Winstred Hundred Parish Council
Supporting the local community
PAWS June – Great GardensAfter a long and lovely day soaking up the sunshine in our gardens we spent the evening on a journey around Great Gardens of Great Britain with Andrew Babicz. With the help of superb photos, we explored some of the great and beautiful gardens of Britain.
What makes a garden great? Continue reading “PAWS June – Great Gardens”
PAWS May – A photojournalist visitsOur speaker, Deborah Brady, gave us an illustrated talk on what life was like as a female photojournalist in Fleet Street. Deborah, a former national press photographer, covered some of the biggest stories of the late 80’s and 90’s. She focused on news, features and her favourite, sport, for the London papers.
As with many situations, it is Continue reading “PAWS May – A photojournalist visits”
Roger Hance came to PAWS to show the delights of Wildlife present in the Garden. His slide talk showed some of the wildlife that can be found in our gardens. Because a lot of the natural hedgerows in our countryside are diminishing, it is increasingly more important that we try to help our wildlife out by turning our gardens into habitats that will encourage birds, mammals and insects to live in.
Roger gave some useful tips which can help attract more birds to your garden. Consider Continue reading “PAWS January – Wildlife in Gardens”
The Beth Chatto Gardens have recently been in touch with a summer offer:
We’ve come to realise that a lot of the local community have never visited the Beth Chatto Gardens before and so we’re offering free entry to the garden for children under 14, throughout the summer holidays (3 children per paying adult at £6.95), and we’d also like to invite you to a FREE evening of music and art on the 20th September.
It would be lovely to welcome members of your parish to the gardens and if you’d like to sign up for the events newsletter, please do here: http://eepurl.com/bmfHyb.
More events are listed on their website at: http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/events/.
Beth Chatto Gardens are based on the ecological and creative principles of their founder. They aim to provide an inspirational and sustainable, quality experience for all visitors. Education and enjoyment underpin the gardens’ philosophy. They are located at: Elmstead Market Nr Colchester Essex CO7 7DB.
Contacts & links are:
Six visitors joined our meeting on Tuesday 24th June when David Clarke came along to entertain us with “A Garden Holiday Experience”.
He started his talk with a joke relaying a story about a Grand Mother who was looking after her 2 year old Grandson who wanted to go out into the garden. She was horrified some time later to find him with a slug in his mouth. Asking him what it tasted like he replied “like worms granny!” We all laughed and then David went on with his slide show involving gardens in Shropshire and Cheshire. These included Ashwood Nurseries, Stockton Bury Gardens, Herefordshire, Cruckford House, and Wollerton Old Hall in Shropshire and finished with the Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire. His slides were amazing and made most us of most envious of the wonderful gardens and displays of flowers etc. David finished how he started, with another joke about a man who went into a flower shop to buy flowers for his wife. As he didn’t seem to know what he wanted to buy flowers Pasadena TX, he just simply said “Tell me what you have done!”
Another very informative and entertaining evening.
Our next get together is on 22nd July when we are having our annual social night. This year’s theme is County and Western, so grab your cowboy boots for a spot of line-dancing. Currently membership is full but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £5.00 which includes a light supper and refreshments. Pre-booking is requested by calling one of the undermentioned.
Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring one of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
In June our speaker was Henry Brickwood and he told us all about “Beautiful Gardens to visit”. Henry began his talk by telling us he is a fanatical gardener and was a previous Gold Medal winner at Chelsea a few years ago. He currently belongs to 2 gardening groups and appeared with Monty Don last year. He then continued with a slide presentation of various gardens mainly in and around a 70 mile radius of Chelmsford. These included Tudor Roost at Fingringhoe, with its very colourful private garden, Beth Chatto’s Garden at Elmstead Market with its famous “Dry Garden” and Marks Hall Gardens at Coggeshall which is known for its enclosed wall garden of snowdrops, summer borders and autumn colour to name but a few. As well as having a fantastic knowledge of various gardens he also appeared to be very knowledgeable about the restaurants and refreshments available. He finished his slide show with a preview of his own gardens at Rayleigh where he specialises in Lilies (he has over 2,500) and suggested we might visit as a group next year and promised us excellent tea and cake.
The selection of plants that he bought along were soon purchased by the keen enthusiasts amongst us. All in all,another excellent evening enjoyed by all.
Next month we are having a 60’s Social Night on the 16th July with Ray Spiller. Visitors are welcome at a cost of £5.00.
Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary on the home page of the Winstred 100 website. If you would like any further information about P.A.W.S. please ring any of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.
Kicking it off in the Plough on Friday 27th ay at 7:30 will be Folk music in the garden, provided by Elaine Barker, Bill, Gwendal Moele and Shanty Clere. The usual Friday pub food will be available or why not try your hand at Boules before Sunday’s competition.
Between 11am and 5pm on the Saturday there is a day of family fun with the Church Tower Open, Flower Festival, Art and Photographic Exhibition, Craft Stalls, Owl Display, Dog Training, Punch and Judy, Bouncy Castle, Gardeners Question Time, Beer Tent, Ploughmans Lunches and Cream Teas with entrance just £2 or £1 for children.
Sunday kicks off with a Pet Service in the church at 9:30 followed between 10am and 4pm with the Church Tower Open, Flower Festival and Art and Photographic Exhibitions in the Church, Open Gardens with Treasure Hunt and Scarecrow Competition, Light Lunches, Cream Teas and the Boules Competition.
The festival is rounded off nicely with a Festival Concert in the Church by the popular Hadleigh group ‘Riotous Assembly’. A tale of the Essex riots 1790-1820, depicted in a contemporary folk song setting, followed by an end of Festival reception. Tickets £10 to include refreshments. More details from Bill Tamblyn 01206 735770.
