Manningham Library Launch

The newly refurbished Manningham Library re-opened on Sunday 5th July. It was a fantastic afternoon - there were people queuing up when the doors opened at 12 noon, and the stream of visitors continued until closing time at 4pm. They feel very proud of the new facilities in their local library.

A beautiful garden has been built as part of the refurbishment, and the Grow Organic team at BCEP took on responsibility for the planting of edible crops in some of the beds. Children from a local nursery school came to plant tomatoes, peppers, beans and courgettes during the previous week ready for the official opening on Saturday.

The mayor joined in the planting at the Official Opening on Saturday.

There were still plenty of fruit bushes, vegetables, flowers and herbs left to be planted on the Open Day. Many people were surprised to hear that the flowers they'd planted were edible as well, and some were adventurous enough to taste nasturtium petals and leaves and calendula petals. The children are looking forward to coming back to watch the progress of the plants they have put in and their families were delighted to hear that they would also be able to come and help themselves to the fresh fruit and vegetables as they ripened. 

Over 100 visitors also took the opportunity to make a paper pot and sow some seeds to nurture and harvest at home.

“Both children and adults obviously thoroughly enjoyed themselves planting the garden, and this is particularly important in an area where many houses have little outside space” said Briget Izod, the Library Development Officer. “BCEP staff have been completely reliable, professional and flexible in their approach, and our garden looks wonderful – we are really pleased with it.”