THANKS to a fantastic work-party of green-fingered submariners, a Devon school garden is being transformed into a paradise for wildlife and pupils.

Bere Alston school's environmental garden is being transformed into an outstandingly useable and wildlife-friendly space that the whole school will be able to enjoy.

Nigel Shirlow, husband of school secretary Marianne, heads up a team of submariner combat systems engineers from HM Naval Base Devonport.

Nigel said: 'A project of this scale includes qualities embodied in the Naval ethos, namely team work, leadership and commitment. 

'We have 'quiet spells' between trips so I asked if we could adopt the school garden as our team project — the first time we have volunteered as a group —and my superiors were happy to agree.

'This sort of work has been a real first for some of the guys, as they work on sonar, radio and intricate electrical equipments — it's been really good to get to grips with some more physically challenging work.'

The environmental garden was created in 1997 and was a splendid resource , but as both pupil numbers and the garden grew, it became less and less useable.

Work initially begun on the garden by volunteers suffered a set-back, when vandals threw a picnic table into the pond, puncturing the liner so the water drained away.

This is when the Royal Navy came to the rescue. Their task included standing in deep water clearing out a huge quantity of muck and filth and grass prior to re-lining, as over the years, the water iris and grass had encroached.

Rather than clearing the area completely and leaving frogs and toads homeless, the old liner was pulled back and trimmed so one part of the pond became a marshy area —providing a combination of habitats.

The pond was relined as soon as possible so the wildlife could settle down early in the year. Then children's pond-dipping platforms were designed and built by the Naval team.

The pond is now useable at long last, and with teacher Vicky Fraser and head Kim Wild committed to training in Forest Schools skills — an initiative designed to reconnect children with the natural world — its re-opening could not be more timely.