Refurbishment of an Eastcott community garden

A community garden with a mysterious past is being brought back to life by South Swindon Parish Council.

The garden lies between house in Eastcott's Swindon Road, and had become overgrown before the parish council decided to turn it into an all-year-round sensory garden with fragrant perennials and herbs.
It has officially been the Fishing for the Moon Garden, named in honour of the legend of the Wiltshire Moonrakers, since a community group opened it in 1991.
A house is once believed to have stood on the site, and old maps seem to confirm this. 
Parish councillor Linda Kasmaty, leader of the working party in charge of the current project, said: "People can expect a beautiful garden which, hopefully, will have something to offer every day of the year. 
"The planting scheme is not only sensory; it's designed so that whenever you come there'll be something either in flower or looking good.
"The gardener from the Town Gardens, Aaron Hedges, has ordered the plants, which are due to arrive, I believe, on 24 January.
"We're talking about perennials - it's not going to be one of those gardens where things are taken in and out. It's a garden which will need maintaining and also weeding, and we've already got three people who have volunteered to be community gardeners here."
Fellow councillor Dave Griffiths said: "It creates a sense of community, which is something that, over the years, has sort of been decimated, if you like. 
"Most people don't know who their neighbour is two or three doors down. Some people don't even know who their next door neighbour is.
"So the garden will hopefully bring back a sense of community where people will start speaking to one another again."