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For more than 25 years, Stuart Matthews has been at the heart of maintaining some of Jersey’s parks and gardens, and now he is the Head Gardener at St Brelade’s Winston Churchill Park.
Stuart’s passion for gardening, inspired by his grandad during his school days at Les Quennevais, keeps the park colourful for both Islanders and tourists. With around 23,000 bedding plants carefully placed annually, the park is beautiful every day of the year.
Stuart explains: “A lot of the job is maintenance and bedding, I plan the bedding schemes, keep the lawns tidy, and ensure the general upkeep of the park. There’s a team of four of us down here, and we all do our bit.”
Looking after more than 7 acres with Winston Churchill Park and the Seafront Gardens combined, the team face the unique challenge of caring for gardens exposed to the elements, particularly the sea, which sometimes causes damage from saltwater and wind.
“It’s pretty tricky on the seafront here because we get waves coming over the wall. Over the winter, we can get sand blasting and sometimes some wind damage. The front lawns can get covered in seaweed so we need to choose plants that can take that, especially in the winter storms.”
Stuart’s journey with the Infrastructure and Environment Department’s Parks and Gardens team dates back to when he was just 15, starting as a Project Trident student in 1988.
“Funnily enough, the chargehand when I was a Trident student was a man called Alan, and I actually bumped into him the other week walking his dog through the park, and he remembered me. I told him that I’m the Head Gardener and he couldn’t believe it. Nearly 40 years later!”
For Stuart, one of the most rewarding aspects of his job is seeing the public enjoy the park. “We get a lot of praise from visitors and tourists, and the locals as well. A lot of councils in the UK have lost their bedding schemes so we get a lot of visitors who say it’s absolutely stunning. We get all the wedding pictures down the lawn at the front of the bay, and in front of the waterfall here.”
However, the job is not without its challenges, with smashed glass and destroyed plant beds being an ongoing issue.
“We get quite a bit of vandalism down here. It can be a lot of cleaning up for us, all year round but especially over the weekend and in the summer. It’s a lot of broken glass, especially in front of the waterfall – and we need to make sure we pick up every piece because there are young children who come here.
“I really don’t mind teenagers coming down, I used to come down here myself as a teenager you know, but when it comes to breaking glass that’s a new thing and it’s not acceptable.”
Despite these challenges, Stuart’s love for the park shines through. “Even on days like today, in the middle of Autumn, it’s gorgeous” he says, smiling.
“I couldn’t do this job without the boys. My colleague, Chris Newell has been here more than 30 years and has helped us out so much. You can’t manage a park like this without your colleagues’ knowledge and support.”
When he’s not tending to the park, Stuart enjoys bodyboarding in St Ouen and is an avid wildlife enthusiast, participating in sea surveys and bird watching. His passion for nature extends beyond work, ensuring that both the Island and its wildlife keeps flourishing for future generations.
For more information on Winston Churchill Park, visit: Sir Winston Churchill Park
