As I write, the second wave of Covid-19 infection rolls on; and
inevitably our programme continues to suffer massive disruption. By
way of an update, lectures for October, November and December had
to be cancelled; but we are putting in hand plans for the January,
February and March lectures to be delivered online. We have decided
that it is sensible to defer our first day trip by coach from April
to June. Given the current state of uncertainty, we have also
deferred publication of the 2021 Events Guide for as long as
possible but please check the website or with organisers for any
updates. Regrettably, because our annual journal, The Cornish
Garden, relies so much on contributions relating to the previous
year’s events, which were largely cancelled in 2020, it has been
decided to pause its publication until 2022.
We are determined that the 2021 Spring Flower Show will go ahead
and preparations are well underway. The safety of exhibitors,
traders, visitors and volunteers is paramount. Dickie Trant and his
team are confident that we will be able to meet the necessary
requirements as to social distancing given the nature of the Royal
Cornwall Showground, where there is ample space both within the
Exhibition Halls and outside. The Show could be just the uplift
that we all need after the gloom of the pestilence. It is very
encouraging that the RHS has recently announced that its Malvern
Spring Festival will take place in early May next year.
I am glad to say that we have recruited a new team to take over
the organisation of our lectures from Elizabeth Wilton and Judith
Hancock who are relinquishing the role at the end of the year. I
know that you will join me in expressing our immense gratitude to
Judith and Elizabeth for the simply magnificent contribution they
have made for many years in arranging our lecture programme. We
have been extremely fortunate to enjoy a succession of speakers of
the highest quality, whose lectures have been entertaining,
stimulating and highly informative. Their quality has been
demonstrated by the large number of members and friends who
regularly attend. Managing the programme is a demanding task
involving the identification and booking of speakers well in
advance, making the arrangements for the events and then ensuring
that all runs smoothly. To them both, our heartfelt thanks.
I am pleased to welcome Maureen Bennett and Liz Michie to the
role and am confident that they will live up to the high standard
set by Elizabeth and Judith.
I am sorry that you have not been able to enjoy the full
benefits of membership in 2020 but very much hope that we can count
on your continuing support in 2021 as we emerge from the pandemic
and look forward to brighter times ahead.
Sir Robert OwenChairman
Cornwall Garden Society NewsletterNumber 85 December 2020
Affiliated to The Royal Horticultural Society • Patron: HRH The
Prince of Wales • Charity No: 1094859 • Company No: 4504080
To make provisional bookings for day trips by coach and garden
holidays, please contact Mary
Hutt, Bookings Secretary on 01872 863735 or via
[email protected]
To find out more about the CGS, please contact Jilly Easterby,
Membership Secretary
on 07743164434 or [email protected]
You can also like us on facebook.com/CornwallGardenSociety,
follow @
CwllGardenSoc on Twitter and Instagram, or visit
cornwallgardensociety.org.uk
The CGS newsletter is produced by Curlew PR Limited and
Nationwide Print. Copyright applies. Photographs are reproduced by
kind permission of Charles Francis (Sir Robert Owen, Peter Gilmore
and Judith Hancock); Clare Wells-Shaddad, Helen Wells-Bisarre and
Brendan Wells (Pat Wells and Margaret Wells); Anca Bennett (Maureen
Bennett and Liz Michie); Tamsin Westhorpe, Saul Walker and Juliet
Sargeant.
Next Issue - If you would like to contribute to the March 2021
issue, please contact Jilly Easterby by 1st February on
[email protected] or 07743164434.
Chairman’s Corner
Welcome to our new Lecture Organisers
To coin Covid-19-related parlance, we have ‘pivoted’ and are
delighted to announce that we will be offering these lectures via
Zoom. We will let you know how to join these online broadcasts
nearer the time.
Tuesday 12th January at 7.30pmLife as a Garden Writer by Tamsin
Westhorpe
With over 25 years’ experience in the horticultural industry,
Tamsin has plenty of practical advice to share. Her career includes
editing The English Garden magazine for six years; writing scripts
for gardening TV shows; lecturing at Kingston Maurward College in
Dorset; tending Stockton Bury Gardens in Herefordshire; judging at
the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and co-chairing The GardenMedia
Guild.
Tuesday 9th February at 7.30pmStonelands House: A Year in the
Life of this Wonderful Secret Garden by Saul Walker
Saul Walker fell in love with gardening as a result of his
grandparents’ passion for visiting historic houses and gardens.
After a brief spell as an archaeologist, he trained as a gardener
for theNational Trust at Antony House in Cornwall. After completing
the Kew Diploma in Botanical Horticulture, he travelled to
Australia, Southern Spain and the French Riviera to study and work
in internationally-renowned gardens. Following that, he became Show
Manager for RHS Chelsea.Unable to resist the call back to his
native Devon, Saul was appointed Head Gardener of Stonelands House.
His special interest is in woodland gardens.
Tuesday 9th March at 7.30pmModern Slavery Garden by Juliet
Sargeant
Juliet’s previous career in medicine informs her unique approach
to designing gardens and communicating the importance of landscape
to our health and wellbeing. She believes that access to good
quality green space is a priority for healthy living and happy
communities, especially in cities. In 2016, Juliet designed the
Modern Slavery Garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It was
Chelsea’s first social campaign garden and was awarded a Gold Medal
and the People’s Choice Prize. Juliet has been celebrated as a role
model in the BAME community at the GG2 Leadership Awards and has
also presented on BBC Gardeners’ World.
Zoom in to Spring Lectures
I am looking forward to following in the footsteps of Elizabeth
Wilton and Judith Hancock as one of your new Lecture
Organisers.
Retirement from teaching in Cornwall, and leading a team of
examiners in Oxford enabled me to spend more time in my garden. I
also developed skills as a tour guide, visiting private and
established gardens in the UK,and meeting their owners and Head
Gardeners with groups. As a life-long member of the Royal
Horticultural Society and the National Trust, I have acted as a
volunteer at Trelissick, which involved leading group tours around
the garden. I am familiar with many gardens in our beautiful county
and have organised visits and short garden holidays as a committee
member for both Mylor Garden Club and the Arts Society. Through
these experiences, I have established links with many
horticulturists and distinguished speakers who are keen to share
their knowledge and enthusiasm. I look forward to managing the
lectures already planned by Judith and Elizabeth from January 2021
(Government restrictions permitting), and to curating and
delivering the CGS lecture programme for 2022 and beyond, ably
assisted by my friend, Liz Michie, who is a new member of the
Society. If you would like us to explore any particular speakers,
please contact me by ‘phone or email.
Maureen Bennett, Lecture Organiser01326 377449|07779
155196|[email protected]
Maureen Bennett
Liz Michie
2021 Spring Flower Show Update
Peter GilmoreMembers will be saddened to hear of the death of
Peter Gilmore, a Trustee of the CGS, on Sunday 30th August after a
long illness.
Peter made a simply massive contribution to the CGS over many
years in a variety of roles, latterly as Director of the Spring
Flower Show.
He will be sorely missed, but remembered with great affection
and respect.
We send our sincere condolences to Peter’s wife, Sandy, his
family and friends.
Sir Robert OwenChairman
Whilst we naturally take Covid-19 and the risk and complexities
that the Coronavirus has brought to all large-scale events very
seriously, we have taken the decision to run our Show over three
days – on Friday 26th, Saturday 27thand Sunday 28th March – to
enhance social distancing, manage show-goer flow-through and
regulate daily attendance numbers. We will ensure that the Show is
planned and implemented in compliance with UK Government policy and
guidance at the time of the Show’s delivery, and in line with
localised advice from Cornwall Council who issue our event licence.
For further information about the specific measures we will be
taking to ensure the safety of exhibitors, traders, volunteers and
visitors, please visit the Covid-19 area of
cornwallgardensociety.org.uk/spring-flower-show nearer the time.
The Schedule of Competitive Classes has been refreshed for 2021 by
Show Chairman, Andrew Leslie to include a separate section for
Novice Classes. The Schedule will be available as a digital
download – or in hard copy, upon request – later this month so that
you can begin to plan your entries and look forward to the joys of
spring. Inevitably, our 2021 Show will be different – with one-way
systems, dispersed catering across the site and hand-sanitising
stations to name but three of our Covid-secure initiatives – but
one thing is certain. It will be the best possible Show that we can
deliver, packed with gardening inspiration, and provide us all with
a much-needed boost when the time comes. Advance tickets make the
perfect Christmas present so why not purchase some for friends and
family from the Spring Flower Show page of our website?
Dickie TrantShow
[email protected]|07530 920585
Peter Gilmore
Membership Subscription RenewalsKindly note that annual
subscriptions are due on Friday 1st January. We will be contacting
members who renew by cheque or BACS by email, or post if you do not
have accessto a computer. Members who renew by Direct Debit need
not do anything. We will simply contact you by email or post to let
you know when your subscriptions will be taken from your accounts.
For those who renew by Standing Order, please check that you are
paying the correct amount and amend your instruction if you are
not. (The rates are £22.50 – Individual or Affiliated Society; £30
– Family; £27.50 – Trade and £15 – Student). Whilst Covid-19 has
put paid to your enjoyment of the delightful array of activities
that were planned for 2020, we hope that we can count on your
continuing support.
Jilly EasterbyMembership
[email protected]|07743 164434
Lecture Organisers Step Down
The reality of no longer choosing speakers and compiling an
interesting and rounded programme is only just hitting home as we
let people know that we are stepping down after eight wonderful
years.
When we began, lectures were staged at venues across the County
but withCornwall’s sprawling geography, nothing was right for
everyone and from Bude to Penzance, numbers fluctuated. It was not
until we fixed upon central venues and booked them consistently
that members were able to plan and with the help of excellent
publicity from Jilly, numbers increased hugely. We are proud to
havesourced a varied cross section of speakers to share their
knowledge with us all.
As well as providing us with much enjoyment, the job is not
without its stresses such as when one speaker failed to turn up, a
venue double booked, and another speaker left her slides and
equipment locked in her car at a train station in the Midlands. She
gave an enthusiastic non-stop lecture but, unfortunately, no one
could understand a word she said, and with no visuals to entertain
us, it was a long afternoon!
We shall miss all the discussion, debate and planning, and would
like to thank everyone who has enjoyed the lectures with us.
We wish our successors – Maureen and Liz – the best of luck and
hope they enjoy the role as much as we have.
Elizabeth Wilton and Judith Hancock
The Pat and Margaret Wells BursaryThe Pat and Margaret Wells
Bursary has been established by Clare, Helen and Brendan Wells (the
donors) in memory of their late mothers to support those studying
or intending to study horticulture at educational establishments
inCornwall on a full- or part-time basis, or in apprenticeships or
other horticultural-related employment in the Duchy. The Bursary
will be administered by the CGS in conjunction with the donors. Pat
and Margaret Wells were, in turn, the wives of Paddy Wells, father
of the donors. They shared a driving passion for gardening. Pat
Wells was the gifted amateur with the trained painter’s eye for all
that blooms. Margaret, who lived and gardened in Cornwall for many
years, was a trained horticulturalist, who scooped prize afterprize
for her gardens often sculpted from barren earth and coaxed to
spectacular maturity. She was a member of the CGS from 1978 until
her death in 2018 and wasthe winner of the Knibbs Memorial Cup at
our Spring Flower Show in 1981 and 1982. The Bursary has been
established to support those who face disadvantage in the pursuit
of a career in horticulture for whatever reason – disability,
whether physical or mental, or financial difficulties – and who
seek financial assistance in relation to course fees, travel
expenses or other study- or work-related expenditure. Bursaries may
be awarded to a total of £5,000 in a calendar year, provided that,
save in exceptional circumstances, no grant of more than £2,000
will be made to any individual applicant. Details of the scheme
will be circulated to Eden Learning Project, to Duchy College
Rosewarne, and through the Cornwall Professional Gardeners’ Group,
with whom we are closely associated. Applications for the year
commencing January 2021 should be made by 31st December 2020. If
you know of anyone who might qualify, please do not hesitate to let
me know via our Membership Secretary
([email protected]|07743 164434).
Sir Robert OwenChairman
Pat Wells
Margaret Wells
Elizabeth Wilton
Judith Hancock
