How park chief John rose through ranks

He has been tending to beauty spots in Wolv­erhampton since the age of 15.

But John Pugh, whose gardening skills saw him climb the position as the city's head of parks, is now retired, leaving behind a lasting legacy for the whole city to enjoy.

After 47 years the 62-year-old from Penn, who began working for the council in 1963, retired from his role overseeing the city's parks and green spaces last week.

The father-of-two and grandfather-of-two joined the council straight from school, initially as an apprentice gardener, and then rose through the ranks, first preparing floral displays for major civic occasions and then taking the role of foreman at Bantock Park.

He went on to become area manager, operations manager and, eventually, head of the service a role he has done since 1994.

During his five decades with the authority he also oversaw the floral displays created for a visit by Prince Charles in the 1980s and helped secure numerous prestigious Green Flag awards for sites around the city including West Park, Bantock Park, St Peter's Gardens and, most recently, Phoenix Park.

He says: "Wolverhampton City Council has been a great place to work and very enjoyable personally because horticulture is a hobby to me."

Mr Pugh cites the transformation of Phoenix Park in Blakenhall which was completed earlier this year and the restoration of West Park and Bantock Park to their former glory as among his proudest achievements.

In recent times Phoenix Park has had a new main entrance, an adventure play area for 10 to 16-year-olds installed and additional seatings and bins put in. New fitness equipment has also been installed.

Mr Pugh says: "I am particularly pleased with what we managed to achieve with Phoenix Park.

"As a more modern park it was a completely different challenge to West Park and Bantock Park, but the way we were able to involve the community in reinventing and shaping their park was fantastic.

"To translate their dreams into reality was a huge pleasure and in terms of value for money, it was certainly one of most successful projects."

The hardest part of his role, he says, is managing people's expectations: "This is particularly difficult during consultation exercises. People tell you what they want and sometimes it's difficult to deliver what they want," he adds.

Paying tribute, Chris Huddart, chief officer for leisure and culture, says: "John has been a tremendous servant to the council — and to the people of Wolverhampton — for nearly 50 years.

"He has been a champion for all the green spaces in our city which has resulted in a lasting legacy for everyone to enjoy. He has got a great reputation among colleagues who have had the pleasure to work with him and I know that he will be much missed by everyone at the authority.

"We would all like to wish him all the best for a long, happy and well-earned retirement."

John hopes to pass on some of his extensive horticultural knowledge with others in his retirement giving talks to students in the city such as at The Cedars Horticultural Unit run by the City of Wolverhampton College.

He is already happy to share some of his gardening hints with Express & Star readers. He says his easy gardening tip is "Regularity. If it's a lawn - regular cutting. If it's a flower bed/shrub bed - regular hoeing/weeding. If you leave it for weeks it's harder to manage, a little every week will make it easier to maintain long term and less work."

Before taking on anything new though he plans to spend some well earned time with his family including his two grandchildren.

He adds: "The thing that I'm going to miss most about being at the council is the humour and banter with my colleagues.

"We have had to deal with some difficult situations but there has always been a feeling of camaraderie and a great sense of humour and we were stronger and better people for it."

By Helen Cartwright.