Sad News...

 

Many of you will already know that our longstanding club member Nigel Holmes died suddenly on 20th March. His funeral was at Holy Trinity & St. Constantine Church, Wetheral, on Thursday, 28th March.

We will miss Nigel. Susan and the family will be in our thoughts.

David Austin Rose Catalogue for 2019...

This lovely booket is FREE & crammed full of great advice, so a copy is well worth having.

Ever felt confused about Clematis Care?...

Taylors Clematis can resolve any dilemmas with their 'Catalogue & Growing Guide'.

www.taylorsclematis.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be warned though - your pocket money for the month may disappear! I certainly couldn't resist.

from Trish Rodgers

 

It's official...

Down-a-Gate is open for business, three years after Storm Desmond. Our club has donated various cash sums, a 'Henry' vaccuum cleaner & manpower for cleaning (Lesley N & Jude J in partiular)!

Sunday, 10th March 2019

Chairman's Report for Post AGM 2019...

The key agenda item for this 2019 March AGM was the update for the club’s constitution. The ratified document is now available for your reference from secretary Cate Bowman.

Viaduct Gardening Club continues to thrive with a current membership of one hundred and twenty and a waiting list of eight. We look forward to another diverse and interesting year with speakers, day trips and the club holiday all organised. 

Summary of Activities in 2018/19:

March 2018 Heritage Plants - Susie White

April 2018 Japanese Maples - Steve Valentine

May 2018 Sweet Peas - Kevin Preston

                  Plant Sale & Coffee Morning – Wetheral

                 Yorkshire Day Trip – Himalayan, Helmsley & Rewela Gardens

June 2018 Evening Charity Visit - Carlisle Carers – Cate & Mark Bowman

July 2018 Club Holiday to Welsh / Shropshire Borders

                 Scottish Borders & Northumbria Day Trip - Kirky Cottage (Mindrum), Abbotsford,                                                                                  Carolside & Stables of Maxton House, St. Boswells

                 Members’ Social Evening – Oak Howe – J & N Stewardson

September 2018 Lowther Castle Gardens - Martin Ogle

October 2018 Camassias, Chris, Chelsea & Chaos - Stella Exley

November 2018 Lingholm Estate & Walled Garden - Ken Swift

January 2019 New Year Party – Heads Nook Village Hall

February 2019 Winter Day Trip – Gresgarth Hall & Hornby Castle

                          Dalefoot Compost - Heltondale, Lake District National Park

Our return to Down-a-Gate as our club night meeting venue is in April this year. It will be good to put down roots there again. The new hall upstairs looks fabulous and I hope that the amenities there will work well for us. We very much appreciate everyone’s patience over the last two years; having to put up with increased travel distance, parking difficulties and hall temperature extremes.

Club funds continue to be in ‘the green’. All club members have received vouchers to visit Lowther Castle Gardens this year. (This is a gift from VGC to ALL club members). Hopefully you will be able to join a tour with head gardener, Martin Ogle. Our change to having a one winner cash raffle/Lotto prize each club night seems to be working well.

I’d like to express special thanks to each committee member; without whose commitment, simply there would be no club.

• Joan & Ruth: our Speaker Organisers - no fuss, no hurry – just perfectly effected support to our speakers whom they innovatively find!
• Janice (with Jude's help): – for creatively organising those wonderful day trips & fabulous holidays, many more please...
• Jude: a real multitasker – helping Janice, organising our plant sales & writing great reviews for the Cumberland News, Focus on Eden, The Candlestick News and the blog.

• Cate (secretary) & Anne (treasurer): our admin. girls – simply we’d be completely lost without you both.

• Caroline (vice chair & social organiser): it's been great to be able to share with you the chairing role & be able to run ideas/thoughts past you. I’m sure you in turn will get lots of support from Anne who assumes your old role.

And there are also SO MANY club members & spouses to say thank you too:

Our Summer Social Evening Hosts – Janice & Nick S.

Matt J. – for his ‘janitor’ help at Heads Nook Village Hall

Our wonderful Bakers / servers

Tidy Uppers on club nights

Plant Sale propagators / splitters

You know who you are – many, many thanks.

Please be assured that all issues raised at the AGM will be fully discussed by the committee in the first instance. Your comments and suggestions are important and only by receiving them can the committee consider and implement effective changes.

Daylight is now lengthening and clocks are poised to jump forward into Spring at the end of the month. So here's to many hours of delight & green fingered success in your gardens in 2019.

Trish Rodgers -

Retired Chairman

Sad News

Marjorie Haworth passed away in late January. Marjorie and husband Fred were long term members until their health deteriorated and Marjorie was 'the pen' of Wetheral news! She did the reports in the CN on the VGC, the WI and various other events for many years.

Dalefoot Compost, 14th February 2019...

On an unseasonal warm evening we welcomed Juliette (on behalf of Simon Bland and Jane Barker), who came to share with us the ethos and knowledge of the nationally renowned compost firm.

Juliette on left

Following the ‘Foot & Mouth’ epidemic in 2001, Simon and Jane looked to diversify their sheep farming business. With their farming heritage and Jane’s background is in environmental science, they were cognisant of traditional methods for nurturing soil. In Yorkshire wool was used in rhubarb patches and in Appleby bracken was strewn in apple orchards.

After twenty years of trial and error Jane & Simon have developed a range of specialist composts derived from bracken, Herdwick / Swaledale wool and Fell Pony manure. This year they will launch a tomato compost at RHS Chelsea.

www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk

“Using old gardening recipes they have worked to develop a range of wholesome composts that are farm-made and do what they promise. Wool compost™ and Lakeland Gold are farm-made on a traditional hill farm, Dalefoot, in the small valley of Heltondale in the Lake District National Park. Our Whitefaced Woodland and Cheviot sheep flocks run up the bracken covered fells to Loadpot where they live and rear their lambs and graze side by side with our herd of native Fell ponies. Grazing is an important part of maintaining this special landscape that is so treasured by the millions of visitors who come to the area.

The ever increasing bracken cover is not only taking over the landscape, but also represents a problem to the hill farmer. The gathering of flocks has become very difficult through waist high bracken stands and this very aggressive plant competes with other native vegetation to the extent that other plants fail and available grazing is reduced. Bracken has become a problem - ecologically and economically - so what better, more sustainable solution than to harvest it in a managed way, thereby husbanding the beautiful hills of the Lake District and utilising a resource in a way that it used to be many years ago.”

“Traditionally, here in the Lake District, bracken has been used as an animal winter bedding material, which was then spread on the land in Spring to fertilise the fields. A rich source of humus with a wide range of trace elements ensured that the meadows and pastures got off to a good growing season. We have taken that age-old recipe and developed Wool Compost and Lakeland Gold.”

“We only use 100% natural ingredients from the fells surrounding our farm in the Lake District.”

“Potash rich bracken forms the base for all our composts. We blend herdwick Sheep's wool into all our Wool Composts for improved water retention and slow release nitrogen.”

“Our composts are completely PEAT FREE and are not made from green waste.”

Dalefoot has achieved Soil Association Approved status; no mean feat when there needs to be guarantee against E.coli & organophosphate contamination.

In the last two years the business has expanded dramatically.