FINDON VILLAGE GARDENS ASSOCIATION
The Findon Village Gardens Association welcomes new members. We meet at 7:30pm on the last Friday in each month (except December) in the Village Hall. We normally have a guest speaker, with subjects ranging from horticulture to the history of canals; from trug making to natural history.
We have an annual light-hearted quiz night, a Christmas Social evening and of course our two Flower shows, enabling members to grow and show prize blooms and vegetables, plus of course the cookery, photography and handicraft sections. During the year, visits to gardens and other places of interest are arranged, which make for a most enjoyable day or half day out. There is truly something for everyone.
Annual membership is £5 with a £1 entry to the monthly meeting to include tea and biscuits. For any membership details please contact David Gear on the number below
For general enquiries, you can contact us via email at info.findongardens@gmail.com or by phone on 07423 265255
Committee:
Chairman – Chris Young
Hon. Secretary/Membership Secretary – David Gear
Hon. Treasurer – Sue Line
Show Secretary – Sally Evans
Maureen Bowen
Joan Francis
Graham Hobson
Richie Line
Peta-Jane Onslow
Mike Solomons
Dates for 2020:
31st January – AGM and Guest Speaker 7pm.
Guest speaker: Helena Lewis; Bee-keeping (bringing honey to sell)
28th February – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: John Sainsbury & John Pull – Cissbury Flint Mines
27th March – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Lesley Baker – Tree Surgeon
11th April – Spring Flower Show 2pm
Click here for the Schedule
24th April – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Anna Burtenshaw – Camelia Botnar Trust & Horticulture (bringing plants to sell)
29th May – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Pam Goodall – Around the World on a Bike
26th June – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Joanne Carnell – The Role of Gardens for Conservation
31st July – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: John Stepney – Broadwater Cemetery
8th August – Summer Flower Show 2pm
Click here for the Schedule
28th August – 7:30pm Quiz Night and Refreshments - bring a bottle
Chris Young and Graham Hobson
25th September – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Joshua Tutt – Moon Gardening
30th October – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest Speaker: Emma O’Connor – The History of Sussex Archaeology and Their Properties
27th November – 7:30pm monthly meeting
Guest speaker: Martin Duncan – Arundel Castle Gardens
4th December – 7:30pm Christmas Social
2021:
29th January - AGM
NOTICES
HEVER CASTLE CANCELLATION
Regrettably the coronavirus strikes again. Mike had been planning an outing to Hever Castle in late June. However it was felt too risky to pay nearly £600 for the coach only to find we couldn’t go in due to the Castle being closed to visitors. HOWEVER the good news is we’re not cancelling the idea merely putting it on ‘hold’. Like so many other things in my life which seem to be ‘on hold’ at the moment!
Keep gardening, best wishes
Chris
CANCELLATIONS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS
It is with great regret that the Committee have decided to cancel the Spring Flower show as well as our two scheduled monthly meetings on March 27th and April 24th due to the current uncertainty of the coronavirus. At this point it is not practical to say when ‘normal service’ will be resumed and we will of course keep you informed as the epidemic progresses. We do appreciate that so many of us fall into what has been defined as the ‘vulnerable age group’ and it would be wrong not to recognise this reality. However keep enjoying the sun while we can and welcome Spring with open arms!
We are still being optimistic and Mike is hoping to arrange HEVER CASTLE for late June, Great Comp for July or August - and Wisley for September. As part of this program we want to encourage members to purchase the May issue of “Gardeners World” which goes on sale in the second half of April. This Gardeners World has a “2 for 1” entry offer enabling readers to visit any one of several hundred gardens on the basis of 2 people entering for the price of one, this reduced rate is often considerably cheaper than the normal ‘group rate’ available. We are therefore ordering a number of copies to ensure a supply, if you would like us to reserve a copy for you please let me know by the end of the month, the price of Gardeners World is I believe £5.50. The half-price ticket is ‘multi-use’ and will be valid until April 2021. If our planned trips were abandoned members could still use their ticket for local garden outings (Arundel Castle, Denman’s, Parham, St Mary’s Bramber, West Dean, Woolbeeding, along with many others).
Further to the sad news of the death of Mary Taylor I understand from her two daughters that the funeral will be held on 27th March at 11.40 at the Crematorium, Kingswood Chapel. With the Covid-19 situation, should the Crematorium close, this might change but we will endeavour let you know if it does.
I am hoping to send out an email with better news next month but as it stands it will be May at the earliest before we can resume our planned programme.
Kind regards, best wishes and stay well
Chris
FEBRUARY MEETING
This Friday is the regular monthly meeting of the Findon Village Gardens Association, usual venue at the usual time (Village Hall for 7.30 pm). Our speaker this month is James Sainsbury who is a local Historian and Archaeologist at Worthing Museum and Director of Arun Valley Archaeology Project. His talk will cover the West Sussex flint mines such as Cissbury and the work of John Pull, an amateur archaeologist who excavated and recorded his findings between 1922 and 1956.
We will also be taking membership renewals this meeting, the annual Membership fee remains unchanged at £5 per annum and the attendance charge is still £1 for members, £2 for guests. If you wish to receive the occasional email advising of upcoming events and don’t already get these please let us have your email address at the time of renewal.
We haven’t found any replacement for our tea ladies and therefore we appeal for members to join us in working a ‘tea rota’ whereby we’d call upon your support every two, three or four months. If you are willing please let Sue Line know and we will add you to the list. Please note that the term ‘tea lady’ is a non-gender description! Importantly we need volunteers at the Spring show where help ‘behind’ the counter would be welcome, if members would just give an hour or so of their time it would greatly appreciated.
PS Keep your fingers crossed that the rain stops soon!! Look forward to seeing you on Friday.
Chris
