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FAIRBRIDGE GARDEN & ARTS SOCIETY Supporting the Fairbridge Programme of The Prince’s Trust NEWSLETTER www.fairbridgegardensociety.com Issue No 72 Summer 2015
FAIRBRIDGE GARDEN & ARTS SOCIETYSupporting the Fairbridge Programme
of The Prince’s Trust
NEWSLETTER
www.fairbridgegardensociety.com
Issue No 72 Summer 2015
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CONTENTS
MEMBERShIp INFORMATION 1
LETTER FROM ThE ChAIRMAN 2
FORThCOMING EvENTS 3
DIARY DATES 6
www.fairbridgegardensociety.com
Cover photograph: the garden at Spring Pond, Hampshire. See details of the FGAS visit on page 5.
Printed by Hot off the Press, Fulham Broadway, London SW6 1BH. www.hotoff.co.uk
Membership of Fairbridge Garden & Arts Society (FGAS) costs £25 per annum. Download a membership form from the website, www.fairbridgegardensociety.com, or ring or email the Membership Secretary Ruth Hayward on 020 8480 5060 or [email protected]. Profits go to the Fairbridge Programme of The Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales 1079675 and in Scotland SCO 411.
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DEAR MEMbERS
Officially spring has begun, the clocks have gone forward and longer days are encouraging a spurt in spring growth. At last the gardening year is under way and there is lots to do in the garden, greenhouse and vegetable plot. Jobs include pruning, tidying, planting and top-dressing pots, not to mention lifting and dividing perennials and sowing seeds. Oh, and don’t forget to feed the birds! Who said gardening was a leisure activity?
As we head into spring and our programme of garden-orientated events gathers momentum it is a fitting moment in time to remind ourselves of the aims of the FGAS and the reason we all give so generously both in terms of our time and funds raised.
Aims of the Society: Fairbridge Garden Society was formed in 1993, to promote the Fulham Palace Garden Centre and Fairbridge, the parent charity. Its main aim was to provide a varied and stimulating programme of events for discerning gardeners, which raise money for Fairbridge. In January 2014 it changed its name to Fairbridge Garden & Arts Society to better reflect the fast-growing arts programme. The Society’s overriding objective is to run a year-long calendar of events as Fairbridge fund-raisers.
All profits from FGAS go to the Fairbridge Programme of The Prince’s Trust. Furthermore, all the money we raise is ring-fenced within The Prince’s Trust and goes only to the Fairbridge Programme run through the London centres of Kennington, Hackney and Poplar, together with Chatham, Kent. FGAS will be arranging visits to one or two of the London centres during the course of the year and I would encourage anyone interested in finding out from the coal face how the money we raise can make a difference, to join us on one of these visits.
Our summer party on 2 July will also give you the opportunity to meet some of the Fairbridge Programme’s young ambassadors who will talk about their Fairbridge experiences. We do hope you will join us (see details below), and do bring a friend. We are always pleased to welcome new members, new faces and encourage interest in FGAS.
Finally, if, as we believe, there is interest in another visit to Highgrove next year and you would like to go, please can you contact May Woods at [email protected]?
With best wishesVanessa ScholfieldChairman
SuMMER PARTyThursday, 2 July 2015, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
By kind permission of Mr and Mrs Lough. To be held at 20 Ryecroft Street, Fulham.£5 entry ticket, each of which will be entered into a prize draw.
Full details to be circulated
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS: DATES FOR yOuR DIARy
Wednesday, 22 AprilARTS & CRAFTS HOuSE AND THE LONDON POTTERy COMPANy, WIMbLEDONThis is fully booked.
Tuesday, 28 AprilDAy TRIP TO CANTERbuRyThis is fully booked.
Thursday, 30 April: 2.30pmSOuTHWOOD LODGE, 33 KINGSLEy STREET, HIGHGATE N6 5EAThis garden is definitely worth the drive or the tube trip. It’s owned by Sue Whittington and her husband and has featured in Arabella’s Lennox-Boyd’s Private Gardens of London and in a recently published book, First Ladies of Gardening. On an east-facing slope around a Georgian house, Sue has an impressive array of tulips in pots to give great splashes of colour at the end of April. For nearly 40 years, she has sought out rare shrubs, including Corokia cotoneaster and Corokia virgata, Azara microphylla, Ribes sanguineum ‘Brocklebankii’, and the best varieties of hostas, brunnera and others. Rosa ‘Ferdinand pichard’ is a lesson on how to prune for maximum flowers, and the heavy heads of Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ will be supported by a framework of willow, another useful tip. A giant tree peony flowers in a sunny hot border, and a series of ponds spills down to the lower garden. The greenhouse, packed with pelargoniums and their cuttings, seedlings and flowering bulbs, sits beyond the nursery where plants are for sale. Southwood Lodge is about a mile beyond Kenwood, for those who might like to stop there for lunch, and parking is free in surrounding streets from midday onwards. The house is seven minutes’ walk from highgate station on the Northern Line. It saves a lot of climbing if people take the second escalator (to the right, after the ticket barrier). This brings you out at the junction of Archway Road and Southwood Lane. Cross carefully (this is the A1) and follow Southwood Lane to the top, until you come to Kingsley place on your left. Cost: £12, including tea and cakes. To book, please email [email protected] or ring 020 7736 3210 and complete the booking form within one week to secure your place. May’s mobile on the day is 07958 912271.
Tuesday, 5 May: 10am-2pmPLANT SALE AT 29 RANELAGH AVENuE, FuLHAM, LONDON SW6 3PJThe purpose of this sale is, as usual, to offer desirable plants that are hard to find in regular garden centres. So there will be the most floriferous pelargoniums (P ‘Moon Maiden’ and ‘Jackie Totlis’), the most elegant tobacco plants (Nicotiana mutabilis) and other very desirable annuals such as Ammi majus (pictured) and cleomes. Some of the latter many not be ready till later in May, depending on the weather. Also for sale will be the ever-popular Plectranthus argentea, which is as eye-catching in the border as it is in a pot, and some vegetables. please email [email protected] if you can produce some annuals or vegetables, or if you want a plant list. And of course there will be Seville orange marmalade and various tasty jams for sale – and Dottie Lundell has kindly agreed to make more of her famous biscuits.
10-15 MayTOuR OF GARDENS AROuND ROMEThis is fully booked but will probably be repeated in May 2016.
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Saturday, 23 May: 10am-2pmPLANT SALE AT CEDAR LODGE, NORTH SIDE, STEEPLE ASTON, bICESTER OX25 4SEBy kindness of David Kewley and Jan Maulden, the sale will offer a mixture of perennials, annuals and vegetables, plus special pelargoniums which are rarely available in garden centres, but which flower profusely.
Thursday, 28 May: 2pm-4.15pmKING’S CROSS REGENERATION…ALL CHANGE! A WALK WITH DIANA KELSEyOne of Britain’s largest inner-city regeneration projects had been overshadowed by the excitement over Stratford and the Olympic park. But now King’s Cross, which for so long has been one of London’s seediest areas, is witnessing a rebirth with the redevelopment of 67 acres of derelict railway grounds and the upgrading of King’s Cross Station. It is an imaginative mixed-use scheme with the converted Granary now home to UAL (University of the Arts Central St Martins) at its heart. As part of the tour we will see a new garden designed by Dan pearson, some ‘green walls’ and interesting trees, as well as other imaginative ‘soft landscaping’. It has now become one of the most exciting regeneration projects in Europe, attracting major institutions such as Google, BNp paribas, Louis vuitton, the Aga Khan Institute and, the sign that it has arrived as an area, a Waitrose housing a cookery school! Starts 2pm. Meet by the henry Moore sculpture in front of King’s Cross Station on the Euston Road side. Cost: £16. To book, please email [email protected] or ring Jill on 020 7736 1066 and complete the booking form within one week. Jill’s mobile on the day is 07840 206309.
Monday, 8 JuneKEW GREEN GARDENSThis event is full and has a waiting list.
Tuesday, 9 June: 11am-circa 4pmPRIVATE GARDENS IN bOSHAM, ON CHICHESTER HARbOuR, WEST SuSSEXThis visit is to three gardens in the picturesque waterside village of Bosham, West Sussex. Bosham is situated on Chichester harbour and at high tide the sea comes right up to the village, flooding the shore road and lapping at the edge of the first garden we will visit. here FGAS member Caroline Nelson will welcome us to South Meadow at 11am for coffee followed by the opportunity to look round her stunning garden from which one has the quintessential view of Bosham quay and church from across the water. Mixed borders lead down towards the water while other areas reveal a cleverly planted shady area surrounding a large terrace and a mound planted with an array of grasses. There will then be time for a brief visit to historic Bosham church, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, before going on to Jane Roundell’s garden where we will have lunch and catch a glimpse of the harbour from a different angle. After lunch we continue to North Bosham to the garden of John and Jenny Lippiett (pictured). here the Mill Stream flows past the back of the house and the garden is bisected by streams. Roses scramble and tumble, specimen trees punctuate the garden and water-loving plants including zantedeschia thrive by the streams. Some may like to go on to Fishbourne Roman palace, which is just up the road, where much work has been done recently to reveal the layout of the Roman gardens (an additional £8.80, senior £8, to be paid at the ticket office). This is a self-drive trip and Bosham is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes from putney Bridge by car. Full directions will be sent to all those coming nearer the time, together with a contacts list in case you would like to share your journey in the interest of companionship and the carbon footprint and to facilitate parking at the gardens. Cost: £35. To book please email vanessa Scholfield at [email protected] or ring her on 07885 655231 and complete the booking form within one week. Jane’s mobile on the day is 07974 823787 or ring vanessa.
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Tuesday, 23 June: 8am-6.45pmTOuR OF TWO HAMPSHIRE GARDENS AND THE bOMbAy SAPPHIRE GIN DISTILLERy COMPANyThe first stop is Spring pond, Laverstoke, where Carolyn Sheffield has created a garden for all seasons, and evidence of her artistic eye is revealed everywhere. In June it will be a bower of pink and white roses and clematis, planted together in romantic English style (pictured). Divided by yew and hornbeam hedges, there are colour-themed borders ranging from white to hot reds and oranges, and a paved walk is edged with blues and soft pinks and lined with clipped silver leaf pyrus. Their round balls reflect the wrought-iron dome of a pavilion, a focal point which closes the view. Water lilies flower in formal ponds and in the conservatory exotic plants flourish. Carolyn will give us coffee, before we move to Laverstoke Mill, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 and is now the location of the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery. A turbine currently makes electricity from the fast-flowing River Test. Formerly, the mill produced bank-note paper for the Bank of England and the British Empire, but now the Georgian and victorian buildings have been superbly restored beside the river and house a state-of-the-art distillery. For an hour and a half, we will walk through the mill, visiting the glass houses designed by Thomas heatherwick where flavouring botanical plants are grown, the Botanical Dry Room where the aromas can be experienced, see the distillation process, and finish with a complimentary cocktail. A two-course lunch will be in a local pub, Watership Down, and then we go downstream to Bere Mill, Whitchurch, also on the River Test and owned by Rupert Nabarro, who started the garden in 1993. On the valley floor, the millhouse sits astride one stream of the Test, while two others flow past on either side, and the garden is laid out between these rushing streams. The design is loosely fashioned on a Japanese stroll garden, with many bridges invitingly positioned. Approaching the house there are mixed borders where roses and lavender, shrubs and bulbs grow through flinty gravel. Beyond are herbaceous and Mediterranean beds, a replanted walled garden with gnarled apple trees, espaliered fruit trees and vegetables, and a lake with a Japanese tea-house. various sculptures, figurative and imaginative, enhance the garden. A recently planted arboretum stretches beyond the river, and apart from the flowing streams, the scene is animated by black Welsh mountain sheep and Belted Galloway cattle. Cost: £85, all inclusive. The coach will leave parsons Green at 8am, pick up in hammersmith and drop off there on the return journey. To book, please email [email protected] or ring 020 7736 3210 and complete the booking form within one week to secure your place. May’s mobile on the day is 07958 912271. Thursday, 16 July: 10.15am-12.45pmCHISWICK: ARTS & CRAFTS AND GEORGIAN RIVERSIDE - A WALK WITH DIANA KELSEy Starting in Bedford park, designed by Norman Shaw and inspired by both the Art & Crafts and the Aesthetics Movements, we will walk through Chiswick passing 19th-century workers’ cottages. We will then go under the A4 to the 15th-century original Chiswick village with its medieval church and William hogarth’s grave. The rest of the walk is along the Thames, passing the elegant 18th-century houses and gardens of Chiswick Mall including Kelmscott house where William Morris spent the last 18 years of his life. We finish for lunch at the historic Dove riverside pub, haunt of many poets and writers. Take the opportunity after lunch to visit the William Morris Society in the basement of Kelmscott house, open on Thursday afternoons. Note this walk covers about three miles. Starts 10.15am at Turnham Green tube station, ends at Ravenscourt park tube station. Cost: £16. please email [email protected] to book or ring Jo on 020 7736 5305, and complete the booking form within one week. her mobile on the day is 0787 6221062.
Tuesday, 22 SeptemberGROVE HOuSE AND GRAVETyE MANOR, WEST SuSSEXIf you would like to register an interest, please contact Ann McDonald on [email protected] or 020 8677 8981. More details in the next newsletter.
It is essential that first you book your place, complete the enclosed booking form and send it with a cheque made out to FGAS or Fairbridge Garden & Arts Society to Dottie Lundell, 1 Edenhurst Avenue, London SW6 3PD, tel 020 7731 0128. If you want a receipt, please enclose a s.a.e. Tickets are not issued.
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Wednesday, 22 Aprilpottery and Arts & Crafts house, Wimbledon
Tuesday, 28 AprilDay trip to Canterbury
Thursday, 30 AprilSouthwood Lodge garden, highgate
Tuesday, 5 May and Saturday, 23 Mayplant sales in Fulham and Oxfordshire
Thursday, 28 MayKing’s Cross regeneration walk
Monday, 8 JuneGardens on Kew Green
Tuesday, 9 Juneprivate gardens in Bosham, West Sussex
Tuesday, 23 JuneTwo hampshire gardens and the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery
Thursday, 2 JulyFGAS Summer party
Thursday, 16 JulyChiswick Arts & Crafts and Georgian riverside walk
Tuesday, 22 SeptemberGrove house and Gravetye Manor
Overleaf: gardens in Bosham with the classic view towards Chichester harbour and the church. See details of the visit to them on page 4.
Diary Dates
