Sardis Parks and Gardens wish to pay tribute to George Thomas who recently died.

George was a country man who put in many days and hours of work for Sardis Parks and Gardens. He was a volunteer from the beginning of the village scheme and by 2001 was helping to remove piles of rubbish that had accumulated over many years. He then set to and trimmed the Pembrokeshire banks and cleared the woodland of bracken and brambles.

At the beginning this was a daunting amount of work for anyone. There was a huge mountain of vegetation to cut and remove, but George did this using just a pitchfork and hook. The tough deep rooted brambles were removed with his mattock. And because it is so unusual to see a person work in the old way, he usually had an audience of people wondering how it was possible to work so quickly and silently.

There was never any noise or smell from a petrol driven strimmer, just the steady rhythm of George working with the hook. At the end of a day’s work he would be seen clearing up and walking to the compost heap with a stack of hay and brambles on his back. He looked like a mobile haystack.

The result of this first clearance work was seen in the following spring when a miserable and neglected patch of land sprang into life as a glorious bluebell wood.

To be amongst the bluebells is always a delight and George was responsible for this. To share these bluebells with everyone, Sardis Parks and Gardens obtained a grant to buy a welcome arch. This was carved by a wood sculptor and placed at the entrance to the woodland so that people could walk along a path into the woodland.

Wood offcuts were donated by the Hean Castle and turned into wood chips to construct these paths. George was at the centre of this project because ‘he knew what to do.’ He used his muscle to lay the paths with volunteers, and he kept the woodland and Pembrokeshire banks in good order for at least 10 years.

When the verges alongside the road were tackled, way back in 2003, there was very thin stony soil and not much grass. Three volunteers, Dennis, Auntie Mary and George, became muck spreaders for a few days to enrich the sparse soil on the verges with well-rotted manure from a mountain of the stuff donated by the Hean Castle Estate. This fragrant task was carried out by the three of them with fortitude and good humour and the results can still be seen in the lush green grass and banks where flowers and wildlife flourish through spring, summer and autumn.

Today the daffodils and snowdrops are in flower and this is thanks to residents and to George who have planted them over the years, starting with a big snowdrop plant in 2002 on St. David’s Day.

George was a hard grafter for Sardis Park and Gardens and an inspiration. He continued to manage the woodland for 10 years and ‘semi retired’ but always was seen around the village walking and chatting.

His countryside knowledge was vast and he was always willing to share this, and his skills, with a smile.

It is with fondness volunteers remember George, not just for the work he put into the village and his enthusiasm, but for his advice, always given freely by this courteous gentleman. He was sewn into the fabric of Sardis.

George will be missed.