“We’ve made lots of friends here, it’s absolutely fantastic. ” Joan, Adlington Homeowner
Flowers and Friendship
The Autumn months can fill gardeners with both joy and dread. On the one hand, it’s the perfect time to enjoy planting bulbs, bedding plants, and sowing vegetable seeds. On the other hand, it’s a time for cutting back, sweeping up leaves, clearing gutters and painting fences. For homeowners at Adlington Retirement Living communities, it’s a time to enjoy the best of both worlds.
Worry-free gardening Joan and Bill moved to The Chimes in Cheadle in December 2019: “We don’t have any worries. I have an apartment with a lovely garden in front of it which the gardener comes and manages but I can put my little cyclamen bulbs in. We go around dead-heading, but we haven’t got that major responsibility anymore. You can back off if you don’t feel like it today, Worry-free gardening you haven’t got to do it and that’s lovely. When our friends are still digging away and the weeds are still growing, we’ve got our Josh who comes and takes up all the weeds or blows the leaves away. That’s brilliant!
‘The Good Life’ Gardening Club At The Cottons in Ramsbottom, a group of Homeowners are enjoying ‘The Good Life’ as members of a new gardening club. Alexandra Johnson, Sales and Marketing Director for Adlington Retirement Living, said: “Some homeowners have planted flowers, and some are growing herbs, fruit and vegetables. The produce they’ve been sharing with each other includes strawberries, runner beans, lettuces, rhubarb, cabbage and chard. One homeowner even shared some seedlings from his swede with members of our on-site team so they can grow them at home.” Margaret, who is a member of the gardening club, said: “I have always enjoyed gardening, but my previous garden became too much for me. Now I have a small plot on the raised beds which I can manage easily. This gives me an interest, some exercise and gets me outside meeting other likeminded people, and of course we enjoy the end product such as peas, beans, carrots, potatoes and beetroot.” John and Marcia are members of the gardening club and enjoy planting in the raised beds, as well as planting their own garden next to their patio: “We enjoy gardening. We have a garden on either side of our patio that’s our own, and then the main Adlington gardens are beautiful. They’re well looked after. The gardeners come and tend to them, and we have a lawn, quite a large one, in front of us and they come every two to three weeks and cut the grass. It’s been a big relief not having to worry about doing jobs. We’ve had one or two things that needed doing and we have a very good handyman here and we get a lot of help.”
“We felt we were short of snowdrops this Spring, so we planted some. We can do things like that. I say to Josh ‘I’ve got these cuttings, they’re rooted, where can I put them?’ and he will pop them in for me or show me where there’s a space. It’s great fun and I haven’t got the overall responsibility of the garden, so it’s just a superb arrangement. The gardens are lovely here.”
Less maintenance, more ‘me time’ When Eddie and Mabel moved to The Bridges in Macclesfield, they looked forward to spending a bit less time and energy on house and garden maintenance. Eddie explains: “Once we decided, we realised the benefits of not maintaining a house because I’ve spent my life maintaining everything. We’ve always been DIY people and once we’d taken the dog for a walk, we’d set about doing a job.” Mabel added: “The gardens are beautiful here. We had a lovely garden and I will miss it, but I also knew that when this year came, I probably couldn’t go on doing it. Now, I feel like a lady of leisure – being waited on and not having to do a lot. We’ve got so much more leisure time to do what we want to do.”
Enjoying the social side of the gardens Nigel moved to Jacobs Gate in Sheffield in December: “I brought a couple of corkscrew hazel plants with me, which really look very nice.” His daughter, Maria, is impressed with the gardens: “The landscaping here is infinitely nicer than anything we’ve seen elsewhere. The variety of plants in the garden and the space outside looks very appealing. It’s a real sun trap too. “Dad and the other homeowners have been able to go and sit outside for coffee. When he lived at his old house he would never sit in the garden, but he’s been sitting outside all the time here. You ring up and he’s not in. He’s chatting with the ladies in the garden!”
Kindness and well-being Our retirement communities offer a huge amount of reassurance and practical assistance from the 24-hour on-site support team, who provide round the clock support, 365 days a year. A sophisticated emergency call system, that links directly to the on-site team, is fitted in every private apartment and also covers the entire building and gardens to give Homeowners and their families peace of mind. Maria explains: “We’ve been really impressed with the way the team make sure they know that everybody is alright. It’s much more than we expected. It definitely gives me more peace of mind.”
One aspect of Adlington life that appeals to many of our Homeowners is the fact that optional, personal care is available as and when it is needed, for as long as it’s needed. So, if you have an accident, we can arrange additional support for a short time or if you need more long-term support, that’s available too. If you are inspired to find out more please do get in touch with one of our communities or online at adlington.co.uk. We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Artist impression
The Chimes, Cheadle
The Woodlands, Heaton Mersey
The Sailings, Southport
0161 507 3201
0161 241 5933
01704 333958
The Cottons, Ramsbottom
The Folds, Romiley
Jacobs Gate, Sheffield
01706 396524
0161 509 8635
0114 553 9554