26th June 2008

New Pet Garden Of Remembrance

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Bob Flowerdew, the UK's leading organic gardener and regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time, opened a Garden of Remembrance at the PDSA Animal Cemetery in Ilford on Wednesday 25 June. The Garden has been created to provide visitors with a place for quiet contemplation and to honour the 3,000 pets laid to rest in the historic cemetery alongside the 12 animal heroes who received the PDSA Dickin Medal - the animals' Victoria Cross - for their gallantry in WWII.

A familiar face and voice to millions of gardening enthusiasts, Bob Flowerdew was delighted to be asked to design and now officially open the special garden. His plan is based on the colours of the PDSA Dickin Medal ribbon which is striped blue, green and brown to symbolise the air, sea and land Forces. "It has been an honour to be involved in this project for PDSA," said Bob. "I wanted the garden to be a joy to the eye and the aroma of rosemary, sage and lavender to bring calm to all visitors and form a tranquil centrepiece for the cemetery."

Ilford PDSA Animal Cemetery has been recently restored thanks to a grant from the People's Millions project administered by the Big Lottery Fund. The work included renovation of the animals' graves and new gravestones for the hero animal's where needed, plus the creation of wheelchair access, a new visitor's centre and the Garden of Remembrance.