Wigan army veteran's hard work pays off as work is finished on beautiful remembrance garden

Dave Ward has spent five years working single-handedly – and spending his own money – on the site on Dixon Avenue, Shevington.

Despite setbacks along the way, including vandals putting graffiti on a fence he had painted, he continued working to turn his vision into reality.

With the recent addition of a colourful mural by a local artist, his hard work is finally complete and he is inviting people to visit the garden.

Dave, 60, said: “It’s now been transformed into a useable, fantastic place and I would like people in our community to come and visit and sit quietly in their thoughts and think about what it means to them.

"It’s a wonderful piece of art that has been created and people need to see it.

“I can’t express my feelings that I’m so glad it’s come to fruition. It’s been a long road, with a lot of hard work and money, but it’s complete, it’s done, and I want people to sit and visit and reflect on what it means to them.”

The site now looks completely different to when Dave first started work around five years ago.

He said: “It wasn’t used for anything, it was just waste ground. It was littered with tonnes of rubbish that people walking past had thrown into the bushes. It had dead bushes, weeds, nettles, you name it. You couldn’t seen the concrete sectional wall behind the bushes.”

Dave started by clearing the site, removing all the rubbish and digging out the weeds at the roots so they would not grow back.

He put a lot of stones and gravel on the ground and placed a few plant pots on the land.

"I thought it wasn’t what I wanted,” he said. “It was better than it was, but it wasn’t part of my vision.

"Being ex-army, I wondered what I could do and decided to make it a memorial garden.

"I set about cultivating it properly and landscaping it better. I got some stone chippings, but I could only afford a one-tonne bag of them and spread them out. I kept adding different things.

"The concrete sectional wall was still unsightly so I painted it with masonry paint and brightened it up a bit, but then some kids came along and put graffiti on it and it was obscene. I ended up jet-washing it off and repainting it.”

Dave was given a roof beam, which he used to make a bench, and got more material to put on the ground.

He set up light sensors, which are wired to the electricity at his home nearby and are triggered by movement, so he can then check his CCTV cameras to see what is happening in the garden.

The majority of the plants in the garden have red flowers, including roses, geraniums, poppies and Japanese azaleas.

Dave continued working on the garden over the years, adding to it when he had time and funds, and says the project helped his mental health.

He spent 10 years with the Royal Military Police and left in 1992, but it was only in 2015 that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He likes to give back to the community and is involved with tenant engagement on the estate, is a member of Wigan Council’s housing advisory panel and volunteers at Wigan Borough Armed Forces HQ, all alongside working for the RAC.

Dave was attending a meeting of Shevington and District Community Association, as he volunteers at the annual fete, when Coun Vicky Galligan heard him talking about the garden and asked if she could help to create a mural there.

After securing money from the council’s Better Together fund, they commissioned Appley Bridge-based artist Jessica Riley, from Oh So Specials.

Jessica proposed putting hoarding up in front of rusted railings and an electricity sub-station, so the mural could go on that and the fence, taking up two sides of the garden.

After getting permission from Electricity North West, the hoarding went up, Dave painted it and then Jessica got to work on the mural.

It features red poppies on a pink background and the words “Lest we forget”. There are also silhouettes of Spitfires, Royal Navy ships and soldiers.

Dave said: “It’s not morose, it’s really bright and colourful, which sends out the message that we are celebrating the fact that even though there were two world wars, a lot of people died to ensure we can live in peace.”

He described the mural as “absolutely beautiful” and says a lot of people have already commented on it when walking past or stopping to sit in the garden.

He is delighted with the remembrance garden now, after spending around £1,000 and many hours of manpower to transform it.

Dave has already ordered a new flag to fly on Remembrance Day and is urging people to visit the garden.

He said: “It’s helped with my own personal demons while I have been doing it, but at the end of the day it’s a community memorial garden. It’s for the community in Shevington and anyone is more than welcome to come at any day, at any time, to sit on the bench and think about what it means to them in their personal lives.”

Coun Galligan said: “I think the garden is absolutely amazing. Dave has worked really hard over the past few years to bring it up to something that’s useable, because it wasn’t even a useable space before, it was a dumping ground and he found it was attracting more litter and anti-social behaviour.”

She hopes Dave’s effort inspires other people to take action to improve grot spots near their homes.