Fantastic Fred is still in bloom

Published by RichardBrown for The Regenda Group in Communities and also in Environment, Housing

93 year old Fred Dell from West View was amongst the winners of a ‘Fleetwood in Bloom’ competition held by Regenda.

Fred and fellow resident Alan Armitage maintained the gardens at Wansbeck House which was the winning entry for the Westview area of Fleetwood.

Fred has been a dedicated gardener all his life. Having served in the Royal Navy for seven years he took up a permanent role as a grounds man in 1962 at Lancashire County Council whilst also working as a grounds man for Cardinal Alan School and Rossall College in Fleetwood. Fred is also a keen crown green bowler and has maintained the grounds at Fleetwood bailing club for many years.

Fred said “It is great to have my efforts recognised. Although I’m not in the best of health, I still like to stay active. I play crown green bowls, I still ride a bike and I enjoy a few pints and a drop of whiskey now and then. Gardening has been my life but this will probably be my last year maintaining the gardens at Wansbeck.”

Scheme Manager at Wansbeck House, Mal Hughes said “Fred has been a keen gardener nearly all his life. Fred has maintained the gardens at Wansbeck since he moved in over 15 years ago. He might be 93 years old but to me he is a sprightly young man. Fred says this will be his last year as a gardener here but he has been saying that since I started work here in 2005”.

The communal garden competition was held across three neighbourhoods; West View, Town Centre and Flakefleet, with winners in each area and an overall winner.

Jean Clarke on Greenfield road won the Flakefleet area and overall prize. Of her win, Jean said “I was really thrilled to have won both the first prize and also the overall prize in the competition. We have all worked really hard on the garden getting it ready.  I’d like to say a big thank you to Regenda’.

The judging was carried out by Darralyn Jackson, regional service’s manager & local councillor Terry Rogers and accompanied by Angie Welch, project manager & Kim Taylor, neighbourhood officer. Darralyn Jackson commented “there were so many excellent floral displays in the area that we found it very difficult to choose the winners”.    

The winning entry for the town centre was Burton Lodge on Albert Street.