WHAT a goodie!

Famous ecologist and TV personality Bill Oddie was in Crewe to lend a helping hand at Brookhouse Allotment, last week.

Bill's visit was to highlight the amazing transformation taking place at the site that will bring big benefits to the whole community.

The project is supported by the North West Festival of Skills and Learning and Crewe and Nantwich Sustainability Alliance and intends to raise awareness of household waste issues and the benefits of horticulture.

Local enthusiasts have joined organisers to help transform its overgrown and neglected parts into a practical, educational resource for ongoing use by adults, children and special needs groups.

Brookhouse will eventually become a demonstration site for the composting of garden and kitchen waste.

Bill got the ball rolling, along with horticultural students and tutors from Reaseheath College who helped to fill the giant composting bin and plant some early seed potatoes.

"It's lovely to be here," said Bill.

"I've become obsessed with allotments. They are like a little oasis in the middle of towns and cities, not just for people but for wildlife too."

An open weekend of activities and demonstrations takes place at the Allotment on May 25 and 26, which will also highlight some of the related short courses on offer, thanks to the NW Festival and Reaseheath College.

The courses will cover a range of practical gardening issues such as designing and making a garden patio and creating a compost wormery.

The festival's Beverley Cope added: "By focusing on people's interests and hobbies we hope to attract people into learning who may never have considered it in the past.

"The Brookhouse Allotment project benefited from our support because of its multi-layered and highly practical approach to promoting continued learning within, and to the benefit of, the local community."