In 2015, when the local council decided to withdraw its funding, a dedicated community group known as The Friends of Furzeham Green took responsibility for maintaining the three flower beds located in the middle green area. Their proactive efforts ensured that these flower beds were not neglected or lost. If you visit on most Sunday mornings, you will likely encounter a committed team of volunteers who diligently water and remove weeds from the beds to keep them in good condition.

Beyond caring for the flower beds, The Friends of Furzeham Green actively collaborate with Torbay Council to ensure the children’s play equipment on the top green adheres to stringent health and safety standards. They promptly report any damage or issues, and the community group works closely with the park ranger to facilitate replacements or repairs. Moreover, the park ranger assists in addressing any concerns regarding damaged trees.

It’s also worth noting that Swisco still maintains one of the flower beds on the middle green. When time permits, they generously extend their assistance by watering one of the flower beds The Friends of Furzeham Green maintains.

Return To Menu

As part of the Libraries Unlimited charity, Brixham Library strives to positively impact people’s lives. Offering resources, experiences, and a welcoming space for individuals to meet and connect. We aim to introduce ideas, imagination, creativity, and knowledge that enrich lives and help Brixham remain a thriving community.

Over the past year, we’ve achieved a lot:

Continued to host regular, free monthly community breakfasts to combat social isolation, and we secured funding for another year.

Introduced a hugely popular seed swap.

Hosted craft, social, and cultural events for people of all ages.

Participated in community celebrations, including stories and crafts for the Pirate Festival and a display on Peace as part of the town’s VE Day commemoration. We also created our “Peace Tree” for this event, where people added leaves with their wishes and thoughts about peace.

Held several events for adults and children using recycled items.

Collaborated closely with other community groups. For example, we publicized and served as a collection point for entry forms for the Brixham Horticultural Society’s Annual Show, encouraging members of our regular art and craft groups to enter with great success.

We held a “mini green fingers” event, where participants decorated plant pots, made seed bombs, and planted flowers, vegetables, and herbs.

Our Friends Group

Free monthly talks are held, organized jointly with our Friends of Brixham Library group. These talks bring local community groups and organizations together to share their work.

Our Friends Group runs monthly coffee mornings, funds and maintains a defibrillator for public use, and stocks and maintains the beautiful flower boxes at the front of our building.

Return To Menu

The Brixham Urban District Council founded St. Mary’s Park in 1940, creating a large open space bordered by mature trees. Since forming our group in 2005, we have actively worked to maintain and rejuvenate the surrounding area. We established a 2-meter wildlife corridor around the perimeter, allowing it to re-wild; this area now hosts many established trees, and we have documented 57 larger specimens.

Green Flag Award

For the second consecutive year, we received the Green Flag award for 2024/2025. Judges will assess the park for its third year on June 12, 2025, for the 2025/2026 award. We strive to ensure a continuous display of flowers throughout the year, starting with snowdrops and winter-flowering jasmine in January.

Brixham Rotary again generously donated 1,000 crocus bulbs and helped us plant them, supporting their Purple for Polio campaign and creating a vibrant entrance to the park. Near the entrance, we’ve added fritillaria and wood anemones to the bluebell wood. On the left side, we’ve incorporated recycled polyanthus, which bloomed again this spring, complementing the daffodils and primroses.

Wildlife friendly

As the park lies on a bat flightpath, we’ve installed bat boxes and bird boxes to encourage nesting. In fact, we even rescued a baby owl that had fallen from its nest!

The group operate as a low-cost community group, utilizing recycled or homegrown plants from cuttings or divisions. We make our own compost, use coffee grounds as a slug repellent, and irrigate with recycled grey water. The three raised beds are currently in the process of being refurbished and they provided a wonderful display last summer. In 2025, we planted a new shell bed, and this year, we aim to plant another after clearing an overgrown hedge.

Our wildflower meadow is underway, albeit a bit late this year due to invasive species appearing before planting. Despite this, we’re optimistic it will last longer into the autumn.

Return To Menu

Local residents at Dixon’s Land Allotment have formed the Brixham V.E.G. community growing group. An accurate acronym, these Very Eager Growers hit the muddy ground running, transforming a 6m x 10m plot of oxalis and grass into a garden that provides for people and nature.

This year, a very active group of volunteers arrange who will weed, plant, and water to keep the garden rotating well. V.E.G. have collected free seeds from Churston Farm Shop, received donations of many free seedlings and vegetable plants, and collaborated with SWISCO again to get free soil. More volunteers have also joined us this year.

Willow Weaving

In a collaboration with the Life on the Edge project, we were able to deliver a willow weaving workshop making obelisks for peas to grow up for the bees. This was great fun and very interesting, and three children and eight adults got involved. One obelisk has been kept at the allotment, and participants took the rest back to their home gardens to help bring more bees to those locations too. So, overall, we held a fabulous, free workshop at the allotment. This was the first workshop we ever held, and anyone in the community interested in helping wildlife could attend.

Wildlife Gardening

V.E.G. collaborated with Life on the Edge again, this time with the help of Brixham Community Partnership, to create a brochure for Brixham called Wildlife Gardening in Brixham. This brochure encourages people to take actions in their own back gardens to attract more wildlife and invertebrates. These brochures were delivered to all the businesses and charities in Brixham, including Men Sheds. Men Sheds made us a bird box from instructions in the brochure in exchange for some rhubarb, marking another lovely collaboration with the local community.

Community Engagement

Gave rhubarb to people in the community – specifically, people the community builder has been helping to get out and about and encouraging to volunteer for VEG.

Exchanged seeds with Brixham Library through their “seed swap“. We took some of the seeds the community had donated and gave them some back from our stash.

What’s Next

For next year, we plan to attract even more volunteers and hold more regular meet-ups. We want to involve a school in visiting the allotment to see what we do, and have a few children participate in an activity and get involved with the growing. We also wish to collaborate even more with external projects like Life on the Edge and to hold more workshops like the willow weaving workshop.

Return To Menu

We created a small green oasis in the center of town. The garden incorporates materials and objects relevant to Brixham. We repurposed, recycled, repaired, and repainted a boat to create the central planter. To maintain a nautical and environmentally themed atmosphere, we use shells as ground cover, and lobster pots, buoys, and fish netting contribute to the overall aesthetic. The project promotes wildlife conservation by planting bee-friendly flora and providing safe havens for small creatures. Dunnocks nest here, bees and other insects frequently visit, and we even saw a mouse at one point.

Involve The Children

Local children painted scallop shells and pebbles, and we incorporated them into the garden. This year, we also completed our beach hut-inspired compost bin enclosure, which adds to the nautical theme.

Face The Challenges

Being in the town’s centre brings its own challenges. Graffiti, vandalism, rubbish, and the bed being used as a dog toilet all create problems and frustration for the volunteers. In the coming year, we must try to connect more with the wider community to make people aware that this behaviour isn’t acceptable.

From comments on our Facebook pages and from people we talk to while working in the garden, we know that most people respect and enjoy the small area we have created. This makes our efforts well worthwhile.

Return To Menu

Moorings Reach was constructed almost 25 years ago on the site of Upham’s Boat Yard.

Upham’s Boat Yard played a significant role in the Brixham community, providing employment and stability through boat building. They even constructed the famous Mayflower II, which now docks at The Memorial State Park in America, attracting numerous American and British visitors. However, Upham’s Boat Yard faced financial difficulties after orders decreased, leading to its closure and the loss of valuable boat building skills.

From the ashes of Upham’s Boat Yard, Moorings Reach emerged as a housing and apartment complex after developers purchased two plots of land. The two plots adjacent to the Moorings Reach steps posed the only problem. In 2002, with council permission, they entrusted these plots to two volunteers who transformed them into distinct gardens. To protect the gardens from vandalism, Moorings Reach Management enclosed them with railings and lockable gates. One volunteer meticulously developed and maintained a cottage garden over the past ten years.

Ever Evolving Garden

The boat garden has undergone a transformation. A local artist created a replica of the Mayflower and placed it within the garden, surrounded by ropes. We have installed information boards that share stories and highlight the ship’s significance for Brixham. These boards, provided by Brixham Museum, offer historical insights about Brixham and the people involved in building the Mayflower II. We hope they will evoke fond memories for older Brixham families, preserving their connection to the boat building heritage. They will also serve as a source of enchanting stories for the younger generation of Brixham families.

Return To Menu

Brixham Battery Gardens is a site of national and historical interest. Although there has been a battery on this site since 1588, established to protect Torbay against the Spanish Armada, its current layout dates from 1941 when Sir Winston Churchill ordered the construction of 116 coastal batteries around the UK coastline, in order to defend the coast against an anticipated German invasion. Of the 116 batteries only 7 remain, of which Brixham is widely held to be the best preserved. Battery Gardens lies within former military land within the former site.

Sadly over the course of many years, the Gardens had fallen into a sorry state, badly overgrown and neglected and subject to drugs misuse and anti-social behaviour.

A local lady, Kris Saunders, saddened by the sorry state of the Gardens, decided that enough was enough and approached Torbay Council about the prospect of a volunteer gardeners group in order to restore the Gardens.

The group has slowly grown in number and counts 15 active members and 5 non-active members among its volunteers, who meet every Friday morning in friendship and a mutual love of the outdoors, with the goal of restoring the Gardens to their former glory.

Restoring The View

The first task was to restore the sea view. The site lies upon a high precipice but the magnificent views had been obscured by self-seeded, straggly and unkempt buddleia. The buddleia was tamed and the sea views restored, in the process removing literally hundreds of dog poo bags, casually thrown into the undergrowth along with drugs regalia. A designated wildlife feeding station was constructed in front of seating overlooking this vastly improved sea view. Rotten and broken seating was restored in this area, which has allowed both local residents and tourists to come together in friendship in this area. This area is particularly used by the local retirement community.

The next major task, after clearly substantial overgrowth, was to established designated planting areas. In doing this we have respected the wild nature of the site, planting specific plants which either benefit wildlife, such as echiums, or compliment the existing environment, such as a mass planting of primula vulgaris, locally known as the Devon primrose.

We have further planted daffodils of the variety “Sir Winston Churchill” to reflect the historical nature of the site as well as planting a memorial rose border. All of the roses selected have a historical connection to the site. Further areas have been cleared and seeded with wildflowers. After taking specialist advice, we have also started to clear ivy from historic walls, as it was slowly destroying the wall itself. This is only done out of the nesting season. The next task was to establish a “wildlife village”, called “Bugingham Palace” , which has proved to be really popular with young families. Paths, once overgrown and a mud-bath in winter, have been restored using recycled wood chippings which otherwise would be driven to a reprocessing site.

A stumpery has also been established to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III , his majesty being a great advocate of the natural environment. Furthermore the wall leading from the gardens which leads towards the town centre had been subject to litter being thrown over it as well as fly-tipping. Volunteers from the group cleared all of this area, removing a total of 9 full sacks of rubbish.

Return To Menu

The outdoor swimming pool at Shoalstone dates back to 1896 and saw significant development in the early 1900s, evolving into the facility we know today. Originally operated by the local council, the pool was closed in 2012. In response, the Shoalstone Pool CIO was quickly established and has successfully managed the pool ever since.

The team at Shoalstone Pool organise a wide range of community events and activities, such as Wellbeing Days, Yoga sessions, Doggy Swims, Twilight Swims, Music events, and Creative Art days. Despite these vibrant offerings, the pool faces ongoing challenges including unpredictable weather, year-round cleaning and maintenance, the need for continuous fundraising, and the difficulty of recruiting qualified lifeguards.

What has been achieved:

• 2023 winners of the BBC Radio Devon Make a Difference Awards (community group)
• Awarded over 500k through our Save Shoalstone from the Wave campaign from Governments Community Ownership Fund to make vital repairs to the NW Corner of the pool and replace the deep end base.
• A full program of weekly activities including yoga, tail-chi & mindfulness walks.
• Created rewilding areas on our green spaces to help wildlife.
• Working in partnership with the prison service to help maintain areas of Shoalstone including painting, weeding and general maintenance.

What is still to come:

• More events and wellbeing activities.
• Continue to promote Shoalstone Pool as a destination to visit.
• Move forward with our plans to have an area of 21 beach huts to bring in vital revenue and create a small terrace area for the public to enjoy.
• Build a paddling pool and hopefully a sauna in the old concrete beach huts.

Return To Menu