The Castle is - as far as we know - the only climbing gym with a garden.
Not only is this a vast quirky space to relax in during your visit, it hosts three outdoor boulders, has a plentitude of wildlife habitats for biodiversity, and provides food through it’s annual vegetable beds, herb terraces and orchard.
Wrapping around the site, the 1.5 acre space is there for you to visit whenever the Centre is open.
There is a dedicated experienced Garden Team, but the space would not flourish without our volunteers. If you would like some functional exercise, time outdoors being creative and getting mucky, and chance to meet new folk, we’d love to have you involved.
Volunteers earn a climbing credit and a small lunch for a full day working with us.
Volunteer days are Monday and Thursday each week, plus the last Saturday of each month. A full day is 11am - 4pm, though you are welcome to come along for an hour or so (without benefits!)
For more information, please download the ‘welcome pack’ document.
Volunteers are required to complete an induction prior to starting for health and safety purposes; please read and complete the ‘induction form’ then email it to garden@castle-climbing.co.uk
Building up from just four no-dig vegetable beds in early 2009 to the vast eclectic space you experience now, our Garden boasts many hidden pockets of delight — all serving an important function for us or for wildlife. Established from the beginning with permaculture design principles, the space allows us to mimic natural ecosystems in a way that is cooperative and resourceful, yet is ultimately self-sustaining through energy cycling. Importantly, though the Garden exists outside of The Castle walls, there is an innate connection between the inside and out; through the mental benefit to you our customers, passers by and local residents, and a physical benefit through our veg, fruit and herbs.
We use organic methods to grow food and manage the site, which means no synthetic inputs, including pesticides, that would disrupt the entire ecosystem. Compost is produced on site solely from the Centre’s green and veg “waste”, and we even capture the humanure broken down in the compost toilet system for feeding the hedges. We have an affinity to repurposing materials — akin to repurposing a Victorian water pumping station for a climbing wall! Around the site you’ll see decommissioned climbing ropes woven as chairs and windbreaks, old pallets as planters and benches, and climbing holds as stools. We’re enthusiastic to nurture this harmonious and productive system not only for us directly within The Castle, but within the wider Borough of Hackney and outwards.
