'We planted some trees upside down for a joke'

A gardener who began work on a city's garden festival site more than four decades ago said she was very proud to still be maintaining it today.

Festival Park, on the site of a former steelworks in Stoke-on-Trent, opened to the public in 1986.

Helen Sherwin, who works for Stoke-on-Trent City Council, was involved in planting "literally thousands" of tree whips on the site in the winter of 1984, work she described as tedious.

"Some went upside down for a joke, which the management never saw!" The 63-year-old laughed.

But looking at the Etruria woodland she continues to care for today, she said "I'm very proud of it actually, because it's beautiful, it's nice and peaceful."

Sherwin started as an apprentice with the city council aged 15, and was part of a gardening team at Burslem Park when she became involved in landscaping the reclaimed industrial land.

Her favourite memory of the garden festival was when the late Queen Elizabeth II came to open it on 1 May 1986, and they were still trying to complete the site, having started work at 06:00 the previous morning.

"While we were watching her, we were still putting turf down, so we were all in stitches," she said.

She said walking around today brought back memories of the people she used to work with, and the "lots of fun" they had.

Today Sherwin is a team leader with the city council, and felt fortunate to have worked for the authority for so long.

A crew of five, along with maintaining about 220 acres (89 hectares) of Festival Park, also work across the city at a range of places including schools, parks and care homes.

The best bit about being a gardener was the freedom, she said.

"You're given work in the morning, you do your work, you're trusted," Sherwin grinned.

"At the end of the day you look at what you've done and you're proud of what you've achieved."

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