Come and see how, next to a huge building site near Cwmbran, a Victorian garden is being reborn

But, an arc of a giant tower crane away from the hustle and bustle of the Grange University Hospital site, near Cwmbran, a quieter transformation is going on.

Four years after the start of a volunteer-led project to reactivate the Grange’s neglected Victorian walled garden, its formerly weed-choked acre has been cleared and partially remodelled.

Bees feed hungrily on pollinator-friendly flowers, a vegetable patch includes potatoes and broad beans amongst its crops, plant beds and paths have been laid, and a greenhouse and polytunnel provide precious propagation and growing space.

POLLINATOR: A busy visitor to Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden

The site, which for decades in the 18th and 19th Centuries produced annual crops of flowers, vegetables and fruit, is being transformed into a haven for patients, staff and visitors, with complementary quadrants - reflective, productive, communal and social - off a path-linked central seating area.

And a 'have a grow' open day next Saturday, June 1, 10am-4pm, will give the curious an opportunity to view the progress of the project, buy some plants, and maybe even get involved.

The open day will also feature hands-on seed sowing, 'art in the garden' activities, crafts, an All Creatures Great and Small petting corner, and refreshments. Admission is free.

The Friends of Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden, the charity running the project, hopes those who come along next Saturday will be inspired to help out.

"We are always looking for volunteers, and we need lots more people because we have lots to do," said trustee Jan Smith, who also chairs the Friends group.

"The hospital will open in around two years, and the garden will be a big part of its surroundings."

Wendy Parsons (above), from Caerleon, part of a core group of volunteers, has been involved since the early days.

"I remember one day standing against the wall under the ivy for shelter from the rain, before the shed was here," she said.

"There's lots more to do, but we've come a long way and it's great."

Potential volunteers who can lend their time and skills to the project may e-mail info.lgh.garden@gmail.com or write to Friends of Llanfrechfa Grange Walled Garden, Llanfrechfa Grange, Cwmbran, Torfaen, NP44 8YN.

More information on the open day and the project is available at https://llanfrechfawalledgarden.wordpress.com or search for @LlanfrechfaGrangeWalled Garden on Facebook