The residents at Lochend and Restalrig are rejoicing this morning as they have won gold in the Flatted Community category of the Beautiful Scotland Awards. This means they have also won the Flatted Community Trophy which we hope they will have somewhere prominent to display!
The high flats at Lochend and Restalrig have beautiful gardens at the foot of the 76 flats in Lochend House and Restalrig House which have been developed by the community over the last eight years after the area was landscaped with funding secured by Restalrig and Lochend House Residents Association.
The residents have entered the Beautiful Scotland awards for many years now and have gradually moved their way up the rankings from silver to silver gilt. They were recently visited by judges who went over the gardens with a fine tooth comb.
In 2012 they unfortunately could not enter as the area had been dug up by the gas board laying new pipes, but this did not diminish the group’s enthusiasm.
This year they have a WW1 theme, complete with blue, red and white flowers, Scottish and Union Jack flags, poppies and a commemorative stone.
John Fairgrieve, chair of the Restalrig and Lochend House Residents Association said: “Over the years we’ve gradually added more plants with the help of the Council’s Inch Nursery and we decided to go in for Beautiful Scotland in 2009. At first we managed to get Silver awards and in the past three years we’ve moved up to Silver Gilt. We’re hoping we’ve stepped up this year though – we reckon it’s the best year we’ve had garden-wise and we’re ever hopeful.”
In the pictures:
(3) Back (l-r): Eileen May, Arthur Gawley, Christine Sadler, Stan Dunlop, Maureen Miller, Andrew Nacion; Front (l-r): John Fairgrieve, Margaret Anderson, Oscar the dog.
(4) Stan Dunlop and Christine Sadler tend to the garden
(6) John Fairgrieve and Eileen May
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