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Inside the hidden garden in the heart of a city

Eleanor Maslin/BBC Volunteer Gary Bosworth in a navy fleece, jeans and boots and a cap, smiling and pointing at the garden at the entrance. Chair of trustees Lynn Ritson is holding a spade, also wearing a navy fleece, jeans and wellies and beckoning people to walk in. Two flower pots can be seen at either side of the brick entrance, with a pathway, trees and bushes in the background.Eleanor Maslin/BBC
Like stepping into The Secret Garden, the Dawber Garden is run by a devoted group of volunteers all year round

Hidden in a quiet corner of a city lies a public garden run by a humble group of volunteers.

Taken over from City of Lincoln Council in 2023, the newly-formed trust have worked through all seasons to maintain the Dawber Garden.

The plot, which is fully self-funded, has undergone a transformation from an unkempt piece of land into a cornucopia of trees, flowers, a reflection pond and pieces of art.

With birds chirping and the cathedral chiming in the background, BBC News entered the garden to meet some of the volunteers in mid-December.

Eleanor Maslin/BBC A group of six volunteers - five women and a man - standing in front of a pond. They are wearing boots and wellies, jeans and gardening gloves and two of the women are holding rakes. Eleanor Maslin/BBC
The garden is open daily for visitors and admission is free

Lynn Ritson, chair of trustees at the Dawber Garden Community Trust, said three years ago the garden was "in a really poor state" and was in need of "some loving care and attention".

A group of volunteers then formed a charity and took over the management of the public space in spring 2023.

The garden has some more unique features, including two moon arches which form the entrance to a small Chinese garden - a nod to Tangshan in China, one of Lincoln's twin towns.

"It's really important to the local community and visitors from far and wide," said Ms Riston.

"In the summer we had visitors from Australia, America, and it's joyful."

Eleanor Maslin/BBC A composite of two photos. The left photo has purple allium flowers surrounding a pond with a hedge and blue bench in the background. The right photo shows dried silver-painted alliums on a Christmas tree in the garden. Eleanor Maslin/BBC
Volunteers reused purple allium flowers that bloomed in May by drying them out and spraying them silver to go on the garden's Christmas tree

Volunteer Rachael Clark created a three-panel mosaic for the garden in honour of her mum, Julia Mary Clark, who would frequently walk around the site with her before she died in 2022.

With the garden being so close to her heart, the 45-year-old even decided to have her wedding ceremony there.

"We didn't want a conventional wedding and wanted to keep it really personal," she said.

"In the lead-up to the actual day, the weather was not very good, but on the day it was beautiful and the sun was shining, it felt very magical.

"There's a lot of benefits for anybody to walk in a natural space, even if the weather is bad.

"It allows you to feel all of your senses, see the birds flying around and see other people if you're lonely."

Eleanor Maslin/BBC A man is standing in front of a large piece of shrubbery with a black jacket and trousers and a beige hoodie. He is holding a beagle on the lead and smiling at the camera.Eleanor Maslin/BBC
John Graves, accompanied by his beagle Bodie, said the garden held memories of visits with his late mother

Visiting the garden for the first time in 20 years since his mum died, John Graves said: "I have sentimental memories from coming in here with my mother.

"The volunteers have done a really great job and should be praised for it."

Quietly raking up leaves around the garden, volunteer Gary Bosworth, 67, who lives in Bracebridge Heath, just south of Lincoln, said: "I love this garden. I've walked round it when it wasn't so attractive and it's part of the Lincoln community."

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