Villagers dig in to bulb project

A group of volunteers were joined by borough councillors Stephen Moon and Sheryl Corp, who gathered at the village hall to start creating ‘Great Barford in Bloom’, on Sunday, November 26.

The project was instigated by the parish council with a plan to plant 1,600 King Alfred daffodil bulbs throughout the main access points to the village in year one and a further 1,000 bulbs each year over the next five to 10 years.

The project has been sponsored by Bedford Borough Council and Roxton Garden Centre. Funding was sourced through the Borough Council Ward Fund to buy bulbs and trowels. On arrival the volunteers were issued with hi-vis jackets, spades, trowels and a bag of bulbs, directing them to planting areas.

After the bulbs were planted the volunteers were invited back to the village hall for a thank you coffee, hot chocolate with marshmallows and cakes, which went down extremely well.

A spokeswoman for Great Barford in Bloom said: “The sun shone making it a fun morning for the families who got involved, and the squeals of laughter from the children made it all worthwhile.

“A big thank you from the parish council to all who volunteered. Now we wait patiently until spring when our village should have a wonderful show of daffodils and the volunteers can say with pride ‘we planted those bulbs’.

“Also a big thank you to the group who planted many young trees around the Jubilee play area.”