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Thursday 8^th December at 7.30pm in the Millennium Hall in Shurdington.

 

This is a Quiz followed by a “Bring and Share” buffet.

 

Please bring along a plate of food to share with all the other members. Mulled wine and fruit juice will be provided.

 

Please note that due to a previous booking this meeting is in the Millennium Hall and not the Century Hall in Shurdington. It is still the same address but this hall is on the left of the two halls and not the right.

 

Thursday January 12^th at 7.30pm, the Century Hall, Shurdington.

 

New Varieties of Old Plants- a talk by Bob Brown

 

Now is the time to renew your membership of the Society. This newsletter has been posted to all members to ensure that everybody has access to a membership form.

 

If you are renewing membership by post please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope

 

You can also renew your membership at the January and February meetings.

 

As most of you are aware, Mary Shepherd is no longer organising the raffle. A lot of thanks go to her for all her hard work over the years. She has raised a vast amount of money for the Society.

 

Sally Langley and Christina Higgs have very kindly offered to organise the raffle between them.   We would like to ask members for donations of prizes that can be used for the monthly raffle. Rather than just putting them on the table could we ask you to put the items in the Raffle Items collection box which will be by the raffle table each month?  Alternatively you can give them directly to Christina or Sally. Any items donated will be kept by Christina and Sally who will put out 5 for each meeting. This way we can ensure we have prizes for every meeting.

 

The schedule is with the printers and should be available at the January meeting.

 

Regrettably the number of entries in the Children’s Section has declined in recent Shows. I do hope that you will encourage any children you know to enter. Children’s classes are open to any child.

 

The classes for exhibitors up to an including 8 years of age are as follows:

46 An A4 drawing or painting of any flower or animal

47 A potato print picture

48 A vase of flowers from your garden

49 A picture, supplied by the Society, to be coloured in

 

Classes for exhibitors from 9 up to and including 12 years of age are as follows:

50 4 Flapjacks – the recipe will be on page 8 of the schedule

51 A photograph of a garden scene

52 A computer generated picture

53 A decorated flowerpot

 

For those of you who would like to be creative this winter, the handicraft classes are as follows:

61 An article hand knitted or crocheted

62 Any crafted item from soft material, including needlework

63 Any crafted item from hard material

64 A picture printed or drawn by the exhibitor

 

 

A few of the Committee attended an afternoon session on pruning and found it very useful and very good value. 

 

As a result we are hoping to organise some days at Pershore College for the Society. This will take the form of a morning session on one subject, e.g. propagation, and an afternoon session on another subject, e.g. seed sowing.

 

We would like to know if you would be interested in such a day. At the January meeting Helen Purdon, our Chairman, will have a list of topics that could be available and would be grateful for any feedback on these. If you are interested and will not be at the January meeting please contact her on 01242 575998.

 

 

We are again using Fothergills Seeds; the discount is again 40% on Seeds Only. These will be delivered to Roy who will then deliver them to you. There is no postage charged on seeds. All other items, plants, bulbs and sundries carry a postage charge for them to be delivered directly to you.

 

Catalogues are now available. Cheques with orders would be appreciated, payable to C.H.S.

 

Please enter full amounts on your order forms.

 

Roy Tombs

50 Stanway Road

Benhall

Cheltenham GL51 6BZ

 

Tel: 01242 233736

 

Closing Date for orders – January Meeting.

 

This takes place on Saturday 21^st January and Sunday 22^nd January. This is a great event at which a vast selection of seed potatoes is available in large and small quantities. For further information contact:

Dundry Nurseries, Bamfurlong Lane, Cheltenham, Gl51 6SL

Tel 01452 713124

 

 

 

 

 

Having left sunny Cheltenham at 12.45pm and arriving at Thenford at 2pm, with the sun still shining, we knew this trip was off to a good start.

 

On arrival we were handed a large map of “Thenford Gardens”. On close inspection there appeared to be many gardens to see in these extensive grounds. So, with no time to waste, off we went. 

 

The public footpath took us through a lovely area of trees, all named. There were some lovely Acers displaying colourful leaves gracing the pathway. At this point we noticed Thenford House, which looked beautiful, especially with the Dexter cattle grazing all around. 

 

We visited many gardens within the grounds, all different, but beautifully kept and designed to a high standard. I was very impressed with the many water features. One in particular had 36 fountains, with clipped topiary trees, (it reminded me of Chatsworth!)

 

The walled garden was full of surprises. The glasshouses were full of interesting plants. I even noticed a Christmas cactus growing over my head in the branch of a tree! The Begonias were huge, and there were some lovely Streptocarpus in a beautiful Harlequin Blue colour. The propagation of the plants was expertly done. The cuttings all looked healthy, and there were masses of bulbs, especially Amaryllis, (my favourite).  

 

The vegetable garden looked very productive, with its healthy looking vegetables and neatly edged with box. Soft fruits were many, with lovely pears (Concord) trained to grow up the wall. Further surprises followed, with beautiful mirrored pools in a patterned sequence, and large aviaries, with what I think were Parakeets happily fluttering around. At this point I realized no expense had been spared to create this garden, it was simply stunning.

 

As I left the walled garden I was delighted to see Lord Heseltine in his buggy, with his three dogs running around. Apparently he has 9 gardeners and he got a lot of his design inspiration from Hidcote! 

 

Behind the walled garden there was a lovely herbaceous border, with carved seats. They looked so inviting so I sat down, and looking straight ahead I realized how cleverly designed these seats were, as there was a Beech hedge in front, and in line with the seat was a round window cut out of the hedge, and the view through this window was of the open countryside beyond. I could have sat there all afternoon, but knowing there was a lot more to see (and I still hadn’t had a cup of tea), I reluctantly sauntered on. I then looked at my watch and realized it was 4pm, and with only half an hour to get back to the coach, it was a very quick visit to the to the Sculpture garden. 

 

Arriving back at the coach (slightly late, I do apologise) I took one final glimpse of these beautifully designed and well maintained gardens and realized what a lucky man Lord Heseltine is. I would definitely go again, and hopefully next time I would find the tea and cakes!!

 

 

By Christina Higgs