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Commissioners Picture Gallery

Onchan Estates Gardens Competition 2007

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Since the mid 1950s the commissioners have held an annual gardens competition for their tenants. Nobody enters the competition but instead all gardens are judged with points being awarded. Usually there are two judges who inspect the gardens a month apart and then the points are added up by administrative staff. The results are kept a secret until the prize presentation.

This year the presentation was on Friday 5th October with the results being read out by Chairman of the Leisure and Amenities Committee, Mrs Wendy Megson, and the prizes being presented by Board Chairman, Tim Norton. There were prizes for first, second and third together with a number of Highly Commended in each section to cover the various estates
of commissioners' houses.

The following pictures show the prize winners in some of the classes but not everyone could attend. The winner of the "Properties with no gardens" (Marion Court/Springfield Court/Heywood Court) was Mrs Jean Collins of 22 Heywood Court. The "Dandara Cup" for Heywood Park was won by Mrs Dorothy Scott of 67 Heywood Drive. The winner in each section is not eligible for judging the following year in an effort to encourage greater competition.

Heather and Robert Goldsmith of 51 Nursery Avenue won the Park and Nursery Avenue section and so were presented with the J.C. Skillicorn Cup. They also received the highest number of points for all the sections and were presented with the John Fargher Trophy.

John was a former commissioner and a keen gardener. Following his death in office as Vice Chairman of the Board in 1999 his widow Jean presented a cup to the commissioners in his memory.

The Universal Cup, presented by the Universal Housing Company in the early 1950s was won by Mrs Alison McDonald of 44 Barrule Drive. The company built the post war houses in Barrule Drive and the various sprockets coming off School Road.

They are distinguished through the use of sand/lime bricks which were produced in those early post-war years at Lezayre. Mrs McDonald's house is part of the 1969 scheme built by J.T. Skillicorn Ltd to fill in the centre of Barrule Drive.

Alec Robertson of 8 Meadow Close took the honours in the Birch Hill section and so gained the Onchan Commissioners Rose Bowl. When the former Onchan Village Commissioners purchased the 100 acre Birch Hill Farm in the late 1960s they laid out the upper fields with roads and sewers, selling off building plots to builders and individuals alike.

The land below the farmhouse and farm buildings was used to build more commissioners' houses. This covered Hackett Close, Meadow Close and Ashley Park which are all in this section of the competition.

A cup for floral displays on commercial premises was promoted as part of the Clean Sweep initiative as indeed was the formation of the Onchan Traders Association. Shops and other premises were encouraged to have hanging baskets, window boxes etc. A cup was provided by Corkill's Garage but some years later was replaced by one from the Isle of Man Bank when the original was damaged.

Past winners of the competition have included Vanessa Ann hairdresser, Caley's the Bakers, the Village Walk, Hadyn Minay's Garage and indeed many more. This year's winner was Richard and Penny Leventhorpe for the garden to their guesthouse Banks Howe, The Fairway.