A gardener who has tended some of Cardiff's best loved parks and gardens for more than five decades is finally hanging up his tools. Mark West, known as Westy, has worked for the council's parks department since he was a teenager but is retiring this week after 51 years of service.
Having started out as a 15-year-old trainee in 1972, Mark later became the head gardener at Bute Park before taking on the role of supervisor. His job has not only seen him garden the popular city-centre park, but his remit also includes Gorsedd Gardens, Cathays Park, the Civic Centre and countless others that he has worked in as the city has changed around him.
The 66-year-old has worked two-and-a-half days a week as a supervisor, spending "90% of the time" outside, tending to parks and gardens across the capital However, he has now decided that the time is right to call it a day after decades of service to the council and the city.
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Confirming that he was retiring this week, Mark said: "I’ve loved this job from the day I started on £7 a week and I still love it just as much now. I think I’m outside for perhaps 90% of the time and that’s much how I prefer it."
Having originally planned to retire when he turned 65 last year, he admitted this "came and went," with his green-fingered spirt still going strong. He added: "Even when I’m not working, I’m looking after my garden at home in Thornhill so even when I clock off for the last time, I won’t be a couch potato.”
Despite becoming one of the most important figures in Cardiff's parks, Mark nearly chose a very different career path. Having left school in Caerphilly, his father had originally found him a job at the Royal Ordnance Factory and he began working there for £18.
However, he soon realised he preferred gardening to gunpowder and chose to work at the Parks department in Llanishen instead. "We grew shrubs and other plants for the whole of Cardiff’s parks and gardens there," he recalled. "It was a holding place for council equipment, too. I was there for two years and then moved to Wedal Road... and I’m still based here."
One thing that hasn't changed over his 50 years of working for the department, however, is the workload. Over the course of last Spring alone, Mark was tasked with bedding in 40,000 bedding plants across Bute Park.
Praising 'Westy' for his service over the years, Jon Maidment, the Operational Manager for the Parks, Sports & Harbour Authority said: "Mark’s enthusiasm and commitment to Cardiff’s parks has not waned over the years.
"He’s a well-respected, valued member of the team, and a role model and source of inspiration for others. He will be missed, and we wish him all the best for his well-earned retirement.”
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