the area so we've gone for steel
that is going to rust down really nicely we've gone for
weathered bricks really robust timber that is going to silver
down with age. The the landscape around here is
absolutely stunning and I think that was something we were
really keen to sort of hopefully enhance and not
detract from.
They're people who use the sort of surrounding area
recreationally. They come, they'll hope they pass through
here so they'll hopefully come and enjoy the space. There's
local rambling groups that kind of walk through as the footpath
goes past so hopefully they'll have a little break and enjoy
their sandwiches in the garden.
So this is the greenhouse it still needs its outer layer on
but it's a work in progress we're getting there everyone's
really excited about this space too because it gets so wild up
here I think having a covered area where you can still be
amongst the plants you can sow some seeds and sort of hang out
and have a chat as well is going to be a really valuable
space for everyone.
So we've got loads of places to sit in the garden. Um all of
these steel planters have got oak tops going on them so
there'll be loads of places for people to sit so even if
there's just one or two people together on the benches behind
here or like a whole group of people kind of on all the
different angles that would be really lush I think for people
to sit together in groups.
The the difference with this job is it's for the community I
mean we work for customers all around South Wales all around
different places this is different because it's not just
for one person it's not just for one family it's for the
community at the end of the day. Rugby clubs are the heart of
most towns in Wales realistically it's it's a Welsh
thing it's our heritage so for people to be able to come in be
able to use it do the planting come up through the generations
for everyone like that it's it's nice for us to be able to
do something for that and to help the community a lot as
well.
We've got some lovely blueberries here that are
already starting to flower which is exciting so hopefully
in a couple of months there'll be some gorgeous fruit to eat.
We're going to plant these blueberries in amongst some of
the fruit trees which will be really lovely and surround them
with lots of colorful herbaceous plants. It'll be a
mix of edibles and ornamentals. I think it'll look really lush.
Seeing the progress on this garden is just incredible. This
was just a plain piece of unused land and now we've got
all this paving and raised beds, the flowers. It's just
just seems a dream for us. I think locals are going to be so
excited about this the few we've talking to already are
just so excited and can't wait to be a part of this as as it
grows. So the plants have just arrived which is very very
exciting it's just lush to see some greenery going into the
garden finally it feels like we're on the home straight now
which is amazing this isn't everything there's going to be
lots of things grown from seeds so that's where the community
are going to really get stuck in themselves but these are the
perennials which will be a sort of backbone of the planting.
It's nice to see some greenery going in isn't it? Can I sit
by you? This is civilized. They're working hard yeah he's
a bit slow, wheel faster it's alright isn't it not bad is it.
Today's been absolutely amazing I've been blown away by how
much progress we've made even in the last just two hours
loads of volunteers have come to get stuck in and I think
that's what everyone needed like an extra boost so all
those extra pair of hands have really have made light work and
everyone's just got stuck in and made such a difference.
Today's been a productive day we've got a lot done so it
kind of raised the spirits and made us think we can achieve
the the end goal now sort of thing whereas as I said this
morning we're a bit skeptical as to whether we get it all
done but with help we found today it looks positive now.
Yeah I think now that the plants have gone in today or
started to go in at least everyone can see that it's
really starting to take shape and it's starting to feel like
a garden now rather than a building site so it's really
exciting.
Now, declare the new garden. Open. Yay.
A really good buzz, good atmosphere. Everybody's been
talking about the garden. They've been talking about how
they can get involved in the garden. What the RHS has done
as well enabled this to happen. It's absolutely amazing.
Fantastic. A fantastic opportunity. Stay straight.
Stay straight. Well done.
It's wonderful to be here today marking the Royal Horticultural
Society's Garden Day and really gardening is so so important
this is going to evolve now over the years as people from
from around our community come in make their mark on it make a
difference wonderful to have this facility here in Forgeside.
Right, we've got lots of people to feed now. People are queuing
up, right? We gotta get cooking. Who wants to eat? Yes.
And in communities like this where maybe many of the houses
don't have a back garden this can be their back garden so
lots of kids can come learn about how to plant learn about
how to grow and then if they're lucky enough they can take what
they've grown and eat it the the joy of National Gardening
Week is that all of the young kids that we've met here today
they're eating things that they've never eaten before yeah
they have I mean and especially important when you can just
pluck it out the ground it taste much better if you don't
have a back garden you can come here run around with your
friends plant some wonderful vegetables and of course those
vegetables will change through the season so you can eat all
year round for free and I just hope that this becomes a
wonderful community hub. I've been the Secretary of Foregside
Rugby Club for a number of years now and I knew what this
ground did look like and I mean look at it now it's a absolute
transformation and it's going to be a wonderful benefit
to the to the wider community not just the rugby club we we
look to work with the local schools and things like that
and get children up here and get them interested in
gardening and obviously if they can't if they don't have that
experience at home that they can have it here so we will be
looking to do do that throughout the course of this
this the next few years you know it's a long project this
will be and we'll look to improve and improve every year.
For me it's just everybody's pulled together to get this
completed this couldn't be just a few people this was a good
community effort to get this finish which was excellent. Fantastic to
see the community up here celebrating this fantastic
achievement. Yeah so I think in Blaenavon and Forgeside and in the surrounding areas been
lacking it's just something that everyone can get involved
in and just having an area that you can suggest your friends oh
let's have a day if it's a nice and sunny day you can come up
here help out it's just a really nice sense of community.
It just shows what people can do when they pull together. It's
such a privilege on behalf of the RHS to be here at this
amazing garden in Wales I've I've just been completely blown
away by how many people are here there's so many different
generations mixing in doing things seeding planting doing
flower crowns it's just such a lovely celebration and I know
this garden is going to be such an amazing asset for this
community. Yeah I feel I feel really proud really proud of
the project and yeah just so so happy to have been involved
with it. Wherever community gardens grow it's really
important to the people that actually build these gardens
because it brings everyone together it's massive social
connections it's amazing for wellbeing it's really good for
the environment and it is my complete passion and privilege
to do this on behalf of the RHS and see the amazing things that
are achieved in communities across the UK. Um it's been
amazing today. It's been such a lovely atmosphere. Everyone's
been buzzing and it's just so great to see the garden finally
come to life.