Newslettersummer2005

.Another year gone - let’s hope we have a better summer this time!

We are pleased to report that we have another husband and wife team on the committee following the Annual General Meeting in January this year. Fred Dickinson is our new Vice-chairman and his “boss” Margaret is now our Treasurer. Fred and Margaret take over from retiring Vice-chairman Robin Spencer and Treasurer Alistair Walton who both left the committee at the AGM. With Richard Jeacock as Chairman (another last year he says!), Silvana Briers as General Secretary, Bill Hart as Hut Manager, Ursula Siney as Show Secretary, and Sandra Ferry our Membership Secretary we are very fortunate in having a strong, hard-working team. Sadly Brian O’Shea had to leave us during last year for personal reasons although he hopes to return some time in the future. A very welcome addition to the committee this year is Irene Kelly from Lowton, and other committee members staying on from last year are Tony Addison, Bob Baynes, Mike Briers, Jane Davies, Norma Gilchrist, and David Stott.

We still have a few seats left on the coach to Harrogate for the first day of the Flower Show on Friday 16th of September. The coach leaves the Blue Bell Hotel, High Street, Newton at 8.30am and picks up at the Harrow at Culcheth at about 8.40am, leaving from Harrogate at about 5.0pm. The cost is £16 and this includes coach fare and entrance to the Show - a good price.

Now that we have sold all the bedding plants from the polytunnel we will try our hand at growing tomatoes, and another suggestion received is that we should sell fresh vegetables and salad crops. Most people who “grow their own” usually find they have too much, so why not bring your surplus crops down to the polytunnel rather than throw them away.

A lot of interesting plants have been donated so far this year, and we would like to thank all those who have contributed. Keep them coming!

CROSSWORD Another very easy crossword has been supplied by our resident compiler and this is available at the Hut for you to pick up on your next visit. A prize of a £10 Hut Voucher for the first correct solution picked out from all those received, and a £5 prize for the second correct solution will be awarded. The winners of our January competition were Mr. John Johnson of Golborne and Mr. Geoffrey Abey from Newton.

ST. PETER’S SCHOOL Groups of children from St. Peter’s will be visiting our allotment next to the Hut on Tuesday 12th of July. Between 1.0pm and 3.0pm three groups of about 17 children will be alternating between the Mesnes Park where they have a project with the St. Helens Rangers, the allotments, and the school where they have their own garden project. Whilst on the allotments we intend to show and explain to the children different types of herbs and vegetables. Irene Kelly will be in charge and although there will be teachers and parents with the groups she would like some members of the Association as well to volunteer their services for this afternoon. If anyone would like to help please contact Irene on 01942 728345 or leave your name and telephone number at the Hut.

JOHN GIBSON M.B.E.

We are sorry to announce that John Gibson died on the 28th of May. John first became involved with the Gardeners’ Association in the early 1970s when he was the engineer and surveyor with the former Newton-le-Willows Urban District Council. He was extremely helpful to the Association during this time, and on his retirement became one of our volunteer helpers in the Sales Hut, a duty which he carried out for many years. He was awarded his M.B.E. (military division) during his war service in 1944.

ALAN HURST

Sadly we have to record the death in January of Alan Hurst, one of our most loyal helpers in the Hut for many many years. Not only did Alan carry out his regular duty in the Hut, but he also used to come down on delivery days and help carry the sacks of compost etc., and this was in the days before roller trucks when every item had to be man-handled into the Hut!

We will again be manning a stall at the Carnival on Saturday 16th of July at which we will be promoting the Association and selling plants and sundries, with a planting demonstration for the children. We have a lot of members in Winwick and district who no doubt will be attending the carnival, so we would like you all to come and see us at our stall.

The winner of the competition at our stall at the Willow Park Craft fair on Bank Holiday Monday 30th of May was H. Lloyd , 28 Pipit Avenue, Newton-le-Willows.

GRAND FLOWER & VEGETABLE SHOW 2005

The 2005 Grand Flower & Vegetable Show will be held at St. Aelred’s Technology College in Birley Street, Newton, on Saturday 10th September

The show will again be held in the sports hall at St. Aelred’s and is again in the capable hands of our Show Secretary, Ursula Siney. In the show schedule we have all the usual classes for Flowers, Vegetables, Fruit, Pot Plants, Floral Art, Cookery, and Photography. For the children this time in addition to the usual classes for a “vegetable animal” and a “vase of garden flowers” we are repeating the class introduced last year with a picture for them to colour in, and there will also be some childrens photography classes as well. At the show we will also have plants, spring bulbs, and books for sale, and of course there will be tea and biscuits, a tombola, and a raffle.

Copies of the show schedule have been sent out to previous exhibitors, but if you have not entered before and you would like a schedule then please ring our Show Secretary Ursula Siney on 01942 274584, or pick up a copy from the Hut or from Newton Library. The schedule is also available on line at our web site www.nlwgardeners.homestead.com

The show will be open to the public from 2.00pm to 5.00pm, and the prize giving ceremony will be held at 4.30pm followed by the auction of produce.

Any help we can get with extra income for the show is very welcome. The costs go up every year, especially the insurance premiums. If you would like to help by sponsoring a class or classes in the show, a donation of £3.20 will usually cover the prize money for one class. You can sponsor in your own name or in memory of a loved one and for each sponsored class a certificate will be placed on the show benches. So far this year our grateful thanks go again to MTB Motors Newton-le-Willows, for sponsoring the photography classes to the tune of £25. We would also be grateful for as many tombola prizes as possible, also plants and books to sell. We know that support in past years has been excellent, so if you would like to help again, then please bring your prizes, plants and books along to the Hut – they will be very welcome.

Unfortunately although the sports hall is an excellent venue for the show, we do now have much further to carry the tables for the show benches, so if any members would like to help the committee set up the tables for the show on Friday evening – 5.30pm at St. Aelred’s on the 9th September, and after the show on Saturday to return the tables to the classrooms, then you will all be very welcome.

Please do your best to enter something in the show – it is only 10p for each entry, and free for over 60s and children! It is very important that you read the show schedule very carefully, especially the rules and regulations. If you haven’t entered before, there will be stewards on hand to show you where to put your exhibit, and how to stage it to the best advantage. If you feel a little too nervous to exhibit this time, then at least come along and see the show, and you will see how easy it all is, and quite likely you will come to the conclusion that your own pet cactus or cucumber which you left at home is better than those on display!

Sandwiches, tea, and coffee will be available for exhibitors staging on Friday evening.

And don’t forget – please bring your tombola prizes, plants, books, etc. to the Hut in time for the Show on the 10th of September!

This is my third year as Show Secretary and looking back I wonder how on earth I got to this position! What did I know about flowers or plants, never mind fruit and vegetables? The only thing I had ever grown from seed was sunflowers!

So why me? After changing jobs and starting to work part time I found I had some time to fill, then during the summer of 2002 a sign appeared in the Hut saying “HELP WANTED.” I volunteered!

From there, I helped at the show (my first experience of a flower and vegetable show) and later that year I became a committee member, and then at the AGM in 2003 I was nominated as Show Secretary. I accepted with apprehension – or was it sheer madness!

What did I have to do? What do I need to know? Two days after the meeting I was presented with a large box full of files, forms, cards, paper clips, rubber bands, drawing pins, pens, scissors, and blue tac – everything I would need to be the perfect Show Secretary! I set to work booking the venue and judges for the next show, ensuring all the affiliation fees had been paid, and ordering medals and certificates and arranging sponsorship. I checked and double-checked everything over and over again. So after all that what does it take? A fair bit of time – and being organised!

I look forward to this show with a little more knowledge, a lot less apprehension, but with the same excitement as the first show. What will the weather provide in the way of exhibits this year? I will have to wait until September 10th. I do hope that you will be able to join us. Even if you have nothing to exhibit, come and see what others have entered.

Sponsorship for one class starts from as little as £3.20 – why not sponsor your favourite flower or vegetable.

And finally what about my own garden – well a little knowledge can go a long way – it might not yet be up to show standards but who knows what another year will bring. I think it looks great – but then I would!

Ursula Siney

2005 PROGRAMME Apart from the Flower Show and the coach trip to Harrogate which we have already mentioned, there are a couple of evening events to remind you about.

On Thursday 30th June we have an evening with a wandering environmentalist (Rob Williams) “From woods and bugs to weeds and slugs” None of us really know what to expect but we are quite sure that it will be a very interesting evening! Kirkfield Hotel – 7.30pm. (If you receive your newsletter too late for this date we apologise).

On Thursday 27th October

Veronica Finney of Lumber Lane Nursery at Burtonwood, will talk to members about “Outdoor winter flowering displays.” Kirkfield Hotel 7.30pm.

NEWSLETTERS

We would like more volunteers to help deliver newsletters in any part of Newton and district. If you would like to assist please contact our General Secretary Silvana Briers, see telephone number above. We only publish two letters a year, and the more helpers we have the less time it takes.

We still have only a very small list of those who would like to receive their letters as email attachments. We know a lot of our members are on the internet, and to send more letters out electronically would really save us some money. Alternatively, if you don’t like to receive attachments we can notify you by email when the letter is ready to be read on the web site. We do have quite a long list of email addresses which we use about once a month to notify members of forthcoming events, special offers in the Sales Hut etc. If you would like to be added to this list and/or would like to receive your letters by email please let us know by emailing inimeg29@netscape.net or leave details at the Hut. But if you leave details at the Hut please write your email address carefully and clearly!

so possibly it all started during the First World War as a “Dig for Victory” campaign although mention is made in Lane’s History of Newton of a “Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown and District Horticultural Society” holding its “Yearly Exhibition” in 1886 in the nursery which became Randalls. The nursery of course is now buried under the “Parchments” housing estate as is of course the original Rob Lane Allotment site (formerly a football field) and known in the 1920s as the “Pied Bull Allotments.”

Although the allotments were always administered by the local Council - Newton Urban District then later on St. Helens Borough - the Association did in many ways help with allotment affairs in Newton, having representatives on the Council Allotments Committee and liaising with the Council about improvements and alterations to the sites, and vetting new tenants. The Association was very much to the fore in the fight to save the old Rob Lane Allotments during the 1980s, and after this fight was lost then came the big move to the present site. Although we fought tooth and nail to save the old site from the building developers, forcing the issue to a Public Inquiry, the new site was soon found to be much larger and better than the old one. It was St. Helens Council’s wish that the new site should be “self-managed” and the Gardeners’ Association was asked to undertake this task, but for various reasons some allotment holders were against this and voted to form their own society and thus the “Rob Lane Allotments Association” was born, although for many years most of the committee members were also members of the “Gardeners” committee!

It was always intended that the two Associations should be merged at some time in the future, and the allotment holders actually voted for a merger at their AGM in 2002: St. Helens Council took nearly two years to ratify this decision. During April of this year, the Gardeners’ Association sent a letter to the Chairman of the Allotments Association requesting clarification of the Allotment Association’s position regarding the merger, and a response is awaited.

Pour the milk into a wide frying pan. Add the haddock and bay leaf, bring to the simmer, then cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until the haddock is just cooked.

Lift out the fish and leave to cool slightly, then peel off the skin and break the flesh into large flakes. Set aside. Strain the milk and reserve 1 pint as well as the bay leaf.

Put the leek in the frying pan and add the reserved milk and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the leek is tender.

Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water for about 8 minutes or until they are just tender, but not breaking up. Drain.

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, gas mark 5), remove the bay leaf from the leeks and discard. Mix the cornflour with the remaining 3 tbsps. of cold milk to make a smooth paste. Add to the leek mixture and cook gently, stirring until slightly thickened. Take the pan from the heat and stir in the watercress.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the flaked fish folding it in gently. Transfer to a 3½ pint pie dish and arrange the potato slices on top, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake

for 25 – 30 minutes or until the fish filling is bubbling and the potatoes are turning a golden brown.

7. Sprinkle the top of the pie with parsley and allow to stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy your pie - and your gardening.

Enjoy your pie - and your gardening

PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD WITH YOU TO THE HUT