New Bridge Boxes

kc dyer
12 hours ago
2 min read

Garth Begley, once again helping to keep the Village beautiful

Public Works' Garth Begley with the new planter boxes, and some of the planning that went into the design.

Story and photos by John Dudley

About 15 years ago, Rose Dudley returned from a cycling holiday in Germany where she had fallen in love with the boxes of flowers on many of the bridges she crossed.

At a dinner party, she told her neighbour Grant Prior about them and how she would love to see some on the Village bridge across Harvey Creek. He volunteered to build some, and because of the curvature of the top rail he had to manufacture his own bolts and brackets to secure them.

He was an incredible craftsman and constructed eight of them which when full of flowers have been photographed by hundreds of visitors and residents throughout the seasons.

They lasted for 14 years before starting to deteriorate enough to need replacement. which is when Garth Begley from our Village Works Department took up the challenge of building eight replacements.

While dropping off our soft plastics at the Works' Yard on Valentine's Day, Garth showed us how the replacements are coming along and how he has been able to use a lot of the original hardware.

It is truly amazing what he has achieved so far, with detailed drawings and calculations required to make them perfect.

We are looking forward to seeing them on the bridge later this year, displaying the flowers which our small group of volunteers will plant to brighten up our lives.

Editor's note: Another story of Begley's efforts to beautify the Village can be found HERE.