The Kitchen Garden at Hesketh Park in Southport is now officially open!
The honours were carried out by celebrated local gardener Alan Foxall, ahead of his latest appearance at Southport Flower Show this August.
The Kitchen Garden is operated by Bridge Inn Community Farm as a garden nursery providing freshly grown vegetables, perennials and seasonal bedding, with a shop on site.
This enables Bridge Inn clients to gain skills in customer service, numeracy and literacy as well as gaining skills and experience in horticulture and nursery management.
Bridge Inn works with a local horticultural college to provide qualifications with the prospect of gaining mainstream employment.
The Kitchen Garden will be open Monday to Friday, 11am-3pm. No need to make an appointment, just turnip.
The facility will also be open between 9am and midday every Saturday, to accommodate visitors including the hundreds of runners, walkers and marshals who are in the park for the weekly Southport Parkrun – perfect for anyone who loves runner beans.
The Kitchen Garden, which had transformed a previously vacant corner, is a superb addition to Hesketh Park.
Bridge Inn Community Farm Deputy Manager Natalie Thompson said: “The Kitchen Garden is open all year round. What we sell is completely dependent on the season we’re in.
“At the moment, and coming soon, we’ll have a really wide variety of home grown vegetables including courgettes, cabbages, cauliflowers, Swiss chard, sweetcorn, turnips, fennel, onions, potatoes, lettuces, broad beans, beetroot, sprouts, and more.
“In winter, from some time in November, we’ll have 500 Christmas trees on sale. We don’t have an exact date yet.
“We recently won a Green Flag Award for our site, which we’re incredibly proud of. We’re pleased with the award – it’s something really important to us.
“Britain In Bloom is coming to judge us in the next couple of weeks.
“We have beehives on site, which are managed by Anthony and Larissa from the Sunnyside Guest House in Southport.
“In June, at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2025, they won the Gold Award for B&B of the Year and the Gold Award for Ethical, Responsible & Sustainable Tourism Business of the Year. It’s great to have them involved!
“It’s taken a huge amount of work to transform this site. It was vacant and rundown for the past six years and now it’s been completely revitalised. Everything was overgrown.
“The old building has been completely renovated. There’s now a kitchen, toilets and a canteen area, where clients can sit and eat their packed lunches. There are beautiful Hesketh Park murals on the walls.
“Everyone on our team and our clients have been busy renovating the site.
“Our clients love it here. They’re working as part of a team, they’re part of creating something really special. It gives them a real sense of pride and a real sense of purpose.
“Bridge Inn Community Farm started out in 2010 with one client; now we have 66 from across Sefton and West Lancashire.
“It’s about creating opportunities and unique experiences for people.
“Hesketh Park is an amazing place to be able to do that.”
There is lots to discover at the Kitchen Garden.
Natalie said: “We have an outdoor site where we grow a variety of vegetables.
“We have four polytunnels, which have all been restored and reskinned.
“One of them includes our Victorian Greenhouse display, which was part of the garden which won us a Large Gold at last year’s Southport Flower Show!
“In that polytunnel now, we’re busy growing plants which we’ll use as part of this year’s display at Victoria Park. We’re looking forward to exhibiting next door to Alan Foxall!
“We love Southport Flower Show, and we’re excited to be going back.
“We have another polytunnel where we sell a variety of flowers.
“Another one is full of a variety of pots of fresh herbs; some popular and some very rare. They’re only £3 per pot. They’re perfect for your kitchen window sill; they’re brilliant value, as you can keep using them for ages.
“Our herbs at the moment include chives, thyme, lemon variegated thyme, oregano, chocolate mint, orange mint, tricolour lemon verbena, sage, purple sage, and helichrysum, a curry plant.
“They’re brilliant in dishes, in salads, as garnishes, or in cocktails!
“As part of our team, we have a resident chef, who can give people lots of tips on recipes, unusual recipes, new ideas to try with the produce that we sell.
“We have a shop area on site where we can sell produce and flowers. We’re due to build a purpose-built shop in the coming weeks, it’s our next project.
“Although the Kitchen Garden site is open, we are constantly developing it and making further improvements, in keeping with our surroundings.
“Our opening hours are 11am-3pm Monday to Friday and 9am-12pm on Saturdays, where we welcome lots of people taking part in the regular Southport Parkrun! The runners and their families love coming in after their race.
“This is a great place for school visits. We hosted a school visit with Trinity St Peter’s Primary School in Formby at Bridge Inn Community Farm recently, and the Kitchen Garden is a great place for visits too.
“It’s a great opportunity for children to see how food is grown, we can spark discussions and give them seed trays too.”
Alan Foxell said: “The new Kitchen Garden is an excellent new addition for Southport.
“It’s an excellent way of utilising previously vacant space in Hesketh Park by Bridge Inn Community Farm and their clients.
“All of the vegetables and flowers they have available are laid out really well, and visitors can come and see exactly where and how everything is being grown.”
Bridge Inn Community Farm is a work based, educational day service for adults with learning disabilities, mental health issues and additional needs within Sefton and West Lancashire which has been running since 2010.
They provide experience in agriculture, horticulture, animal care and conservation. They also have an outstanding art department on site at Bridge Inn Community Farm in Formby, providing a range of activities in all aspects of arts, crafts and textiles.
At their other venues they provide training in performing arts and educational courses in nursery management and retail.
Bridge Inn Community Farm believes in the support of the individual and their needs, to encourage teamwork, diversity and inclusion, helping clients to gain confidence and independence and a sense of achievement.
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