The meaning of friendship

A FRIENDSHIP garden has been unveiled at a local school to commemorate its 40th anniversary and to remember a pupil who died suddenly last year. The garden at the Grove Infant and Junior schools in Harpenden was opened by the Rev Jonathan Smith from St J

A FRIENDSHIP garden has been unveiled at a local school to commemorate its 40th anniversary and to remember a pupil who died suddenly last year.

The garden at the Grove Infant and Junior schools in Harpenden was opened by the Rev Jonathan Smith from St John's Church, Southdown, last week.

It was blessed with a short prayer and children from each class read out their ideas of what friendship means to them and the messages were written on decorated spirals which were hung from two trees.

The garden includes a memorial to former pupil Hannah Turberville who died aged seven from sudden cardiac death last February.

Her twin sister Lucy and older brother Oliver, also pupils at the school, planted a tree in one of the raised beds and helped Rev Smith cut the ribbon to officially open the garden.

The garden also includes a Welsh slate monolith, a tree stump with a poem about a butterfly etched into its surface, a British hedgerow and a new stepping stone path.

The work, which started in September by volunteer parents and staff, was funded by the school's PTA who held a Ruby Anniversary Ball last year.