WHS Summer Show

A sunny, if somewhat blustery day this year for Worthing Horticultural Society's Summer Show on Broadwater Green on Saturday. Doors opened to the public at 12.00 and you could stay until 5.00pm if you wanted, all for 80p. Apart from the exhibits there were plant stalls, a tombola, a book stall and stands from the Healing Gardens and Worthing Allotments and Gardens Association. There was also a refreshment area and a special side tent for the schools' potatoes and onions competitions. But of course the star performers were the flowers themselves, not forgetting the vegetables, fruits, jams and cakes, etc. To give you a flavour of the day here are a few photos, all showing red carders (i.e. winners) apart from the one showing the children's potato competition. It will be no surprise to anyone in the know that Arthur Burt won 9 out of the 10 categories of sweet peas, coming second in the remaining category which Peter Webb won. Peter's name cropped up frequently too especially amongst the vegetables where he showed some really huge cabbages.                                                   (28/06/08)

 
(28/06/08)

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West Tarring Allotment Barbecue

Well, the elements may not have smiled kindly on the West Tarring inaugural barbecue, especially as we've had hardly any rain in living memory, but those who braved the drizzle thoroughly enjoyed themselves. To be fair, the rain did let up to enable sausages to be grilled and buns to be filled and it is highly likely that similar events will now be staged. The barbecue arose out of an idea floated at one of our Tuesday pub nights so it seems these gatherings do produce more than alcolhol induced merriment. Another reason to attend. (See "Events" page)                                                                                                         (21/06/08)

Findon Village Garden Association

Findon Association have joined our association as Associate Members so from now on we shall also feature their events on our Events Page as well as ours and those of the Worthing Horticultural Society.

(17/05/08)

It's that man again!

Yes, Peter Webb has been at it again, winning prizes that is, this time at the Worthing Horticultural Society's Spring show. His photo was in the Herald this week, as he proudly held his first prize tulips. Mind you, he wasn't the only familiar face picking up prizes; our president, Arthur Burt, was also featured along with his prize-winning daffodils. How do they do it?

Dutch bulbfield trippers in radiation alert scare!

Intrepid band of allotmenteer travellers - Ned not shown for reasons of security

A bold band of allotmenteers was picked up by coach at 4.30am on the 11th April to go to Valkenburg for a few days. We enjoyed half-board accommodation in the town which is well worth a visit in its own right, especially the man-made caves. The nearby German village of Monschau to which there was an excursion was also very picturesque, a photo on every corner. And then there was Keukenhof itself. I'd never been there before but would now recommend it to anybody with a horticultural bent. Beautiful. And huge. Fields of bulbs, 5 indoor exhibition centres and acres of grounds including marvellously planted woodlands. We'll post some of our hundreds of photos on the "Photo call" page when I get round to sorting them all out. In fact it was all wonderful until we got back to Dover when ours was one of four coaches pulled over by customs. Allegedly one of these coaches - they didn't know which one - had set off their radiation detector as it came through the docks. Needless to say our coach was last to be screened and we all had to get off and be indivdually scanned with a geiger counter - over 200 of us and they only had one person doing it. We were delayed for 2 hours having already been delayed by one hour because of a late ferry. Although we were due back on the 14th it was actually in the early hours of the 15th when Mrs N and I got back home. Apart from that though it ws a great trip!

(15/04/08)

Celia wins!

Congratulations to our Home Page cover girl, Celia, wife of our show secretary, Jack, on winning her appeal yesterday against Worthing Borough Council's decision to terminate her employment because of her age. Celia will now be reinstated at Worthing Leisure Centre as Pop-Mobility instructor, a job she has been doing there successfully for over 30 years with hundreds of satisfied customers. I haven't been able to escape this story all week. I first heard it on national radio when Celia was being interviewed on Radio 5 Live! as I did the breakfast washing up. It was also on breakfast television but before that it had been front page news in the Argus as well as appearing in London's free newspaper,Metro. Then a couple of nationals got hold of the story and she's been featured on local BBC TV. As I was relaxing in the evening there she was again on both Ceefax and Teletext and now here. Well done, Celia! You're a winner.

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Association Stand at Hobbies Fair

Tha Association had a stand at the Rotary Club's Hobbies and Leisure exhibition this Saturday (8th March) in the Assembly Hall. All sorts of pastimes were represented and entrance was free so even the Lady Mayor attended. Our stand was manned by a series of committee members from opening at 10.00am until 4.00pm. Worthing Horticultural Society also had a stall.                       (08/03/08)

Vandalism

Sadly we have to report more vandalism at West Tarring this weekend, not as bad as last weekend but that is no consolation to people who have their greenhouse, shed or cold frame trashed. We have informed both the council and the police who are now working together on this problem. If you have any ideas or views you would like to share, please send them in.                                          (25/02/08)

Worthing Horticultural Society AGM

Please note that the date for the AGM is Tuesday, 4th March (and not 6th March as stated in Plotholder), 7.00pm for 7.30pm. There will be an illustrated talk by Mr Graham King on Landscape Gardening.

Association Dinner

The dinner duly took place on Friday, 15th February at the Berkeley Hotel. Guests assembled in the lounge and bar areas where Celia did a terrific job on a trapped gathering selling over 450 raffle tickets, and what a wonderful array of prizes there was on display in the entrance area, all sorts of things: stainless steel spade, digital weather stations, books, secateurs, chocolates, alcohol, event tickets, vouchers, etc. When everyone had taken up their allotted space in the restaurant Chairman Ian welcomed us all and the evening started with a lucky ticket draw - the prize a book on the many different ways of beating our universal enemy, the slug. Liquid refreshment flowed as guests enjoyed their 3-course meal and then during the coffee it was quiz time with the winning table collecting a variety of seeds from our stores. After the meal secretary Terry drew the raffle and announced a forthcoming talk by BBC personality John Trim of the National Vegetable Society which will take place on Friday, 9th May, tickets £3, £5 for non-members. Make sure you get yours! Click here to see pictures of the evening. We apologise for the poor quality of the shots but apparently the photographer had rather enjoyed the evening and had one or two too many.

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Stores News

Peter says your seed potatoes are in, so come and pick them up. There are a few extras at Humber store but no Desiree, they're all spoken for. He's still got onion sets both red and white but all the shallots have gone. I might also add he's got some very nice jam and marmalade at only £1 a pot. (02/02/08)

New Secretary

Unfortunately Jacqui has had to relinquish the post of Membership Secretary after years' of dedicated service. We should like to thank her for all her hard work. The new Membership Secretary is Mr Ken Willo whose name will be familiar to many of you. He can be contacted on 247555. (15/01/08)

Post-Christmas Walk

Our Gardeners' Walk was on Saturday, 29th December meeting at the Bull in Goring (now the Bull's Head). The walk took about 2 hours getting back to the pub in time for lunch. What a coincidence! To see some photos, click here. (Jan '08)