Society News & Views
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 12th November, the AGM. If you are interested in joining the Committee, or can recommend someone who may be interested, please contact any Committee member.
On Saturday 19th October a Coffee Morning was held and was extremely well supported, as usual, with many members and friends enjoying a drink and a browse of the plants, cakes, books, jigsaws, and cards on offer. Many thanks to all those who contributed.
On Friday 20th September we received a most interesting & detailed talk by Committee member Jill Rickman entitled "Joseph Banks & Kew Gardens, part 2" Educated at Eton & Oxford Uni, Banks became a Botanist and joined Captain James Cook on his epic voyage to Brazil, Tahiti and then Australia & New Zealand. He returned home with numerous specimen plants never before seen in Europe & UK. He soon became famous and a favourite of King George 111 who invited him to help with the development of the Royal Residence at Kew in to the now famous Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. 30,000 of his specimens were housed there.He was elected to the Royal Society and became its President in 1778. The King also asked him to import the excellent Merino sheep originating in Spain and never before seen in this country. Banks was invested as knight of the Order of the Bath in 1795 and became a Privy Councillor. He died in 1820 after a long and celebrated career. A remarkable man.
On Sunday 11th August, a warm sunny day, a coach party visited both Barton Grange Garden centre and Gresgarth Hall Gardens. Gresgarth is the home of Arabella Lennox Boyd, the renowned garden designer and Chelsea medalist. The gardens are beautiful with lovely views over a lake with its water lilies. A very enjoyable day. Many thanks to Kate Bayliss for arranging it and for all her assistance with wheel chairs etc.
On Sunday 4th August there was a Open Gardens Day when six of our members opened their gardens for viewing. Blessed with a fine afternoon the gardens, some bigger than others, were all beautiful with many plants and shrubs in full bloom at this time of year. Many thanks are due to those who opened gardens and to the Martinelli family for providing delicious refreshments.
On Friday 26th July there was a social evening for members with best vase and teacup competitions plus a plant swap. There were many beautiful entries in the vase and teacup displays and thanks are due to Ann Morton and Committee for their hard work in staging it and to Susan Jackson for the delicious refreshments plus other helpers dishing out wine etc.
On Saturday 13th July there was a successful coach trip to RHS Bridgewater Gardens, enjoyed by all who went.
On Friday Lady 14th June we received a fascinating talk by David Winnard entitled "Foraging.
David started with Dandelions (who knew there were 272 species) then Nettles, both edible followed by numerous other plants such as Wild Garlic, Cow Parsley, Hemlock, some poisonous like the latter and some edible. After a break for tea & biscuits David continued wth Fungi of which there are thousands of varieties, some poisonous some not, with 12 main types in the UK. A most informative talk. He has a website, www.discoverthewild.co.uk.
On Saturday 25th May we held a Coffee Morning. This was extremely well supported with plant sales, cakes, books and jigsaws, plus cards via Jill Rickman. So many people came for coffee and biscuits extra chairs had to be provided. Second hand books and jigsaws did not sell as well as on previous occasions but all in all a very successful morning. Thanks to Susan Jackson and her catering team and Glenys Steedman for organizing the raffle.
Judy Popley gave a fascinating talk on Friday 12th April on 'A Prospect of Arley.' This was from the 1890's to the 1990's, and included many photos of the hall and gardens as it was back then, and how over the years it has changed. Her talk included photos of the family who owned it then and of the staff who worked there. We hope to visit Arley Hall this Christmas as they decorate the rooms with beautiful flowers displays.
The Quiz night on Friday 8th March was well attended and enjoyable. Ann and Glenys did a great job as quiz masters. It was closely contested with just one point between the winners and second place.
The AGM was held Tuesday 14th November. The meeting was opened by Chairman, Ann Morton who welcomed all present for turning out on such a wet evening. Ann gave a brief account of all events having taken place during the year and then moved on to individual reports, first from Treasurer Lesley Randall who presented the accounts showing a very healthy bank balance followed by Gill Martinelli, Show Secretary who explained that despite the Show being a success this was largely due to entries from non members and much reduced entry from members. With much regret the committee had decided that having regard to the very hard work for committee member prior to and during the Show 2023 would be the last time the present committee would hold a Show, Gill thanked all those who had given valuable assistance in keeping the Show going for over 60 years. Membership secretary then reported that we have a healthy membership of 93 including several new members. Kate Bayliss then reported that a full programme of events was now available for 2024. Secretary Glenys Steedman then gave a summary of many of the events held during the last 30 years. Ann also gave gifts to Gill. Lesley, Judy Lea and Kate in appreciation of their hard work and to David Moulsdale for the website and who is now retiring from the Committee.
Ann then handed the meeting over to President Judy Lea who reported that apart from David all the present committee were willing to continue with Ann Morton as Chairman for another year. This was accepted by all present with no new committee members volunteering to join from those present. The meeting was then closed but was followed after a short interval by a slide show presented by David Morton including many photographs from this years holiday in the Lake District, plus a few from this years Show and others. The meeting closed at 9.30pm
The 62nd ANNUAL SHOW was held on Saturday 2nd September 2023 and was well supported and a great success with many colourful and excellent entries in flowers,fruit and vegetables, art, cookery and preserves, photographic and junior classes. Massive thanks are due to Show manager Ann Morton, Show secretary Gill Martinelli, assistant Kate Bayliss, caterer Susan Jackson, cashier Lesley Randall and all the committee members and volunteers who worked so hard to ensure its success. The list of trophy winners has now been updated and new photographs are now available on the show gallery and video pages. .