The National Garden Scheme allows pupils in the Estate Group to use this activity for their ‘service/ volunteering’ element of their DofE and have been working hard all year to improve the grounds of the College.

With such large grounds the impact this intrepid group of pupils can make is limited but in some places their efforts can clearly be seen. There is an area near to the assault course that is being replanted with rhododendrons and azaelias (mostly those species that would have been available to John Walter’s gardeners in the late 1800’s). These have already been flowering this year.

The open air theatre (kindly sponsored by the BPA) is beginning to look the part, as the seeded grass grows and the planted beech hedge starts to sprout after its first winter. This is unlikely to be useable for another year or so but will be something well worth waiting for.

Most of the team’s efforts have been focussed on the water garden - where, under Miss Truman’s watchful eye, the main jobs this year have been to clear an overgrown area of ‘rock’, tidy away all the overgrowth of last year and plant some new plants to replacing aging specimens. This water garden is on the National register of Historic Gardens.