TGV in Bloom Visit

 Last Sunday, Jess Halsall and I went to meet the TGV in Bloom group at their allotment site to find out more about their organisation. Tadpole Garden Village was built as a community village, it's very interesting to look at their website and what they say about the model it was built on, similar to the thinking behind Welwyn and Letchworth Garden villages. The TGV in Bloom group is 'Run by residents Stu Olden and Pete Welsh, TGV in Bloom is a community focused group open to all residents with an interest in gardening, horticulture and the local environment. Current activities include helping to maintain a community allotment, bulb planting and contributing to ways in which the colourful outlook of TGV can be improved and maintained.'

We were greeted by a welcoming party, including Pete Welsh who I had communicated with beforehand. Everyone was wearing a garment with the TGV in Bloom logo on it as seen below. I think the logo was designed by a primary school pupil, it works really well.

Here's Pete Welsh, greeting us at the start of the visit, I don't think he was expecting to be photographed at the beginning of the visit.

I like the wording on the back of his jacket

Here's the logo on a green hoodie

The wheelbarrows are stacked up just inside the gates at the allotment site. Behind them you can see the sheds, each of the 34 plots has a lockable shed within the site.

And here is number 34 shed. The use of different colours gives the site an open, seaside feel

Here's a sign beside the community allotment, number 28, all the other plots are worked by people living in the village.

Each plot is quite large, here we're looking at the community allotment aimed at encouraging pollinators, and nectar rich flowers.

A close up on the autumn flowering raspberries on the plot

There's a lovely wooden greenhouse on site, the foundations and base were dug and laid by TGV volunteers, but the greenhouse was erected by a specialist, which is often the case. It's a difficult job erecting a greenhouse.

This year TGV came second in Wiltshire Life Awards 2022

We wandered from the greenhouse to have a sit down in the covered shelter where we were given a hot drink and some delicious courgette cake. What a great asset to any allotment this sort of space is.

It was very interesting to see Pete's Power Point presentation, the highlight being the 12 key things the Bloom group are really proud of. It needs to be larger than this. I'll put it on a Facebook page with Pete's permission. 

And last, but by no means least, there's a memorial stone where people leave messages and gather at important times, like Remembrance Day and recently the death of Queen Elizabeth.

What a wonderfully inspirational visit. Thank you so much to Pete, Stu and others who came out to meet us on Sunday and made the trip so special. May you go from strength to strength.