A SALE Friends group has received the royal seal of approval for its success in restoring Walkden Gardens to its former glory.

The Friends of Walkden Gardens has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The accolade is in recognition of its success over past 12 years in transforming the then vandalised and little visited Walkden Gardens into an award-winning green haven.

Garth Jones, the chairman of the Friends of Walkden Gardens, said: “We are all honoured and proud to receive this award from Her Majesty but also very moved and humbled.

“We see it as a recognition of the work of all Friends groups, who work so hard to assist the council in the development and preservation of green spaces for their local communities. Long may they continue.”

The group was established in 2001 to help Trafford Council to upgrade the park.

There were some attractive spots, but also derelict areas without railings or any effective means of protecting them.

Railings were secured and areas were developed by the arrival of the historic Dovecote - a grade II listed Victorian building moved brick by brick from a motorway embankment to the park in 2003 - and the creation of the Japanese Garden by the Japanese Garden Society.

Since then there have been a series of other projects at the Derbyshire Road gardens. These include the renovation of several garden areas, including the fuchsia garden; the commissioning of the dry stone wall seating and the acquisition and development of Miss Cordingley’s Garden.

Other projects have followed, many of them being the result of hands-on garden work by volunteers among the Friends or from the community.

Events such as Shakespeare in the park, shows for children and varied music concerts and productions on the theatre lawn and ‘Carols round the Dovecote’ have attracted many hundreds of new visitors to the gardens.

Ward councillor Jane Baugh said: “I am delighted that the Friends of Walkden Gardens have received this very important award.

“I and the other Priory ward councillors work closely with the Friends group and we know the excellent work they do.

“The volunteer gardeners, working with the on-site gardener Mike Girling and other Trafford Council staff, have transformed the gardens over the past 12 years.”

The gardens have won a number of awards including a Cheshire's Gardens of Distinction award; a Green Flag award; named as a ‘Hidden Gem’ by Northern Rail’ and listed in a Readers’ Digest guide to England’s gardens.

The original gardens were planned imaginatively by former Sale Borough Council’s parks superintendent, Louis Bell.

In 1985, residents formed the original Friends of Walkden Gardens group to successfully petition the council not to turn most of the gardens into playing fields for Sale Grammar School.

A newly-formed Friends of Walkden Gardens was set up in 2001.