Priory's gardeners sow the seeds of the past

Penwortham Priory Academy pupils are sowing seeds in a new way – making use of abandoned bottles.

Gardener Mr Farron found some old milk bottles in the school archives and has adapted and recycled them for his and the pupils’ use.

“All schools tend to have areas where they store things and ours is under our stage,” said Mr Farron, who has just helped Priory win two Royal Horticultural Society North West in Bloom Awards for their outstanding gardens.

“The school was built in the 1950s and at that time free milk was given to children.

“I was looking under the stage for some props for the garden and I found the milk bottles covered in dust. They had names on them like Co-op and UCP and could hold one-third of a pint of milk.

“The bottles brought back memories for me, being a former milk monitor, and certain older members of staff.

“I decided to make use of them and show the pupils how to recycle them and we have planted bulbs in them and are watching them develop. We have put them in different types of compost and we are logging how they grow over a period of time. 

The pupils are interested, they want to know and we are also using the milk bottles to brighten rooms up by putting our home grown flowers in them.”

Year 9 pupil Connor said: “I help Mr Farron most mornings and I enjoy working on the gardens.”

Megan, Year 8, added: “I enjoy learning about all the different plants and flowers and learning about the environment. Doing things like this, helps us understand the environment more.”