Celebrating 150 years with volunteer work for the community, the local Sainsbury’s store have been helping the gardens team on Mondays over the summer.

The team of staff made a project of filling in the front border by the road with compost and topsoil and then designing a replanting scheme. They were perhaps not expecting such heavy work; trundling barrowloads of compost and digging out well-established nettles and bindweed.

The job has been finished and the plants are thriving, so the team can return to their day jobs with satisfaction. The last job was to plant a magnolia tree in memory of one of their colleagues and to celebrate with a glass of prosecco (from Sainsbury’s, of course!).

The Somerset and Dorset Heritage Railway trustees at the station have been very pleased with their efforts and have offered train rides for them on the next train running day, this Sunday.

Gail Coleshill, volunteer gardener and trustee, was very impressed by their work. She said: “When I gave them the task of the front border I was a bit worried that it would be too much for them, but I am so impressed. They just got on with the job without complaint and contributed many plants, including those in the old coal truck.

“They have done so much in the gardens at the station, which have been excellent this year. Their help has been a contributory factor to us achieving an ‘Outstanding’ award from the RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ scheme. This would not have happened without the ‘outstanding’ work from all our volunteers!”