Tatsfield Garden Club with Bryan Everest on 5th March 2024
Our garden club meeting in March was well supported with around 28 keen Tatsfield, Biggin Hill and Westerham members. Bryan was on top form and entertained us so much with his wit, humour and wisdom; that he really should be on the big stage. He had us all in fits of laughter and oozed encouragement from us all to support the Society’s Horticultural Shows. Bryan began the evening talking on how to grow sweet peas. You put a layer of finely sieved compost in an old margarine looking tub, water, place 10 seeds on the top, spaced out evenly, and then cover with a thin layer of compost and water. Place this in a warm position i.e. on a windowsill, above a radiator or in an airing cupboard if you don’t have a Propagator. They should emerge within 10 days. When the seedlings have two leaves you must pinch out the tops as it is the side shoots that produce the sweet peas. You must then put these plants straight out into an unheated greenhouse or something similar and plant out at the end of April. The ground must be prepared beforehand with Poultry Magic or similar, but NOT fresh manure, and push in your canes at a straight upright angle, and not wigwams as sweet peas like to grow upwards. Well informed of all this info it just leaves me to say GOOD LUCK. Bryan gave away numerous pots of mixed sweet peas for us all to have a go and enter the Autumn Show.
He explained how to take dahlia cuttings and it is these new plants that will be full of vigour and give you a wonderful cut display and gave away paper bags of potted up dahlia tubers for us all to grow on and also plant out at the end of April.
Then he diverged into the Vegetable World, especially onions, shallots and garlic. He buys his Sets in early January – before anyone else apparently, and plants them in single cells and keeps them in a cold frame or greenhouse ready for planting out in mid-March. He sows all his vegetable seeds in single cells, often three seeds to a cell so he can thin them out. By this he meant cauliflowers, cabbages, leeks, lettuce and beetroot. You must sow parsnips and carrots straight into the ground where they are to grow as they cannot be transplanted.
Bryan then moved onto our Spring Show. Last year he gave everyone 8inch pots of daffodils to grow on for the show, and this year he is trialling pots of tulips. I was luckily enough to take home a pot. Bryan also told us how to have our daffodils at their prime ready for the show-either keep in the fridge-he must have a very large fridge, or a darkened room to hold back, or if cutting on the windowsill to encourage them to open. This only takes two days.
We had a break for refreshments and we were greeted to steaming mugs of hot coffee and tea along with homemade freshly baked lemon drizzle cake.
We all left the hall far happier than when we had arrived with pots of sweet peas and tulips, trays of onions, cabbages, potatoes and lots of enthusiasm.
Thank you Bryan for sharing your expertise and good sense of humour. You are
worth your weight in GOLD 😊
IMPORTANT Dates for the Diary –
Composting Site Opening - 6th April 10-12pm open to members of the Society.
Spring Show – Saturday April 13th 3 - 4.30pm Village Hall – PLEASE look out your Yearbook and enter at least one class. There are lots of exciting classes to enter. We really do need your support in keeping the Society going. If you wish to volunteer to help on the day please text me - Sue Warren 07555120427 or Carol Gaskell 07815775859. We NEED more members of the village to help.
Plant Sale – May 6th 9.45am – Please bring along any surplus plants for us to sell. Bryan Everest is bringing along sweet peas and his usual ‘Offerings’. We will also have the usual high quality plants delivered straight from the Nursery on the morning.
Wisley Visits – Saturday May 18th 10am & Saturday October 19th 10am – The October date is the Start of Half Term which might interest families. There is plenty to see and do for all the Family and these pre-booked days are a perk of our RHS Membership, so free entry. If you wish to go on another day, Jon Allbutt has two discount cards which admit 4 people with 50% savings, available from Jon on 577100.
An Adult Entry Day ticket is £20.35 with Gift Aid or £18.50 without and for a Family of 4 it is £45 or nearly £50 with Gift Aid, so do think about using this benefit for free, and enjoy yourselves in these wonderful famous gardens.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SOCIETY
Saturday June 17th 2023 at 10am
18 people arrived at the RHS Wisley Gardens ready for our group entry at 10am. It is an event we arrange every year as we are allowed one visit for up to 40 people with free entry with our affiliation to the RHS. If you had to pay it would have cost each person £18.90 entry, so you can see what a massive benefit this is.
Wisley is the flagship garden of the RHS and one of the most visited and loved gardens attracting over a million visitors a year. There are 75 gardeners, 25 students, 4 apprentices, and over 100 volunteers. The gardens cover an area of 240 acres.
George Fergusson Wilson, a keen grower of fruit and orchids, bought the garden in 1878. After Wilson’s death, Sir Thomas Hanbury purchased the garden along with a neighbouring farm and donated it to the RHS.
Fortunately the weather was warm for our visit; the sun was shining and I was greeted with lots of happy faces ready for the delightful experience which lay ahead. We are allowed to enter the gardens with the allocated tickets, as and when you wish and not as a group. Some people enjoyed a coffee plus a warm pecan pastry in my case!
I decided to venture off around the gardens stopping first at the Unusual and Heritage Plant Show marquee. It was supported by various Societies, including Sweet Peas, Dahlias, Iris, Roses, plus stalls of Hostas, various Geraniums, and Heritage Plants. You could buy many of the plants on display and packets of seeds at a good price.
From here I walked through to the sweet pea trial beds, as I have a special interest. It was fun comparing the growth of the autumn sown seeds to the spring own ones, and taking photos of new varieties that caught my eye. I start the seeds germinating at the end of February and then they don’t get out of control before planting out in April.
I always enjoy walking in the woodland gardens amongst the massive trees and shrubs on Battleston Hill, exploring the plants from far off climes. The different varieties of Cornus Kousa’s were the Stars today.
I sauntered down the hill to the massive 12 metre high Glass House, built to celebrate the RHS bicentenary. It covers an area equal to 10 tennis courts. The glasshouse was constructed using recycled glass from the previous glasshouse. There was a vast pelargonium collection which showed how many different varieties and colours there are. The Tropical plants were enormous and unbelievable that you could be stood in such a jungle setting. We read that robins and wagtails are able to operate the automatic opening vents and make their nests in there - clever birds. There is also a Dry Arid garden section which is full of cactus and succulents.
Coming outside again for fresh air I walked over to the new Science Research block, called Hilltop. This building opened in 2021, and is home to their Scientists who are hard at work researching the issues that affect our everyday lives. I walked through the Orchards to the Allotments for my first ever visit. This was an absolute joy.
From here I wandered over to view the Bowes-Lyon rose beds, built to commemorate Sir David Bowes-Lyon RHS President 1953-61. The scent was breath taking.
No visit is complete without a stop at the shop and garden centre. This time it was just a packet of Sweet William seeds. I am picking last year’s sowing right now.
Sue Warren
Evening Garden Visit to Titsey Place - Tuesday July 5th
A small group of keen Tatsfield gardeners arrived at Titsey Place to a warm welcome from Rory Dryburgh, the Head gardener for the last 16 months.
Rory gave us a potted history of the Estate and then we entered the walled garden which was a joy to behold. The blue delphiniums were outstanding and we were led around the newly edged paths, through the various vegetables, consisting of potatoes, runner beans, carrots, leeks, beetroots, courgettes, pumpkins to name but a few, but Rory’s passion is garlic and onion growing. These were grown through a black membrane material to suppress the weeds. Rory found the idea from looking at U Tubes from Japan! The onions and garlic looked enormous, so it obviously works. There, were cages of various varieties of cabbages and lettuce, plus the fruit cages which made our mouths water. How I would love to be let loose amongst those raspberry canes…there are also ‘Cutting Beds’ and these are grown for the house. Rory had another idea of growing dahlias through hessian netting to save tying and staking. It seemed to be working. There were of course many wigwams of sweet peas-my passion and many more annuals, sunflowers, love lies bleeding, love in the mist.
Leaving the walled garden we walked past Rory’s garden cottage, down towards the big house, to the water fountain beds. The sun shone onto the water and the garden glowed in the sunset. We couldn’t have picked a better evening. Bluebird skies, pleasantly warm and no wind.
Finally we entered the rose garden. Rory says this is going to be a work in progress and has plans to plant a couple of trees to add structure, and maybe change some of the rose colour combinations. One half of the garden the roses are struggling but no one knows why, so they are experimenting with various other perennials.
We ended out tour with glasses of wine, nibbles and my homemade lemon drizzle cake which was still warm as freshly baked. There was a small amount left over which I passed to Rory to be shared out with his hard working team of gardeners.
Thank you Rory for a wonderful few hours enjoying the stunningly beautiful gardens of Titsey Place. An absolute joy.
The Tatsfield Horticultural Annual Wisley Visit
Saturday May 21st 2022 at 10am22 people arrived at the RHS Wisley Gardens ready for our group entry at 10am. It is an event we arrange every year as we are allowed one visit for up to 40 people with free entry with our affiliation to the RHS.
Wisley is the flagship garden of the RHS and one of the most visited and loved gardens attracting over a million visitors a year. There are 75 gardeners, 25 students and 4 apprentices, and over 100 volunteers. The gardens cover an area of 240 acres.
George Fergusson Wilson, a keen grower of fruit and orchids, bought the garden in 1878. After Wilson’s death, Sir Thomas Hanbury purchased the garden along with a neighbouring farm and donated it to the RHS.
Fortunately the weather was warm for our visit; the sun was shining and I was greeted with lots of happy faces ready for the delightful experience which lay ahead. Some people had not visited since the new entrance has been created, and it really has turned out to be a quite a feat of engineering. We are allowed to enter the gardens with the allocated tickets, as and when you wish and not as a group. Some of us enjoyed coffees and then entered.
I was accompanying Syliva Hyett, and we teamed up with Sandy and Jon Allbutt. We were very fortunate, as we had our expert horticulturist on hand. The Stars of the Show on entering the peonies and we made sure we took lots of photos.
Sauntering on at our leisure we came across the massive 12 metre high Glass House, built to celebrate the RHS bicentenary. It covers an area equal to 10 tennis courts. Jon described the glasshouse construction and it was very interesting to hear how it was built and used recycled glass from the previous glasshouse. There was a vast pelargonium collection which showed how many different varieties and colours there are. The Tropical plants were enormous and unbelievable that you could be stood in such a jungle setting. We read that robins and wagtails are able to operate the automatic opening vents and make their nests in there - clever birds. There is also a Dry Arid garden section which is full of cactus and succulents.
Coming outside again for fresh air we walked over to the new Science Research block, called Hilltop. The views from the upper levels enticed us to stop for lunch-sandwiches and ice lollies. This building opened in 2021, and is home to their Scientists who are hard at work researching the issues that affect our everyday lives.
We wandered on to view the rose beds, but it is still a little early to get the full impact, but we were greeted with the Wisteria Arches in full bloom, complimented with the purple sensation alliums.
No visit is complete without a stop at the shop and garden centre. This time there were no purchases made however.
Tatsfield Horticultural Society September Plant sale
A big THANK YOU to all those who helped with the plant sale this morning. It was the first one for far too long, and the first ever in the autumn. Because of this, we had no idea of what to expect in the way of sales, and restricted our purchases to £160, which Pam, Jan and Jill kindly arranged and picked up this week from Coblands Plant Centre. Because of this, our tables looked a little emptier than usual! And thank you also to those who brought plants along to sell on behalf of THS. We sold everything, and could probably have sold more of some things. It was good also to see Fairtrade there as well. I’m sure that putting the two together was the right thing to do, and encouraged more people to come. It was lovely to begin to get back to some sort of normality, with crowds of people chatting together. Let’s hope that spring will be even better! See pictures below
Best wishes
Peter
SHOWTIME Horticultural Autumn Show 2021
The committee were very pleased to be able to put on a magnificent show and we had 181 entries. Thank you everyone who entered the Show for supporting the society – Bob David, Peter and Jan Maynard, Dawn Forrester-Groom, Alan Armitage, Barbara Hester, Tom and Bryony Martin, Alison Cole, Sara Williams, Pam Bishop, Christine Stainer and Monkey Puzzle, to name but a few.
The Village Hall looked magnificent, full of colour on a bright and sunny autumnal day. The committee acted as judges, and I thought they did a very good job. In the horticultural classes I was fascinated to see the measurements for the longest runner bean at 41cm long. The second prize missed out only by half a cm. Several measurements were made to ensure it was correct. The heaviest marrow weighed in at 9.1KG , Onion 365gms and Potato 292gms. The prize leeks grown by Pam Bishop also won the vegetable trophy for best vegetable in the show. All three entries in this class were of an exceptional quality. Our President Bob David scooped the two trophies in the Vegetable and Horticultural Sections.
In the flower exhibits we had a new exhibitor, Alison Cole. She arrived with some massive decorative pink dahlias which looked simply stunning. I assisted her and hopefully we all made her feel welcome. All the cut flower classes were well supported and I took a special look at Alan Armitage’s chrysanthemums, as I love their scent. My father in law used to grow them, so I know how difficult it is to produce such spectacular blooms.
The flower arranging was supported by two of the regular church flower arrangers, Jan and Sara, which was lovely plus another exhibitor who is a huge supporter of the society, Dawn. The autumnal exhibits were a joy to see.
In the photography sections, there were some interesting photographs, and some had a Lockdown feel about them! There were more worthy winners.
In the art sections I am always amazed by our Tatsfield Talent. Those art classes held in the Village and Church Halls, are certainly working their magic, and the paintings are of a very high standard, which reflected the many hours of hard work achieved. Well done to everyone. Hopefully some of you will be encouraged to join them as well?
In the handicraft classes, one of the pieces of knitting caught my eye. It was a Cinderella doll. It was a two way knitting design which is hard to describe, but one doll looked like Cinderella before she went to the Ball, and the other was her Fairy Godmother designed dress. Simply fabulous; so well done Catherine for your patience and expertise.
Sadly we only had one entry in the Junior sections. I had the good fortune to talk to two of the Monkey Puzzle Team, and they are so inspired by the show, that they are going to support the Society in the spring. Please look out for the photo of the Painted Flower pot with the children.
In the Domestic sections we had a new class this time ’Pot to Plate’. This was very interesting, and some of the vegetable or fruit additions were courgettes, carrot and apples. I was so fortunate to be able to take home a huge slice of carrot cake which I enjoyed with a cup of tea. Other domestic goddesses were Barbara Hester and Byrony and Tom Martin.
Yes I know we didn’t have refreshments this time, but we will hopefully at the Spring Show.
Thank you everyone who visited and exhibited at the Show and the helpful ‘backup’ team of helpers; Paul Stainer, Cyril Bishop, Neil Warren, Jan Maynard, Ian Longley, Catherine Webber’s brother and sis in law, plus Ken Munday, who has updated our computer results system, which has been a huge work in progress. Well done Ken for all of your patience.
The prize winners are as follows
Presidents Challenge Cup Horticulture Bob David
Club Challenge Cup Vegetables Bob David
Elizabeth Challenge Cup Flower Sections Sue Warren
The McHugo Trophy Flower Arrangement Sara Williams
The Slatter Trophy Crafts Catherine Webber
Peter Warner Art Christine Stainer
Jeff Bloxham Trophy Photography Bryony Martin
Tom Black Cup Domestic Catherine Webber
Tatsfield School Cup Juniors Monkey Puzzle
Harry Shrubb Memoral Cup Best Dahlias Sue Warren
Ron Draper Award Best Vegetable Pam Bishop
Clark Cup Best Flower arrangement Jan Maynard
Tony Erbes Cup Best Onion Bob David
Allotment Trophy Fruit/Vegetables Peter Maynard
Report by Sue Warren
GARDENERII PRUNIPHOBIA
(The Gardeners Fear of Pruning)
One of the very first jobs I had to do as a 16 year old apprentice working in the wonderful rose garden in Walpole Park in Ealing was to learn the art of pruning roses. My instructor was old (he must have been all of 50 years old!), grumpy, smelly and he spoke in a strange mixture of West London and foreign (I learned later that he came to London from Italy as a child).
With me holding a pair of old Rolcut secateurs, old grumpy would point to where I should make the cut, sloping and above a bud of course, I was terrified! I also had to use a pair of ancient wobbly loppers with loose wooden handles to chop off the big gnarly non-productive wood. Watching him work I was convinced that he was just in a bad temper as he worked quickly over the rose bed cutting and chopping leaving just stumps. I was told that I was pruning roses that were at least 20 years old and the only way to keep them ‘young’ and get a good display was to prune them hard. I also learned that pruning is a quick job, no time for standing back to admire your work, or mistakes!
We were taught that each shrub must be pruned according to its ‘horticultural merits’, that is, to know your plant and apply ‘gardeners rules’ so that it grows and flowers within the boundaries of its allocated space.
Pruning flowering shrubs has been a big part of my life, including introducing gardeners, both professional and amateur, to the art of pruning. Without fail every one of them has at first been disbelieving, frightened, and very hesitant! I can see the smiles on the faces of our Tatsfield Community Volunteers as they read this and remember their first attempts at pruning under my eagle eye!
If left unattended, a flowering shrub will grow, flower, and continue to grow until it reaches its maximum potential. As it grows there will be a tendency for the amount of flower to become less and also smaller. But it is not a simple as that, there is also a large group of shrubs and small trees that just get better and better as they mature e.g. Rhododendron, Camellia and many many more, confusing? yes it is! Fortunately we have access to excellent information in books and on the webby thingy! Take the RHS for instance (www.rhs.org.uk ), they have identified no less than thirteen Pruning Groups, each one carefully described with more detailed guidance for each group available in their excellent book Pruning and Training, a very good Christmas present for a keen gardener.
When pruning it is important to remember that, in general, a plant will spring into growth at the point where you make your pruning cut. If you hesitantly nibble around the top of the shrub, that is where the new growth will appear. Continuing to do this will create a mop headed, or top heavy, plant that eventually will become bare at the base and lean wearily over your path and other plants. Many gardeners then feel forced to cut off the top growth to make room, only to see more growth returning on top again! Shrubs that have developed like this need what we gardeners call ‘renewal pruning’. A pruning saw, loppers, big bags (to take your prunings up to the community composting scheme) and sturdy kneelers are needed for this task. Get down into the base of the shrub and take out whole pieces of old woody growth, then stand back and watch the response of strong young shoots from the bottom. This strategy has its risks; you will remove flowering wood and it may take a year or so for the plant to produce wood mature enough to flower; the plant may be too old and weak and may die. But it is also true that some shrubs thrive on annual very hard pruning! There is no substitute for knowing your plant, and what it needs by way of care and attention to gives its best for you.
In Tatsfield we are very lucky to have our Horticultural Society that runs two shows a year, and has a Gardening Club where all your questions can be answered – well almost all!!! Have a look at our website www.tatsfieldhorticulturalsociety.weebly.com or give me a call on 01959 577100
Jon Allbutt
TTATSFIELD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
DELIVERY OF YEAR BOOKS 2020 – HELP!!
As I am sure you are aware the Horticultural Society Year Books are delivered each year between the months of January and March to your door by our wonderful volunteers.
Our Volunteers are brilliant but, as we all know, either age or family commitments can take up any spare time we have. We do need some new Volunteers to help to deliver these Magazines.
It involves delivering the Year Book in a specified road/s. The full round only needs to be carried out once, at a time to suit yourself and when you think most people will be in. A knock on the door – hand over the book – take the money/donation and leave. A note is provided for you to put through the door should they be out asking them to let you know, by telephone/email, if they if they want a book. Very easy and not too time consuming – you can make it what you want – there is no pressure – you have approximately 2 months in which to choose when you deliver the magazines.
I am pleased to inform you that this will be the last time that delivery will take place during the Winter months. We are aware of the difficulties of delivering during this time and, after much discussion, it has been agreed by the Committee that this year the “Year Book” will cover THREE shows – Spring and Autumn 2020 together with Spring 2021.
This means that the following “Year Book” will cover Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022 and delivery will therefore take place during April/May 2021 and will carry on in this way thereafter, which means the end of delivering the Year Book in the cold, wet weather.
The more Volunteers we have the shorter the rounds.
If you would like to help please let me know either by telephone or email.
Thank you
Christine Stainer
Subscriptions Secretary
Tel: 01959 577803
(christinestainer@yahoo,com)
TATSFIELD GARDEN TOUR 2019
As I sit down to write about the garden tours, I find it hard to believe how Tatsfield Horticultural Society ensured it was held on the sunniest day for some time, but manage it they did. On Sunday, 2nd June it was the 18th Garden Tour and once again, Bob David managed to gently persuade six willing volunteers to open their gardens for all of us to enjoy. Each of the gardens, whilst very different in style, size and substance all had a very similar theme, that of tranquillity. It wasn’t an easy task to visit all six in the allotted four hours as there was so much to see at each one and I hope I manage to do them all justice.
We started off at Tor Croft Grange and Timberdale which are both situated on Tatsfield Lane and the homes of Sue Moon and Virginia and Chris Dodd. The setting of this gated development is perfect with beautiful open spaces reached by an Acer tree lined drive. There was much to see including manicured lawns, herb gardens, flower beds, an orchard, hostas impressively with zero slug damage, a paddock filled with wild flowers and an enormous pond and jetty attracting a number of wildlife and insects, including electric blue dragonflies, much to my children’s excitement. It was a perfect resting place for the afternoon with live music and even a fly past by two Spitfires.
Next, we ventured to Craigstone in Barnfield Road and our hosts, Gillian Phillips and Stephen Mittens. Stephen is not only one of our new Parish Councillors but also heavily involved in the In Bloom team and volunteers. My expectations were high and I was not disappointed. On entering the property we were met with a plethora of colour from the beautiful herbaceous border filled with wild geraniums and poppies. So much work has been put in to this garden by Gillian and Stephen over the eleven years they have lived there and their efforts have not been in vain. The garden is cleverly divided into different areas including a pollinator garden sewn with wild flowers, a vegetable patch including courgettes, celery, radish, spring onion, strawberries, tomatoes and herbs, compost heap and a beautiful purple clematis. There was also room for tadpoles. Down the lower end is a quieter patch with a Buddha creating a calming effect for this eco friendly garden.
We then travelled down to the two properties in Paynesfield Road, firstly, number 101, known as The Wood and the hosts Carys and Andrew Long. The first thing you notice on entering is the garden pond full of gold fish and Lilly pads. This seemed, very much, like a garden for entertainment, especially children, mine were in their element. At the top near the house there was a fabulous terrace with pizza oven which must be lovely for dining al fresco in the summer months. In the bottom half, reached along a wooden staircase, is a fabulous play area including swings, slides, seesaw, trampoline, hammock, play house and the most amazing concrete seating structures which must be brilliant for endless games of hide and seek. It took much persuasion to move on to the next house.
Disappointment at leaving The Wood was thankfully replaced with joy at Orchard Leigh, 104 Paynesfield Road where Alex Holroyd and Nick Walsh have built the most amazing wooden castle hand made by Nick. Perhaps, more importantly, from my point of view, there was also a bar! The work and effort that must have gone into making “Hogwarts” is enormous and keeping with the Harry Potter theme future plans include the prison, Azkaban with zip wire. I knew, when I saw my husband squeezing himself into the secret slide compartment and beaming from ear to ear that I had lost my family for the rest of the tour. They didn’t arrive home until much much later and are now begging me for a replica.
And so, I ventured alone to the last but by no means least of the gardens, that of Alan and Liz Armitage at The Croft on Westmore Green. What first struck me about this lovely garden was how amazing to be in the village centre and yet be so quiet and serene. I was interested to see and hear about the transformation they have carried out over 20 years and what a success they have made of it. For me, I particularly liked all the water features including the stream with bridge over to reach the newly relined and rainwater filled pond. Alan told me he counted over 157 fish when refilling it. Quite remarkable. There were also blue tits and coal tits nesting in this beautiful garden and I can’t say I blame them.
There must have been well over 100 visitors to all the gardens and I understand nearly £1,000 was raised for various charities and village organisations. On behalf of Tatsfield residents and those from further afield I would like to thank, not only the hosts who went to so much trouble to have their gardens ready and welcoming, but also the Horticultural Society for putting on yet another superb family afternoon out.
My eldest, Edward, suggested perhaps we could open our garden next year, much to the look of horror on my husband’s face!
Nichola Stokoe
So thank you to everyone Bob David for organising the tour, for the people who opened their gardens for these good causes and for the villagers who turned out in their numbers to support this event.
If you are interested in showing your garden on the Tour next year please contact Bob David 577357
Tatsfield Garden Club with Bryan Everest on 5th March 2024
Our garden club meeting in March was well supported with around 28 keen Tatsfield, Biggin Hill and Westerham members. Bryan was on top form and entertained us so much with his wit, humour and wisdom; that he really should be on the big stage. He had us all in fits of laughter and oozed encouragement from us all to support the Society’s Horticultural Shows. Bryan began the evening talking on how to grow sweet peas. You put a layer of finely sieved compost in an old margarine looking tub, water, place 10 seeds on the top, spaced out evenly, and then cover with a thin layer of compost and water. Place this in a warm position i.e. on a windowsill, above a radiator or in an airing cupboard if you don’t have a Propagator. They should emerge within 10 days. When the seedlings have two leaves you must pinch out the tops as it is the side shoots that produce the sweet peas. You must then put these plants straight out into an unheated greenhouse or something similar and plant out at the end of April. The ground must be prepared beforehand with Poultry Magic or similar, but NOT fresh manure, and push in your canes at a straight upright angle, and not wigwams as sweet peas like to grow upwards. Well informed of all this info it just leaves me to say GOOD LUCK. Bryan gave away numerous pots of mixed sweet peas for us all to have a go and enter the Autumn Show.
He explained how to take dahlia cuttings and it is these new plants that will be full of vigour and give you a wonderful cut display and gave away paper bags of potted up dahlia tubers for us all to grow on and also plant out at the end of April.
Then he diverged into the Vegetable World, especially onions, shallots and garlic. He buys his Sets in early January – before anyone else apparently, and plants them in single cells and keeps them in a cold frame or greenhouse ready for planting out in mid-March. He sows all his vegetable seeds in single cells, often three seeds to a cell so he can thin them out. By this he meant cauliflowers, cabbages, leeks, lettuce and beetroot. You must sow parsnips and carrots straight into the ground where they are to grow as they cannot be transplanted.
Bryan then moved onto our Spring Show. Last year he gave everyone 8inch pots of daffodils to grow on for the show, and this year he is trialling pots of tulips. I was luckily enough to take home a pot. Bryan also told us how to have our daffodils at their prime ready for the show-either keep in the fridge-he must have a very large fridge, or a darkened room to hold back, or if cutting on the windowsill to encourage them to open. This only takes two days.
We had a break for refreshments and we were greeted to steaming mugs of hot coffee and tea along with homemade freshly baked lemon drizzle cake.
We all left the hall far happier than when we had arrived with pots of sweet peas and tulips, trays of onions, cabbages, potatoes and lots of enthusiasm.
Thank you Bryan for sharing your expertise and good sense of humour. You are
worth your weight in GOLD 😊
IMPORTANT Dates for the Diary –
Composting Site Opening - 6th April 10-12pm open to members of the Society.
Spring Show – Saturday April 13th 3 - 4.30pm Village Hall – PLEASE look out your Yearbook and enter at least one class. There are lots of exciting classes to enter. We really do need your support in keeping the Society going. If you wish to volunteer to help on the day please text me - Sue Warren 07555120427 or Carol Gaskell 07815775859. We NEED more members of the village to help.
Plant Sale – May 6th 9.45am – Please bring along any surplus plants for us to sell. Bryan Everest is bringing along sweet peas and his usual ‘Offerings’. We will also have the usual high quality plants delivered straight from the Nursery on the morning.
Wisley Visits – Saturday May 18th 10am & Saturday October 19th 10am – The October date is the Start of Half Term which might interest families. There is plenty to see and do for all the Family and these pre-booked days are a perk of our RHS Membership, so free entry. If you wish to go on another day, Jon Allbutt has two discount cards which admit 4 people with 50% savings, available from Jon on 577100.
An Adult Entry Day ticket is £20.35 with Gift Aid or £18.50 without and for a Family of 4 it is £45 or nearly £50 with Gift Aid, so do think about using this benefit for free, and enjoy yourselves in these wonderful famous gardens.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SOCIETY
Saturday June 17th 2023 at 10am
18 people arrived at the RHS Wisley Gardens ready for our group entry at 10am. It is an event we arrange every year as we are allowed one visit for up to 40 people with free entry with our affiliation to the RHS. If you had to pay it would have cost each person £18.90 entry, so you can see what a massive benefit this is.
Wisley is the flagship garden of the RHS and one of the most visited and loved gardens attracting over a million visitors a year. There are 75 gardeners, 25 students, 4 apprentices, and over 100 volunteers. The gardens cover an area of 240 acres.
George Fergusson Wilson, a keen grower of fruit and orchids, bought the garden in 1878. After Wilson’s death, Sir Thomas Hanbury purchased the garden along with a neighbouring farm and donated it to the RHS.
Fortunately the weather was warm for our visit; the sun was shining and I was greeted with lots of happy faces ready for the delightful experience which lay ahead. We are allowed to enter the gardens with the allocated tickets, as and when you wish and not as a group. Some people enjoyed a coffee plus a warm pecan pastry in my case!
I decided to venture off around the gardens stopping first at the Unusual and Heritage Plant Show marquee. It was supported by various Societies, including Sweet Peas, Dahlias, Iris, Roses, plus stalls of Hostas, various Geraniums, and Heritage Plants. You could buy many of the plants on display and packets of seeds at a good price.
From here I walked through to the sweet pea trial beds, as I have a special interest. It was fun comparing the growth of the autumn sown seeds to the spring own ones, and taking photos of new varieties that caught my eye. I start the seeds germinating at the end of February and then they don’t get out of control before planting out in April.
I always enjoy walking in the woodland gardens amongst the massive trees and shrubs on Battleston Hill, exploring the plants from far off climes. The different varieties of Cornus Kousa’s were the Stars today.
I sauntered down the hill to the massive 12 metre high Glass House, built to celebrate the RHS bicentenary. It covers an area equal to 10 tennis courts. The glasshouse was constructed using recycled glass from the previous glasshouse. There was a vast pelargonium collection which showed how many different varieties and colours there are. The Tropical plants were enormous and unbelievable that you could be stood in such a jungle setting. We read that robins and wagtails are able to operate the automatic opening vents and make their nests in there - clever birds. There is also a Dry Arid garden section which is full of cactus and succulents.
Coming outside again for fresh air I walked over to the new Science Research block, called Hilltop. This building opened in 2021, and is home to their Scientists who are hard at work researching the issues that affect our everyday lives. I walked through the Orchards to the Allotments for my first ever visit. This was an absolute joy.
From here I wandered over to view the Bowes-Lyon rose beds, built to commemorate Sir David Bowes-Lyon RHS President 1953-61. The scent was breath taking.
No visit is complete without a stop at the shop and garden centre. This time it was just a packet of Sweet William seeds. I am picking last year’s sowing right now.
Sue Warren
Evening Garden Visit to Titsey Place - Tuesday July 5th
A small group of keen Tatsfield gardeners arrived at Titsey Place to a warm welcome from Rory Dryburgh, the Head gardener for the last 16 months.
Rory gave us a potted history of the Estate and then we entered the walled garden which was a joy to behold. The blue delphiniums were outstanding and we were led around the newly edged paths, through the various vegetables, consisting of potatoes, runner beans, carrots, leeks, beetroots, courgettes, pumpkins to name but a few, but Rory’s passion is garlic and onion growing. These were grown through a black membrane material to suppress the weeds. Rory found the idea from looking at U Tubes from Japan! The onions and garlic looked enormous, so it obviously works. There, were cages of various varieties of cabbages and lettuce, plus the fruit cages which made our mouths water. How I would love to be let loose amongst those raspberry canes…there are also ‘Cutting Beds’ and these are grown for the house. Rory had another idea of growing dahlias through hessian netting to save tying and staking. It seemed to be working. There were of course many wigwams of sweet peas-my passion and many more annuals, sunflowers, love lies bleeding, love in the mist.
Leaving the walled garden we walked past Rory’s garden cottage, down towards the big house, to the water fountain beds. The sun shone onto the water and the garden glowed in the sunset. We couldn’t have picked a better evening. Bluebird skies, pleasantly warm and no wind.
Finally we entered the rose garden. Rory says this is going to be a work in progress and has plans to plant a couple of trees to add structure, and maybe change some of the rose colour combinations. One half of the garden the roses are struggling but no one knows why, so they are experimenting with various other perennials.
We ended out tour with glasses of wine, nibbles and my homemade lemon drizzle cake which was still warm as freshly baked. There was a small amount left over which I passed to Rory to be shared out with his hard working team of gardeners.
Thank you Rory for a wonderful few hours enjoying the stunningly beautiful gardens of Titsey Place. An absolute joy.
The Tatsfield Horticultural Annual Wisley Visit
Saturday May 21st 2022 at 10am22 people arrived at the RHS Wisley Gardens ready for our group entry at 10am. It is an event we arrange every year as we are allowed one visit for up to 40 people with free entry with our affiliation to the RHS.
Wisley is the flagship garden of the RHS and one of the most visited and loved gardens attracting over a million visitors a year. There are 75 gardeners, 25 students and 4 apprentices, and over 100 volunteers. The gardens cover an area of 240 acres.
George Fergusson Wilson, a keen grower of fruit and orchids, bought the garden in 1878. After Wilson’s death, Sir Thomas Hanbury purchased the garden along with a neighbouring farm and donated it to the RHS.
Fortunately the weather was warm for our visit; the sun was shining and I was greeted with lots of happy faces ready for the delightful experience which lay ahead. Some people had not visited since the new entrance has been created, and it really has turned out to be a quite a feat of engineering. We are allowed to enter the gardens with the allocated tickets, as and when you wish and not as a group. Some of us enjoyed coffees and then entered.
I was accompanying Syliva Hyett, and we teamed up with Sandy and Jon Allbutt. We were very fortunate, as we had our expert horticulturist on hand. The Stars of the Show on entering the peonies and we made sure we took lots of photos.
Sauntering on at our leisure we came across the massive 12 metre high Glass House, built to celebrate the RHS bicentenary. It covers an area equal to 10 tennis courts. Jon described the glasshouse construction and it was very interesting to hear how it was built and used recycled glass from the previous glasshouse. There was a vast pelargonium collection which showed how many different varieties and colours there are. The Tropical plants were enormous and unbelievable that you could be stood in such a jungle setting. We read that robins and wagtails are able to operate the automatic opening vents and make their nests in there - clever birds. There is also a Dry Arid garden section which is full of cactus and succulents.
Coming outside again for fresh air we walked over to the new Science Research block, called Hilltop. The views from the upper levels enticed us to stop for lunch-sandwiches and ice lollies. This building opened in 2021, and is home to their Scientists who are hard at work researching the issues that affect our everyday lives.
We wandered on to view the rose beds, but it is still a little early to get the full impact, but we were greeted with the Wisteria Arches in full bloom, complimented with the purple sensation alliums.
No visit is complete without a stop at the shop and garden centre. This time there were no purchases made however.
Tatsfield Horticultural Society September Plant sale
A big THANK YOU to all those who helped with the plant sale this morning. It was the first one for far too long, and the first ever in the autumn. Because of this, we had no idea of what to expect in the way of sales, and restricted our purchases to £160, which Pam, Jan and Jill kindly arranged and picked up this week from Coblands Plant Centre. Because of this, our tables looked a little emptier than usual! And thank you also to those who brought plants along to sell on behalf of THS. We sold everything, and could probably have sold more of some things. It was good also to see Fairtrade there as well. I’m sure that putting the two together was the right thing to do, and encouraged more people to come. It was lovely to begin to get back to some sort of normality, with crowds of people chatting together. Let’s hope that spring will be even better! See pictures below
Best wishes
Peter
SHOWTIME Horticultural Autumn Show 2021
The committee were very pleased to be able to put on a magnificent show and we had 181 entries. Thank you everyone who entered the Show for supporting the society – Bob David, Peter and Jan Maynard, Dawn Forrester-Groom, Alan Armitage, Barbara Hester, Tom and Bryony Martin, Alison Cole, Sara Williams, Pam Bishop, Christine Stainer and Monkey Puzzle, to name but a few.
The Village Hall looked magnificent, full of colour on a bright and sunny autumnal day. The committee acted as judges, and I thought they did a very good job. In the horticultural classes I was fascinated to see the measurements for the longest runner bean at 41cm long. The second prize missed out only by half a cm. Several measurements were made to ensure it was correct. The heaviest marrow weighed in at 9.1KG , Onion 365gms and Potato 292gms. The prize leeks grown by Pam Bishop also won the vegetable trophy for best vegetable in the show. All three entries in this class were of an exceptional quality. Our President Bob David scooped the two trophies in the Vegetable and Horticultural Sections.
In the flower exhibits we had a new exhibitor, Alison Cole. She arrived with some massive decorative pink dahlias which looked simply stunning. I assisted her and hopefully we all made her feel welcome. All the cut flower classes were well supported and I took a special look at Alan Armitage’s chrysanthemums, as I love their scent. My father in law used to grow them, so I know how difficult it is to produce such spectacular blooms.
The flower arranging was supported by two of the regular church flower arrangers, Jan and Sara, which was lovely plus another exhibitor who is a huge supporter of the society, Dawn. The autumnal exhibits were a joy to see.
In the photography sections, there were some interesting photographs, and some had a Lockdown feel about them! There were more worthy winners.
In the art sections I am always amazed by our Tatsfield Talent. Those art classes held in the Village and Church Halls, are certainly working their magic, and the paintings are of a very high standard, which reflected the many hours of hard work achieved. Well done to everyone. Hopefully some of you will be encouraged to join them as well?
In the handicraft classes, one of the pieces of knitting caught my eye. It was a Cinderella doll. It was a two way knitting design which is hard to describe, but one doll looked like Cinderella before she went to the Ball, and the other was her Fairy Godmother designed dress. Simply fabulous; so well done Catherine for your patience and expertise.
Sadly we only had one entry in the Junior sections. I had the good fortune to talk to two of the Monkey Puzzle Team, and they are so inspired by the show, that they are going to support the Society in the spring. Please look out for the photo of the Painted Flower pot with the children.
In the Domestic sections we had a new class this time ’Pot to Plate’. This was very interesting, and some of the vegetable or fruit additions were courgettes, carrot and apples. I was so fortunate to be able to take home a huge slice of carrot cake which I enjoyed with a cup of tea. Other domestic goddesses were Barbara Hester and Byrony and Tom Martin.
Yes I know we didn’t have refreshments this time, but we will hopefully at the Spring Show.
Thank you everyone who visited and exhibited at the Show and the helpful ‘backup’ team of helpers; Paul Stainer, Cyril Bishop, Neil Warren, Jan Maynard, Ian Longley, Catherine Webber’s brother and sis in law, plus Ken Munday, who has updated our computer results system, which has been a huge work in progress. Well done Ken for all of your patience.
The prize winners are as follows
Presidents Challenge Cup Horticulture Bob David
Club Challenge Cup Vegetables Bob David
Elizabeth Challenge Cup Flower Sections Sue Warren
The McHugo Trophy Flower Arrangement Sara Williams
The Slatter Trophy Crafts Catherine Webber
Peter Warner Art Christine Stainer
Jeff Bloxham Trophy Photography Bryony Martin
Tom Black Cup Domestic Catherine Webber
Tatsfield School Cup Juniors Monkey Puzzle
Harry Shrubb Memoral Cup Best Dahlias Sue Warren
Ron Draper Award Best Vegetable Pam Bishop
Clark Cup Best Flower arrangement Jan Maynard
Tony Erbes Cup Best Onion Bob David
Allotment Trophy Fruit/Vegetables Peter Maynard
Report by Sue Warren
GARDENERII PRUNIPHOBIA
(The Gardeners Fear of Pruning)
One of the very first jobs I had to do as a 16 year old apprentice working in the wonderful rose garden in Walpole Park in Ealing was to learn the art of pruning roses. My instructor was old (he must have been all of 50 years old!), grumpy, smelly and he spoke in a strange mixture of West London and foreign (I learned later that he came to London from Italy as a child).
With me holding a pair of old Rolcut secateurs, old grumpy would point to where I should make the cut, sloping and above a bud of course, I was terrified! I also had to use a pair of ancient wobbly loppers with loose wooden handles to chop off the big gnarly non-productive wood. Watching him work I was convinced that he was just in a bad temper as he worked quickly over the rose bed cutting and chopping leaving just stumps. I was told that I was pruning roses that were at least 20 years old and the only way to keep them ‘young’ and get a good display was to prune them hard. I also learned that pruning is a quick job, no time for standing back to admire your work, or mistakes!
We were taught that each shrub must be pruned according to its ‘horticultural merits’, that is, to know your plant and apply ‘gardeners rules’ so that it grows and flowers within the boundaries of its allocated space.
Pruning flowering shrubs has been a big part of my life, including introducing gardeners, both professional and amateur, to the art of pruning. Without fail every one of them has at first been disbelieving, frightened, and very hesitant! I can see the smiles on the faces of our Tatsfield Community Volunteers as they read this and remember their first attempts at pruning under my eagle eye!
If left unattended, a flowering shrub will grow, flower, and continue to grow until it reaches its maximum potential. As it grows there will be a tendency for the amount of flower to become less and also smaller. But it is not a simple as that, there is also a large group of shrubs and small trees that just get better and better as they mature e.g. Rhododendron, Camellia and many many more, confusing? yes it is! Fortunately we have access to excellent information in books and on the webby thingy! Take the RHS for instance (www.rhs.org.uk ), they have identified no less than thirteen Pruning Groups, each one carefully described with more detailed guidance for each group available in their excellent book Pruning and Training, a very good Christmas present for a keen gardener.
When pruning it is important to remember that, in general, a plant will spring into growth at the point where you make your pruning cut. If you hesitantly nibble around the top of the shrub, that is where the new growth will appear. Continuing to do this will create a mop headed, or top heavy, plant that eventually will become bare at the base and lean wearily over your path and other plants. Many gardeners then feel forced to cut off the top growth to make room, only to see more growth returning on top again! Shrubs that have developed like this need what we gardeners call ‘renewal pruning’. A pruning saw, loppers, big bags (to take your prunings up to the community composting scheme) and sturdy kneelers are needed for this task. Get down into the base of the shrub and take out whole pieces of old woody growth, then stand back and watch the response of strong young shoots from the bottom. This strategy has its risks; you will remove flowering wood and it may take a year or so for the plant to produce wood mature enough to flower; the plant may be too old and weak and may die. But it is also true that some shrubs thrive on annual very hard pruning! There is no substitute for knowing your plant, and what it needs by way of care and attention to gives its best for you.
In Tatsfield we are very lucky to have our Horticultural Society that runs two shows a year, and has a Gardening Club where all your questions can be answered – well almost all!!! Have a look at our website www.tatsfieldhorticulturalsociety.weebly.com or give me a call on 01959 577100
Jon Allbutt
TTATSFIELD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
DELIVERY OF YEAR BOOKS 2020 – HELP!!
As I am sure you are aware the Horticultural Society Year Books are delivered each year between the months of January and March to your door by our wonderful volunteers.
Our Volunteers are brilliant but, as we all know, either age or family commitments can take up any spare time we have. We do need some new Volunteers to help to deliver these Magazines.
It involves delivering the Year Book in a specified road/s. The full round only needs to be carried out once, at a time to suit yourself and when you think most people will be in. A knock on the door – hand over the book – take the money/donation and leave. A note is provided for you to put through the door should they be out asking them to let you know, by telephone/email, if they if they want a book. Very easy and not too time consuming – you can make it what you want – there is no pressure – you have approximately 2 months in which to choose when you deliver the magazines.
I am pleased to inform you that this will be the last time that delivery will take place during the Winter months. We are aware of the difficulties of delivering during this time and, after much discussion, it has been agreed by the Committee that this year the “Year Book” will cover THREE shows – Spring and Autumn 2020 together with Spring 2021.
This means that the following “Year Book” will cover Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022 and delivery will therefore take place during April/May 2021 and will carry on in this way thereafter, which means the end of delivering the Year Book in the cold, wet weather.
The more Volunteers we have the shorter the rounds.
If you would like to help please let me know either by telephone or email.
Thank you
Christine Stainer
Subscriptions Secretary
Tel: 01959 577803
(christinestainer@yahoo,com)
TATSFIELD GARDEN TOUR 2019
As I sit down to write about the garden tours, I find it hard to believe how Tatsfield Horticultural Society ensured it was held on the sunniest day for some time, but manage it they did. On Sunday, 2nd June it was the 18th Garden Tour and once again, Bob David managed to gently persuade six willing volunteers to open their gardens for all of us to enjoy. Each of the gardens, whilst very different in style, size and substance all had a very similar theme, that of tranquillity. It wasn’t an easy task to visit all six in the allotted four hours as there was so much to see at each one and I hope I manage to do them all justice.
We started off at Tor Croft Grange and Timberdale which are both situated on Tatsfield Lane and the homes of Sue Moon and Virginia and Chris Dodd. The setting of this gated development is perfect with beautiful open spaces reached by an Acer tree lined drive. There was much to see including manicured lawns, herb gardens, flower beds, an orchard, hostas impressively with zero slug damage, a paddock filled with wild flowers and an enormous pond and jetty attracting a number of wildlife and insects, including electric blue dragonflies, much to my children’s excitement. It was a perfect resting place for the afternoon with live music and even a fly past by two Spitfires.
Next, we ventured to Craigstone in Barnfield Road and our hosts, Gillian Phillips and Stephen Mittens. Stephen is not only one of our new Parish Councillors but also heavily involved in the In Bloom team and volunteers. My expectations were high and I was not disappointed. On entering the property we were met with a plethora of colour from the beautiful herbaceous border filled with wild geraniums and poppies. So much work has been put in to this garden by Gillian and Stephen over the eleven years they have lived there and their efforts have not been in vain. The garden is cleverly divided into different areas including a pollinator garden sewn with wild flowers, a vegetable patch including courgettes, celery, radish, spring onion, strawberries, tomatoes and herbs, compost heap and a beautiful purple clematis. There was also room for tadpoles. Down the lower end is a quieter patch with a Buddha creating a calming effect for this eco friendly garden.
We then travelled down to the two properties in Paynesfield Road, firstly, number 101, known as The Wood and the hosts Carys and Andrew Long. The first thing you notice on entering is the garden pond full of gold fish and Lilly pads. This seemed, very much, like a garden for entertainment, especially children, mine were in their element. At the top near the house there was a fabulous terrace with pizza oven which must be lovely for dining al fresco in the summer months. In the bottom half, reached along a wooden staircase, is a fabulous play area including swings, slides, seesaw, trampoline, hammock, play house and the most amazing concrete seating structures which must be brilliant for endless games of hide and seek. It took much persuasion to move on to the next house.
Disappointment at leaving The Wood was thankfully replaced with joy at Orchard Leigh, 104 Paynesfield Road where Alex Holroyd and Nick Walsh have built the most amazing wooden castle hand made by Nick. Perhaps, more importantly, from my point of view, there was also a bar! The work and effort that must have gone into making “Hogwarts” is enormous and keeping with the Harry Potter theme future plans include the prison, Azkaban with zip wire. I knew, when I saw my husband squeezing himself into the secret slide compartment and beaming from ear to ear that I had lost my family for the rest of the tour. They didn’t arrive home until much much later and are now begging me for a replica.
And so, I ventured alone to the last but by no means least of the gardens, that of Alan and Liz Armitage at The Croft on Westmore Green. What first struck me about this lovely garden was how amazing to be in the village centre and yet be so quiet and serene. I was interested to see and hear about the transformation they have carried out over 20 years and what a success they have made of it. For me, I particularly liked all the water features including the stream with bridge over to reach the newly relined and rainwater filled pond. Alan told me he counted over 157 fish when refilling it. Quite remarkable. There were also blue tits and coal tits nesting in this beautiful garden and I can’t say I blame them.
There must have been well over 100 visitors to all the gardens and I understand nearly £1,000 was raised for various charities and village organisations. On behalf of Tatsfield residents and those from further afield I would like to thank, not only the hosts who went to so much trouble to have their gardens ready and welcoming, but also the Horticultural Society for putting on yet another superb family afternoon out.
My eldest, Edward, suggested perhaps we could open our garden next year, much to the look of horror on my husband’s face!
Nichola Stokoe
So thank you to everyone Bob David for organising the tour, for the people who opened their gardens for these good causes and for the villagers who turned out in their numbers to support this event.
If you are interested in showing your garden on the Tour next year please contact Bob David 577357
Barry Bull Remembered
On Saturday 8th August 2020 a Thank You celebration was held up at the compost site in honour of Barry Bull who was such a wonderful supporter of the site from it's instigation. A newly built part of the site has been named " Barry's corner" and it was from here that Martin Allen and Jon Allbutt from the compost site and Tatsfield in Bloom respectively, addressed Mary Bull , Barry's wife and all who had assembled for the celebration.
They thanked both Barry and Mary for their participation in village life for the past 51 years and stressed that Barry had been one of the early pace setters for the development of the compost site, and also how important Barry and Mary have been to the Compost and TIB Group with their help advice and assistance over the years. Jon Allbutt presented Mary with a card and a a flower posy from TIB.
Mary movingly responded " I cannot thank you all enough as everybody has been fantastic and I think that this is the most fantastic village you could live in. I have had so many telephone calls saying " if you want anything, ring me".. Neighbours Sue and Rob Saunders have been fantastic and that's all I can say".
The tributes continued with Martin Allen , on behalf of the composters saying, " Barry was one of the early composting pioneers at the original Borough Road site in the middle of the village and he had studiously kept a record on everything that happened including when the site was moved to it's present position in Approach Road. Barry was titled by his own wife as the CRAP man - Community Recycling Administration Person. So as long as the compost site is here we will always remember him. There is a special plant in a large pot grown and planted out by Phil Brett that is now placed in Barry's corner and if you happen to walk past the area and see it wilting please do water it. " There is also a nice bird feeder on a stand because both Mary and Barry were keen on feeding birds in their own garden.
Phil then took over the ceremony and said " It is a real pleasure to do this for Barry, he was a lovely bloke" I think it is fair to say that his enthusiasm and optimistic nature kept the composting site going through all of the difficult times" . Phil then asked for an imaginary drum roll and "here we go" and with that removed a cover and exposed the carved words in the white wood which read " In memory of Barry Bull. It was beautifully carved by Phil himself.
Revd Vince Short said " It is a privilege to be asked to remember Barry this way. I have been in Tatsfield for just over three and a half years and by the time I came to the composting group Barry was in charge of the teas and coffees. Recalling Barry's career as a whole Vince said that some people would remember he did many things as he started his working life, as a Lyons Tea Boy and so we could say that he went from a Lyons Tea Boy to Tatsfield's composting Tea Boy."
Barry is and will be sadly missed by everyone, but all agreed that the event was a lovely way for everyone to celebrate his life at this time under the difficult circumstances of the Covid crisis.
Thank you to everyone that attended and gave him an excellent send off.
Words and photo by courtesy of David Bishop.