Wellesbourne & Walton Horticultural Society


Exhibits & prizes at the Show

RECORD ENTRIES IN SPRING SHOW - AGAIN

On a glorious spring day, a record number of 222 entries was submitted at the Wellesbourne and Walton Horticultural Society's Spring Show on Saturday April 10th. It was easy to forget what a cold spring it had been thus far; but the very few tulips and very many daffodils served as a reminder.

The Challenge Cup for Horticulture was won by David Smith who gained most points overall; he also won the Diploma for Excellence in Horticulture with a container of flowers of one kind.

The Oldham Cup for Floral Art was won by Pam Tasker, and Helena Hemming won the Certificate of Merit.

The Granville Cup for cookery was won by newcomer Sheila McDougald.

Photography attracted 19 high quality entries of trees in Winter. The adult section was won by Joe England.

The children’s classes were less strongly contested than usual - perhaps because of Easter holidays; Winner of the Ken Wheeler Trophy was Elena Aiello.

The People's Choice of the most popular exhibit in the whole show was won (again) by Stephen England for his miniature garden in a seed tray.

This year, greater effort was put into the plant sale, and to the provision of homemade cakes along with the tea and coffee. This was widely agreed to have been a great success which will be reflected in the financial figures for the show.

The prizes were presented by the Society's President – Mrs Wendy Bryan – who said the judges had praised both the quantity and quality of entries. They were again impressed that Wellesbourne's show continues to flourish.

This year's Autumn Show will be on September 4th.


All the hard work behind the scenes

Village Bee Meadows

Ann Loscombe and Wendy Campbell-Briggs are Warwickshire based environmental artists with a passion for honey bees and pollinators in general. They are creating an environmental art project based at the University of Warwick where they will plant an area of 7,560sqm with wildflowers, site two bee hives and create an art work to inform people of the plight of the honey bee and the importance of pollinators in the food chain.

Throughout this project they have collaborated with the WI, the British Beekeepers Association, the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust, Landlife and the University of Warwick's Estates Office, Environmental Office and Warwick Volunteers. This project will form part of Warwickshire Artsweek and activities have been arranged for the first weekend in July. Visit their blog: www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/community/volunteers/projects/environ ment/beehabitat .

There are now no wild honey bees in England and there are certain crops that rely on honey bees for pollination, such as strawberries, pears, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, plums, cherries, and beans. How awful to have to imagine a world without the colour or taste of fruit and veg!

Wendy and Ann would like to work with village communities to plant areas of wildflowers, to train members of the community to look after bees and to work with the local children to teach them about the importance of pollinators to provide food. An artwork would then be sited in the village to proclaim the residents commitment to helping bees and pollinators.

If you think your village would be interested in hearing more about Wendy and Ann's project and getting involved in creating your own bee meadow, please contact: ann.loscombe@btinternet.com .

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