Chosen to tend home’s garden

The gardening skills of a retired engineer have earned him the job of groundsman at a new care home.

Mr Norris Griffin (81) does not have his own garden, only a communal area where he lives at Bishop’s Manor, Southwell.

As a result he began looking after other people’s gardens, including that of Mrs Anita Higgins, a director of Millennium Health Care Ltd.

The company owns Southwell Court Care Home, Crew Lane, where Mr Griffin, known as Bob, will work as a gardener.

On Friday he planted a Bramley apple tree at the home to mark the official opening.

Mr Griffin had always had a garden until he moved to Southwell from Warsop eight years ago. He started gardening at the age of nine with his grandfather.

Mr Griffin, who spent most of his career as a mechanical engineer in the mining industry, said: “I have always been very active doing either gardening or sport.”

Mr Griffin was joined by his wife, Mrs Marjorie Griffin, and daughter, Mrs Annette Bullock, of Norton, near Worksop, at the tree-planting.

The Dean of Southwell, the Very Rev John Guille, blessed the home and cut the ribbon to officially open it.

The public can view the 71-bed home, which has a dance floor, a cinema and allotments, on June 21 and 22. Residents are due to move in at the end of the month.