Notes from RHSI Bellefield

What a year 2025 has been for us here in RHSI Bellefield. Lots of ups and a few downs, but we’ve been making great progress on all fronts.

In the garden our volunteers have helped us tame the beast and the walled garden and woodland garden for the first time in years are cleared; well pruned and ready for more exciting phases of planting and tweaking. Most excitingly for 2026 we’re making a tropical border, watch this space!

Our woodland project Rooted in Bellefield was a huge success and has been fully subscribed. Most of the trees will be in for our snowdrop opening, with a few still outstanding; we’ve also been adding bulbs to the area and will be adding shrubs and other points of interest in the year ahead.

Behind the scenes a dedicated group of volunteers have been busy working on our Just Transition application, which is fantastic news for us; but it brings mountains of paperwork and other responsibilities all of which are being dealt with brilliantly by the team.

We’ve hosted a variety of events and workshops and hope to add to that offering in 2025. We’ve also welcome a host of students, from locally in the LOETB in Birr and as far away as Lille in France, all here to learn and pass on the skills of horticulture, one of our main aims here at RHSI Bellefield.

None of this would be possible without the help of Judith, my right hand woman and our fantastic and varied teams of volunteers who appear in hail rain and shine to help make Bellefield full of life and learning.

2026 promises to be an even busier year; with lots of development and projects on the cards. We cant wait to welcome you to our snowdrop and other events!

Thank you all and a Happy Christmas and Healthy New Year to you all!

Paul 😊