Fiona Clarke, one of the founders of Friends of Pittville, worked very closely with Chris on all Friends of Pittville matters until her departure for Australia a couple of years ago. I asked her to recall their days working together. This is what she wrote.
I have known Chris since November 2009, which is now quite a long time. He joined the Green Space Volunteers as a ‘founder GSV’ by signing his name on a piece of paper at the 2009 Friends of Pittville AGM, even before he became a Friends of Pittville member the following year. Little did he know where either would lead him.
Some background: I established the Green Space Volunteers after discussions with Cheltenham Borough Council about how FoP could support the council in its minimal maintenance of the green spaces in Pittville. Little did they know where the group would take them, and Chris has played a huge role in this.
Cheltenham would never have gained a Green Flag and Green Heritage Site Accreditation for Pittville Park without Chris’s support to CBC. It took two years of preparation (January 2014 to judging in June 2016) and is an annual commitment. He has spent hours with their staff on the Pittville Park Management Plan, also annually revised. He represented FoP, with Judie Hodsdon, on fundraising for and advising on the new play area in the park in 2016, a £500,000 project.
Under Chris’s leadership of the GSVs since January 2016 so much has been achieved, quite apart from the regular weeding, sweeping, pruning and litter-picking: for example, establishing the so-called Bed 38 (at the corner of Wellington and Evesham Roads), with Judie Hodsdon; tree planting west of Tommy Taylors Lane; restoring the rockeries on the Upper Lake, below the Pump Room.
Chris became a FoP committee member/trustee in 2010 and joined two significant sub-committees: first, the Pittville Gates Restoration Project (2011-2015) and second, the less successful Pittville Pump Room Revival (2018-2022). He also developed the ‘Learning in Pittville Park’ online resources for teachers, parents and children in 2018.
In addition to all this, Chris is always ready to help with FoP’s other activities, such as co-managing the fund-raising car park at Albemarle Gate during race weeks; being on duty at plant sales (growing and donating plants too); attending displays and events; delivering the printed newsletter over many years.
As if he didn’t have enough to do for FoP, Chris is also active in the Gloucestershire Gardens and Landscape Trust and has researched and written several articles on Gloucestershire’s public parks and gardens for their journal, ‘The Wider View’.
In all these activities Chris is supported by his wife, Jill, who ensures there is some downtime with family and friends. (She maintains a mean calendar!) He is a competent artist and a regular attendee of jazz and lunch time classical music concerts at the Pump Room. And, of course, there is his own large house and garden to look after! I don’t know how he does it – a real Pittville hero.
Author: Fiona Clarke
Addendum
In the last couple of years, since Fiona’s departure, Chris has continued to be involved with the Friends of Pittville Steps project – reinstalling the missing stone steps in front of the Pump Room. And for the last several months, in his last project before hanging up his Green Space Coordinator’s wellies, Chris has organised with CBC the redesign of the raised beds area in front of the aviaries as part of the Sensory Garden project. This has involved reconditioning and replanting the raised beds as sensory beds, installing bug hotels, signage, a prominent FoP-funded wood carving and new colourful benches and litter bins – all aimed at providing interest and fun for users of the playground and park.
On behalf of the people of Pittville and all visitors to the park, we would like to offer our sincere thanks for his tireless commitment over the last fifteen years.
Author: Andy Hopkins