Wildlife-Friendly Garden

The Wildlife Friendly Garden situated to the rear of LRC has been developed since 2006 by volunteers on land owned by Comptons Yard Trust. The Wildlife Friendly Garden has been developed primarily by LRC and has been awarded the Green Pennant Award for three successive years (2007/2008, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010).

The Wildlife Friendly Garden was awarded a Big Lottery (Awards for All) grant to give the visiting public more information about the garden. A celebration of the completion of the project will take place between 10 and 3 on Saturday 12th June (see poster).

The garden contains a very wide diversity of plants, and you can download a plant list to help you in identifying them (and rain-proof laminated versions are available in the garden for visitors).

In 2010, LRC was awarded a grant to develop its "Signs of Life" project to add informative signs around the garden, identifying the various plants and animals to be found there.

The garden itself provides a town centre haven for a wide variety of animals including newts, sparrows, blackbirds, bats (long-eared and pipistrelles), many species of bees, butterflies, woodlice and snails. Its soil is rich in earthworms and, as far as is known, neither pesticides nor artificial fertilizers have ever been used on it.

A small pond provides a source of water for birds as well as a home for smooth newts, pond skaters, greater water boatmen, whirlygig beetles, pond snails and mayflies. In the height of summer, frogs have been found sheltering there too.

Various boxes have been provided for bees, bats and birds, and a variety of benches have been provided for the public to sit and enjoy this little green space.

Other volunteers have developed a very attractive and pleasant garden behind Comptons Yard Trust's own building next door (where the Great Oak Cafe is situated). The wildlife-friendly area also extends in the other direction, into the small garden behind the The Stag Inn where a larger pond and more bird boxes have been added.