GOLD AWARD WINNERS in 2010 RHS Britain in Bloom ‘Large Village’ category
Projects
Our aim is to help make St Peter's an even nicer place to live, work in or just visit, so permanent landscaping and conservation projects feature high on our agenda.
If you know of an area of public land in the parish which could benefit from enhancement please get in touch by clicking here.
Marie de Garis Community Garden
In 2010 the community garden was renamed the Marie de Garis Community Garden to honour the doyenne of our parish. Mrs de Garis celebrated her 100th birthday in June. She was was to have unveiled the commemorative stone herself on 10th August, sadly she died on that very day. It meant much to us that Mrs de Garis had been to the garden and seen the stone and had said that she felt overwhelmed that parishioners wished to honour her in this way.
Family and friends gathered for a short service of dedication in September to rename the garden which had many years ago been part of the parish school grounds where Marie would have played as a child.
The Senior Vice-Dean of Guernsey, the Rev Andrew Sharp and curate of St Peter's and Torteval the Rev. Anne White conducted the dedication. We were delighted that so many people came to honour Mrs de Garis in this way. Her daughter Nicky Martel later said that after all the trauma in August (when her mother passed away), the ceremony had a happy feeling. She said it seemed as if her mother was now at rest after her final function.
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The commerative stone to Marie de Garis laid in September 2010 |
Mrs de Garis will be best remembered for her work in keeping our island language Guernésiaise alive through her Dictionary and recordings and interviews. Over the years she has left us a great legacy. We are all aware of the debt that we owe to her for keeping the history and culture of this parish in her books on the parish and its folklore.
Creating the garden
Our Group created a garden on an area of waste land to the east of the Post Office car park in 2008. It quickly become a popular place for passers-by to break their journey and enjoy this mini oasis in the heart of our village. They can stop for a rest on one of the two bench seats, read a newspaper, eat lunch or just sit and watch the world go by! Once the States Housing Department which own the land, gave us the go ahead we began by clearing and levelled the area. A path was laid through the garden which means that pedestrians approaching from the village no longer have to use the busy vehicular entrance to the Post Office car park. Pedestrian access from Les Brehauts Old School Flats means that the elderly residents can enjoy the garden.
Trellis planted with ivy screens the old school toilet block at the rear. A raised bed was created using soil dug out for the path, and edged with railway sleepers, it now contains a variety of shrubs and herbaceous plants with an ornamental tree at each end. A wooden arch planted with clematis and honeysuckle frames the entrance to the garden. Spring bulbs were planted in the grass, with bamboos, ferns and more perennial plants added to provide year round interest. Many shrubs and herbaceous plants have been added to provide year round interest and colour.
Wave Telecom very generously provided funding for the project whilst Norman Piette supplied the 'hard landscaping' materials. We are very grateful to both companies for their support.
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The Community Garden - Summer 2009 |
Le Ch'min de Trésor
This circular walk from Les Buttes (parish green) was officially opened to the public in May 2009. Work continues with this ongoing restoration project. Our Group is working with La Société Guernesiaise to introduce a management plan for the area. We aim to encourage insect, bird and all types of wildlife in to the meadow, as well as protecting the rich variety of plant life already established there.
Starting at Les Buttes the path meanders down through woodland to the meadow below, then alongside the douit (stream) before leading up again to the new De Beauvoir Steps. From there the path leads out into a grassy area behind de Beauvoir Cemetery, then back to Les Buttes past the Church. The Reverend Strike who conceived the idea, worked tirelessly on opening up the pathway through the trees, with much help in the early stages from parishioners including Helen and Philip Lemmon, Tony Vidamour, Peter Martel and Bert Snell.
During the summer of 2008 our Group negotiated with the Probation Service for teams carrying out community service orders, as an alternative to prison sentences, to work on the Walk on a regular basis. They have cut irrigation ditches, cleared brambles and created a set of earth steps They even found and rebuilt an old well. The Service has pledged to continue with its support on an ongoing basis which will help to ensure that this new parish 'treasure' can be enjoyed by all for many years to come.
Thanks to the generosity of HSBC, NatWest Bank and Rothschild three bench seats have been placed in the Walk so you can just sit there and relax, listening to the birds.
Invest in a Nest - 16 nesting boxes have been put up in the area. These were available at just £5 for anyone to purchase a 'des-res' for blue tits, great tits, sparrows, starlings or robins and visit the Walk in the future to check on whether they have tenants.
A living willow outdoor classroom and bird hides have been added to the Walk.
Le Ch'min du Trésor is open to the public between 12noon and 6pm every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
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Daffodils at Le Ch'min de Trésor |
Le Ch'min de Trésor in May |
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Commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Evacuation (June 2010)
Saturday 5th December 2009
Over 120 St Pierrais, including representatives from the Scouts, Beavers, Cubs, Guides, Brownies, Sylvans and La Houguette School, gathered at Le Ch'min du Trésor to plant trees to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Evacuation in 2010. The planting, has been entered in the BBC Breathing Places Treeo'clock project which celebrates trees and the part that they play in our lives. The BBC aimed to create a world record through planting the highest number of trees in one hour. The record currently stands at 653,143!.
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130 trees and ready to go! |
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In June 1940 many St Peters families were involved in the heartrending decision whether to send their children away to safety or remain in the island and face occupation - 70 years on we commemorated those difficult days and remembered those around the globe who are not free, as we are today. Once the majority of the trees had been planted everyone gathered to watch as the Bailiff, Sir Geoffrey Rowland and evacuees Eunice Ozanne, Margaret Le Noury, Fiona and Owen Le Tissier, Ron Gallienne and Bert Fallaize each planted an English oak in a copse which will become an area for quiet reflection.
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Many hands make light work! |
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The Green Legacy Project generously provided trees, stakes and guards for the project. 70 trees - english oak, alder, willow, sweet chestnut and ash will form the main canopy, with an underplanting of hawthorne, crab apple, holly and elder. The trees are located throughout the meadow and will form a walk along the southern bank. A copse of seven English oaks will create an area for quiet reflection.
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(Left) The Baliff planting the first tree in the Remembrance Copse
(Right) Fiona and Owen Le Tissier - who were evacuated during the war - planting an oak tree |
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The morning ended with bacon rolls and coffee alround. Our grateful thanks to St Peters Food Hall for providing the bacon and rolls and to the Longfrie Inn for cooking the bacon for us.
To see more about the tree planting, you can watch the BBC Coverage on
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/guernsey/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8399000/8399318.stm.
'Putting the Bois Back in to St Pierre'
In times past trees were much more plentiful in St Peter's than they are today. Over the years the vast majority have been lost to housing and farm development, and through sickness such as the devastating Dutch elm disease.
Now the parish floral team has introduced a scheme to encourage parishioners to help 'Put the Bois back in St Pierre' by planting trees on their land.
A legacy project - In March 2009 our Group, with the help of 54 children from La Houguette School and 'Give an Hour' supporters, planted a line of trees in the 'new' field at La Croix cemetery. This field will come in to use for burials in about 15 years by which time the trees will have matured to provide a pleasant natural screening from the car parking area.
States Tree Officer, Andy McCutcheon advised us to plant Sycamore (acer pseudoplatanus 'atropupurea' and Ash (Eureka) which should both thrive in the very exposed saline conditions. The trees were supplied free by Nigel Clarke's Green Legacy Project.
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March 2009 - Children of La Hougette school planting trees at La Croix cemetery |
Raymond Evison recently gave us some evergreen oaks which we have planted along the green lane bank at Ruette des Raies.
In liaison with Nigel Clarke's 'Green Legacy Project' and Men of the Trees, we can arrange free trees for parish owned land and heavily subsidised plants for private land so long as the trees can be seen by the public.
A Workshop led by Bob Paine, Chairman of the Men of the Trees took place at the Western Community Centre in February. Bob explained how to select the right species, how to plant and the after care of trees.
If you are interested in planting trees on your land please email click here
Why St Pierre du Bois? Marie de Garis' book about the parish tells us that the first documentary mention of the of the parish appeared in 1030 AD. It was named 'St Pedro du Bosq' in a Charter when Richard II, Duke of Normandy placed four Guernsey parishes and churches (including ours), under the patronage of the Benedictine monks of Mont St Michel.
Hidden St Peter's Weekend
Each year the parish is delighted to welcome hundreds of visitors to St Peters during the first weekend in June when around 20 gardens are open to the public. A wonderfully relaxed atmosphere descends over Les Buttes and the nearby roads and lanes, as people wander leisurely between the gardens. Several thousand pounds are raised annually towards Church funds as visitors explore areas of the parish which are usually tucked away out of sight. Members of our Group puts away the gardening tools for the weekend and get involved with setting up the event and helping in the tea tent!
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June 2010 - Marie de Garis, MBE opening Hidden St Peters |
In 2010 we invited Marie de Garis, MBE to open the event 10 days before her 100th birthday. Mrs de Garis, the doyenne of our parish, is best known for the Angllais-Guerensiais dictionaries which she published several decades ago ensuring that the island's traditional language is recorded for future generations. In 1995 she wrote a social history of the parish entitled 'St Pierre du Bois. The story of a Guernsey parish and it's people'.