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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Hannah Al-Othman

‘When it’s sunny, we get the barbecue out’: urban gardeners transform foul alleys into verdant havens

Jackie Austin, who is 75, sits in the ginnel garden built by residents of Ventnor Avenue. She is smiling broadly and wearing a blue t-shirt. Behind her, the plants are decorated with fairy lights.
Jackie Austin, 75, transformed the alley behind her house with neighbour Fiona Mitchell during lockdown. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

“Every builder or workman that comes here says: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’,” Fiona Mitchell, says, standing in what was once a disused alleyway in Levenshulme, in Manchester, and is now a thriving community garden.

Mitchell, 50, who works at a university, and Jackie Austin, 75, a retired lollipop lady, transformed this alley during lockdown.

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