Appleby House resident blooms while gardening

Home news

Jul 13, 2017

Appleby House resident has put his lifelong hobby to good use when he transformed the home’s garden.

Colin Nockolds, a resident at Appleby House who had led the project, was born in Beckenham, Kent and spent much of his childhood in Cheam, Surrey.

Ever since he was young, Colin was always a fan of being outdoors and received a long service award for his commitment to Scouting. After he retired, he continued to offer his help at Beavers. Colin also had a keen interest in the outdoors and walking, which led him to become a District Mountaineering Advisor member, where he led many parties up mountains such as Snowdon.

Colin met his wife, Christine, at St Thomas’s Hospital, who he married in 1966 while living in Selsdon. They later moved to Sanderstead, on the outskirts of Croydon where they raised their four children, Tina, David, Kerry and John. Colin has always been keen to be outdoors and enjoyed spending time in the garden – when his daughter Tina was young, he even built her a summer house which is still standing today.

Colin became a resident at Appleby House in 2016 and has spent much of his time in the garden. Keen to transform the outside area to allow for more plants to be potted, he put forward his suggestion to the team who were happy to help. Armed with hand drawn maps of the garden, Colin set to work deciding how it should look and what to include.

When his plans were finalised, Colin visited a local garden centre where he selected which flowers to plant, before the team helped construct the new raised flower beds. Colin was joined by his grandson who helped plant the many flowers and seeds that had been bought. Colin also requested his own potting shed to house his many new gardening tools which was built in the home’s courtyard.

Home manager at Appleby House, Shona Bradbury, said: “Ever since the project started in March, Colin has come out of his shell and loves talking to everyone about his plans for the garden. It’s great to see how enthusiastic Colin has been about the project, and every week he has worked hard to make his vision come true.

“The final part of the project was to build his potting shed. The team at Appleby House helped put everything together, and Colin had a great time painting the exterior as well as creating some artwork to be displayed inside.

“Completing the project was a memorable moment for Colin and he has already been enjoying spending time tending to the plants. Thanks to his plans, residents also now able to grow their own fruit and vegetables which are coming along nicely. We wanted to thank everyone who took part as well as OutwoodCare who helped up source the garden equipment Colin requested.”