Spotland Wonderwall is a green oasis

Volunteers joined forces to plant the new ‘Wonderwall’ at Rochdale’s Crown Oil Arena

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Volunteers joined forces to plant the new ‘Wonderwall’ at Rochdale’s Crown Oil Arena, which now features a spectacular floral display created by people who gave up their own time.

The wall was a tired-looking structure in Sandy Lane until the Rochdale In Bloom group took it under their wing last year and began to plant floral features on top of the wall outside Spotland stadium.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/111661/crown-oil-arena-wonder-wall-in-bloom-entry-judged

The Wonderwall near Rochdale AFC and Rochdale Hornets’ home is now a green oasis and is becoming smash hit in the annual In Bloom calendar. Winner of the best new feature for the 2017 In Bloom contest, the Wonderwall will take pride of place in this year’s round of judging for three competitions.

As well as the North West In Bloom competition and the Rochdale township entry, it will also feature in the 2018 Britain In Bloom entry, Rochdale's first ever entry into the national competition.

Crown Oil and Gordon Riggs Garden Centre donated £2,500 of plants, with Recycle for Greater Manchester providing the compost needed for the display.

More than 20 volunteers came out to support the effort by rolling up their sleeves and pitching in planting over 8000 plants on top of the seven foot high structure.

Roy Down, vice chairman of Rochdale In Bloom and event planner, said: “The response the Wonderwall gets from visiting fans to the Crown Oil Arena is amazing. We are the only EFL club with this kind of community project."

Councillor Neil Emmott, Rochdale Council cabinet member for environment, said: “There are many things that we would like to say to the volunteers who help make this a real community project. It’s a huge operation with businesses, residents and the council all chipping in to transform the borough into a cleaner and greener environment. We’ve seen volunteers of all ages helping out on the display, some as young as four-years-old.”