Bexrose Bulletin
DECEMBER 2007
Published by the Bexleyheath & District Rose Society.
Patron:- Dr. David G. Hessayon MBE.
President:- Mr. B. Rainsbury
Vice President:- Mr. J. Elliott
Chairman:- Mr. A. Nunn
Vice Chairman:- Mr. M. Andrews
Hon. Secretary:- Mrs. J. Newton
Hon Treasurer:- Mrs. Z.Neale
Show Secretary:- Mr. A. Neale
Membership Secretary:- Mrs. M. Cornell
Miss V. Rochester
Other Committee members:- Mr. R. Jones, Mr. R. Pulling, Mrs. D. Carr, Mrs. D. Lemon, Mrs. J. Dyer, Mrs. E. Cleall.
Web Site:- www.bexrose.org.uk
Email:- postmaster@bexrose.org.uk
Next Meeting Tuesday 22nd January 2008
We meet once again at St. John Fisher Hall, Thanet Rd, Bexley where the hall will be open from 7-15pm for setting up. The meeting will start at 8pm until 10pm. This month we hold our Cheese & Wine Party and Quiz night so do come along and get to know other members and test your general knowledge.
Obituary
We were sorry to hear from Lucy Whelpdale that her husband David had passed away after a long illness. We send our condolences to her and her family.
The Rose Growers Calendar by kind permission of Don Charlton.
December
1. In between the Christmas shopping and festivities complete the planning of new rose bushes during good weather.
2. Put all those garden tools you've always wanted on your Christmas wish list, and if you don't get them for Christmas consider buying them yourself in the January Sales.
Cheese & Wine Evening
We hope that you will all come along and enjoy our informal get together and test your general knowledge on some of Gordon's famous quizzes. Would members please note that we will not be serving tea and coffee during the evening to give the ladies in the kitchen a chance to join in as well. So don't forget to bring your own wine or soft drinks and glasses.
Annual Subscriptions
For several months now the Committee have been discussing the Society's finances. Although we have a reasonably healthy sum in the bank, this has only been achieved by the holidays making a profit. It was felt that it was not fair on those members who participate in the holidays and it would only need one or two to be under subscribed for a large loss to be made which would make a serious dent in the funds. The Summer Show makes a loss and lecturers cost more and more each year. The money earned from the raffle and refreshments at each meeting no longer cover the cost of the hall and the cost of printing and postage for the monthly Bulletin is born by the Society. Some members kindly give their petrol and time to deliver as many Bulletins as possible by hand and some members do send a small donation to go towards postage for which we are most grateful.
It was felt that we should take a far more realistic approach to our financial structure and after looking at several other local Clubs or groups it was felt that we should raise the annual subscription initially from 50p to £1. This still keeps us way at the top of the list for the cheapest membership, our closest rival being £6 and the dearest being £15. Some groups even charge a small fee on the night in addition to the annual fee. We have also decided to stop the practice of taking 4 years subscription at a time. From January 2008 we will only accept 1 years fee in line with other clubs.
We as a Society can not carry on as if we were still in the 1960s when the Society was founded. The annual fee then was 5 shilling or 25p in todays money, a large sum for the time, but gladly paid by the founding members. That fee stayed the same for nearly 40 years, an incredible achievement but unsustainable in todays climate. The Committee are ever mindful that many of our members are on fixed incomes so we always try to keep expenses to a minimum. We will in future try to make whatever venture we undertake, pay it's way, so that it is fair to everyone.
I hope members will understand that your Committee are trying to move the Society forward, to
make it more interesting and enjoyable to everyone whether they attend the meetings or not. Thankyou for your continuing support, now and hopefully in the future.
From your Secretary.
Dates for your diary 2008
January 15th & 16th RHS London Show Horticultural Halls, Westminster.
February 12th & 13th RHS London Show " " "
March 11th & 12th RHS London Show " " "
March 15th & 16th RHS London Orchid Show " " "
April 15th & 16th RHS London Show " " "
April 18th - 20th Spring Flower Show Cardiff Bute Park, Cardiff
May 8th - 11th Malvern Spring Garden Show, Show ground, Malvern.
May 20th - 24th RHS Chelsea Flower Show Royal Hospital Chelsea
June 7th Bexleyheath & District Rose Society Summer Show BB Hall Bexleyheath
June 11th - 15th BBC Gardeners World Live, NEC Birmingham
July 8th - 13th Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Hampton Court.
July 23rd - 27th RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire.
September 11th - 13th RHS at the Inner Temple, Inner Temple London
September 27th & 28th Malvern Autumn Show The Showground Malvern.
October 7th & 8th RHS Great Autumn Show Horticultural Halls Westminster
November 14th & 15th London Show " " "
Day trip to the Chocolate Lady.
As we started off we thought we were in for a torrid day as the rain was lashing down but as we met our guide Jan at Birchanger services it started to clear up and by the time we had had our coffee in Thaxted we were able to wander round the town in sunshine with a brilliant blue sky. Jan gave a short talk inside the church about it's history and some of us wandered down to see the very ancient town hall and also Gustav Holst's house. Back on the coach we started to drive around the little north Essex villages and Jan pointed out the difference between Norfolk reed thatch and straw thatch, the reed thatch being much thinner looking on the roof and it lasts much longer too but of course is much more expensive. Much of the thatching reed is grown in the North of England and also on the continent. We reached
Saffron Walden for lunch and Jan gave us a short guided walk around the town pointing out the Pargeting on the facia's of many buildings. We also visited the church and she pointed out the plaque to Lord Butler who was MP for the town for many years and is buried in the churchyard. This church has a curiosity, instead of the usual organ pipes it has what looks like a fanfare of trumpets. Apparently this is fairly common in Germany but a rarity in this country. Saffron Waldon is a small town with several green spaces which were common land, one of which still has a turf maze at one end. This maze is thought to be very ancient and it is known that it was re-cut in the 1700s. The town first made it's wealth from growing crocuses for the Saffron which was used in dying and cooking. It must have been a wondrous sight to see field upon field of the purple flowers. Later as with many towns in this area, wealth came from wool, much of which was bought by the Flemish weavers to make into clothes and tapestries.
We soon reached our final destination, Steeple Bumpstead, which is nearly into Cambridgeshire. Julia gave us a warm welcome to her farm where she has set up a cottage industry of chocolate making. She showed us how to make our own chocolates by buying any bar of milk or plain chocolate from a supermarket, ( don't use any that has nuts, fruit or mints in, just pure eating chocolate ) She added unsalted butter to soften the chocolate and made them into round balls, some she covered with coconut. They were very tasty. Much easier were the ones that were moulded, the melted chocolate was just poured into trays of little shapes such as cats, owls or teddy bears and left to harden in the fridge. She gave us lots of information about the strength of the cocoa butter that makes up the chocolate and she showed us the huge bars that she buys to make her chocolates. She had a wonderful sense of humour and kept us laughing for most of our visit. She provided us with a very welcome cup of tea and a jam and cream scone set out on individual little trays. We soon fell upon the chocolates that were for sale and had great difficulty getting everyone back on the coach. By now it was dark and we made our way back to the services to drop Jan off. It was a very interesting day made more so by Jan's commentary and of course finished off by the scrumptious chocolate!
You can order chocolates from the Chocolate Lady on 01440 730346 or find her on the web at
www.thechocolatelady.co.uk.
Second Auditor
Pat Portch has very kindly offered to help Ron Pulling in this task. Our grateful thanks to her.
Chocolate Party
After her last successful party Jill Palmer is holding another on Wednesday 6th February from 10 am to 8pm at 91 Mayplace Road West Bexleyheath. There will be gift ideas for Valentines day, Mothers Day and Easter which is early, on 23rd March 2008. Come along and sample some of the wonderful chocolates and then treat your friends and family.
Weekend trip to Northampton
Our Christmas trip this year took on a slightly different look as we were going to Wicksteed Park in kettering to see a Christmas show. As our journey was much shorter than usual we left at a more reasonable hour with Glen once again as our driver plus a mended wing mirror. After a breakfast stop we made the National Trust house Canons Ashby in Daventry just on opening time. We made our way to the church first which was in the grounds and had been part of the medieval priory. The house dated back to 1550 and had been little altered in all that time being owned continually by the Dryden family. The feature of the house was the Jacobean plaster work and the Elizabethan wall hangings. Only the downstairs rooms were open but they were decked out for Christmas as in Elizabethan times when everything would have been made by the servants from greenery picked on the estate. There were kissing lanterns hung in doorways and swags decorating the banisters, greenery and candles on the mantleshelves. The National Trust guides were all dressed in costume of the period. In the kitchen we were greeted with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie for £1 each, the mulled wine was very warming. After lunch it had begun to rain so we visited the very small shop. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so it was rather crushed in there. We then went on to have a look round the walled garden and the outside of the house with its clock tower on the roof. As the weather wasn't so good we soon made our way to our hotel and had time for a good rest before we went down to dinner. The drinks were much more reasonably priced here so we imbibed before our meal.
We had a very leisurely breakfast the next morning and left the hotel at about 10-15am for Kettering. Our tables were reserved in the dining hall which made life a lot easier as there were a lot of people there. A lunch of Cold turkey salad was served and then a hot sweet of Apple crumble with tea or coffee. We had time to have a wander round the grounds or have a ride on the carousel or visit the craft market or gift shop before the show began. Nicholas Martin who played the organ kept us entertained with a selection of very lively music and we had a free game of bingo thrown in where both prices went to members on our table. The show was very lively and the dancers and singers were good but the comedian and compare was a bit dull. There were lots of Christmas songs and carols and little sketches. We were served a tea of sandwiches, cakes and mince pies with tea or coffee in the interval and had time to wander round the gift shop again. The second half of the show was better than the first and we all went home at about 5pm quite content that we had had a good day. That evening Glen organised a bowling match in the lanes in the hotel basement which was great fun as most of us had not been bowling for about 20 or 30 years.Monday morning saw us off to St. Albans where we were able to wander round the abbey and enjoy the wonderful Norman architecture and wall paintings. We had a nice lunch in the refectory and then had a wander round the town. We left for home fairly early in the afternoon as several of our ladies were not feeling well. We had our usual Christmas fair of mince pies and a glass of sherry on the way home and wished ourselves and everyone else including the driver a happy Christmas. The traffic was good and we made it back to Bexleyheath in daylight. Well that is another year of trips over which we hope everyone has enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who helped on this last trip as Vanessa was not well enough to come.
Tutankhamun Lunch Cruise 14th May 2008 £35-50p for Seniors.
I have managed to secure a block of tickets for the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 on 14th May 2008. The Day starts at Waterloo Pier beneath the London Eye at 11am where we will board a Thames cruiser and will be joined by a blue badge guide who will give us a commentary as we sail down the river.
A 2 course hot lunch with tea and coffee will be served on our journey and our guide will give us an introduction to the exhibition before we step ashore at Greenwich. Our visit will start at 1-30pm and after some free time for refreshments you may head for home at 4pm. I have decided that as most members now have their freedom passes, we should make our own way to the Eye and home from Greenwich after the visit to keep the cost down. If you are interested please ring Janet to book your place. I would prefer the whole amount on booking but if you are not able to manage this after the expenses of Christmas a deposit of £11 will be acceptable as this is the price of the exhibition ticket which I have had to pay for in advance. I will need your payment by 10th January.
Waterloo pier is easy to get to. Take the train to Waterloo East station and then walk through to the main line station. Turn right at the bottom of the escalator and walk right to the far side of the concourse. Go through the entry and along the walk way towards the old Shell building and take the stairs on your left. These take you down to street level and the eye is over to your right.
Meeting dates for 2008
January 22nd Cheese & Wine & Quiz Night.
February26th AGM and slides of 2007 holidays.
March 25th Spring Show
April 22nd Seashore and Coastline of Kent Mr. F. Booth
May 27th Demonstration by Mick Andrews. Preparing your Roses for the Summer Show.
June 24th Mrs. J. Talboys Perennial plants for continuous colour.
July 29th No speaker booked yet.
August 26th No speaker booked yet.
September 23rd Mr. J. Goddard Growing and showing Daffodils and narcissi
October 21st Jackie A'Violet The many varieties of Asters.
November 25th No speaker booked yet.
Will members please note that the July and October meeting dates are not the 4th Tuesday. We have had to change them as the hall has been booked by the Blood doners organisation.
Festive thoughts by Yvonne Beadle
1. What do they do in Heaven 2. Do they drink the wine
Now that Christmas is here. With their fish on toast.
Do they pull a cracker Or do they still
And give a big cheer. Have a turkey roast.
3. Will there be a party 4. If they are really lazy
With a big crowd Or cooking they don't know
Or do they dine all alone Do they send for takeaway,
On their own little cloud. From the place down below.
5. Here on earth we wonder
What do they do at this time.
Then drink a toast to them
For Auld Lang Syne.
The Committee wish all our members a happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.