Horticultural Society Newsletter and update September 2023
As I write this month’s newsletter we are in the middle of a heat wave and enjoying a mini summer. It was such a relief that the weather was good for this year’s Alresford Show which I’m told by the organisers was a big success. In the Horticultural tent we had a constant stream of visitors and many commented on the range and quality of the exhibits. Look out for some photos on our web site. This year we had many more entries in the craft and children’s classes and the standard was really high. Ann Winfield tells me that we had 590 entries from 152 people and 68 entries in the children’s classes which must be the best ever. None of this would have been possible were it not for the support we had from our members, families and friends who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the Show. Ann is an amazing Show Manager and ensured that everything went according to plan – well nearly everything. We were a bit short of Judges at the beginning of the day when some couldn’t find the right car park, but they all arrived in time to do their bit and as always the judge’s decision was final, despite some thoughts to the contrary. Throughout the day there was a real buzz in the tent and our visitors clearly enjoyed the very wide range of exhibits. At the end of the afternoon, they applauded the winners who received their trophies from the President’s wife, Mrs Maggie Rees. I am told that the Horticulture tent is one of the highlights of the Show so we must try to ensure that we keep it going.
Once again, the tombola and lucky dip were very profitable and thanks to your many generous contributions, we made approximately £600 for our funds which should help to cover our Show expenses.
On a sad note, we have received a letter from Hedley and Irene Parker letting us know that they feel unable to continue membership owing to ‘age and poor health’ and will not be attending future meetings. Hedley once served on the committee as treasurer and both contributed greatly to the success of the Society. We will miss them and send them our good wishes.
Finally, Val Ramshaw is still taking names for our trip to Parham on Wednesday 4th October. The cost of the outing is £35 including entry to the house and garden and the coach leaves the Station carpark at 10.00am. This is a slightly later departure than normal taking into account Parham’s opening time. The trip will only go ahead if we have enough takers to cover our costs so please do try to join us.
Now back to earth and thinking of our programme for the rest of this year. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 11 September when we have a return visit from Mark Porter who is going to talk about Planning a Winter Garden. We are very honoured to have Mark with us again especially as he has recently been promoted to the position of RHS Vice President.
Janet Pooley
Chairman