The Wellesbourne and Walton Horticultural Society were pleased to host a talk by Tony Russell on Friday 7th October in the Vill­age Hall. With nearly 60 people attending, and many lingering to enjoy refresh­ments and the chance to ask Tony questions, it was a real success.

Tony was a relaxed, engaging and humorous speaker who “loves to bring people into horticulture” through his writing, talks, and tours. Based on his TV series 'The Cotswold Garden Trail' and his related book, he brought to life twelve of the finest gardens in the Cotswolds, including Hidcote Manor, Kiftsgate Court, Barnsley House and Sezincote. Sharing dozens of pictures and his wealth of knowledge, he gave insights into many gardens’ design, history, and plantings, showing how well he knows the gardens and the people responsible for them – both currently and historically Tony's career with plants and gardens began in 1978 when he

joined the Forestry Commission in Snowdonia. In 1989 he was appointed Head Forester of Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, one of the finest collections of trees and shrubs in the temperate world. By 1999 he had increased annual visitors to Westonbirt from 140,000 to 300,000, making it the third most visited garden in the UK at that time (after Kew Gardens and the RHS Garden, Wisley). Tony left Westonbirt in 2002 and is now widely recognised as one of Britain's leading authorities on trees and shrubs.

This was the Society's first sponsored talk in nearly 15 years, organised by committee member Mrs Carol Evered, who had suggested it as a thank you to the village for its support through so many years. Pleased to have met its target of sponsoring an interesting and enjoyable evening and also covering its expenses, the Committee are encouraged to sponsor future events. All suggestions welcome!

Visitors to Charlecote will find that, once again, some of it is under wraps.

Restoration work has started on the stonework of the front porch, and the Clifton Conservation Workshop will be busy through November and December. Also on the restoration schedule is the roof of the old stable block, which needs to be made safe and watertight. Everyone realises the importance of maintenance work on old buildings and everything possible is done to avoid inconvenience for visitors.

November sees a change to the summer opening times and now the main house is open from 12 till 4pm, the restaurant and shop from 11am till 4pm and the Park from 10.30am till dusk.

The season will see the installation of a new Sculpture Trail throughout the grounds and gardens by local installation artist Alfreda McHale. Many visitors enjoyed the deer park safari trips during the rutting season. Charlecote Park will soon selling Charlecote venison in the local produce shop.

For more information, please contact Charlecote Park on 01789 470277 or visit: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-charlecotepark .

Rehearsals for the Christmas season have been in full swing since the beginning of September and while the choir are finding the music interesting, easy, fun and challenging, these attributes are not necessarily being experienced in equal measures.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a world shortage of singing men in the Wellesbourne area but the choir was very pleased to welcome five new ladies, who must have enjoyed the singing experience, as they are all now fully paid-up members.

Much of the music for the Christmas concerts is new to the choir and so may also be new to their audiences. However, there will be some well-known carols, some familiar words set to alternative tunes and even a chance for the audience to join in and use their vocal chords.

The choir will be performing their Christmas music at two concerts in December, and because the venue for the first concert was unavailable on the preferred date, this concert, at Tiddington Community Centre, will take place on Friday 9 December 2011 at 7.30pm.

Therefore, in a change to their usual performance day, the concert at St Peter's Church, Wellesbourne will take place on Saturday 10 December 2011 at 7.30pm with the ticket price of £7 for adults (accompanied school-age children free) to include interval refreshments. Any profit from the concert will be used to purchase new music for the choir.

For more information about the choir, please see the website at: www.wcs.me.uk/FramesPage.htm .

Tailpiece

A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. “Listen,” said the CEO, “this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work?” “Certainly,” said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. “Excellent, excellent!” said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. “I just need one copy.”