By Sweet William - February 2008
Every Winter Changes To Spring...
Slowly but surely we are getting there, the days are lengthening and are brighter too so perhaps Spring is not too far away. So far this has not been a severe winter but even so many birds have migrated to warmer climes and other species of wild life have passed the time away by hibernating in their snug little nests. Some of you may think that your Committee has also hibernated but not so, we are like the famous Windmill theatre whose motto was “ we never close” and that applies to us too.
In November Committee members and some helpers planted a large number of daffodils along Grovesend Road and Streamleaze and we are nurturing a number of wild flower plants until they are ready to plant out in the wildflower meadow adjacent to the cemetery . We have also planted a number of tubs and containers with winter flowering plants and they make a pleasant sight outside the library and in the High St
Two or more Committee members will be attending a Britain in Bloom seminar in Taunton in early February with the idea of getting some insight into the type of competition we will face this year. The theme for this year is “Local Roots” which is subject to various interpretations but we believe it to be related to local history involving the castle and local industries such as fishing , quarrying and farming .We need from local people ideas and projects which we try to carry out within our constraints in funding and resources.
We are aiming to hold a plant stall in May ( 17 th ) and of course we need plants to sell, all local groups such as Allotment holders, Horticultural society and the community in general are requested to help by growing plants for the stall.
In an attempt to prolong the flowering life of some hanging baskets in the High St we are purchasing a trial number of self-watering baskets and as usual we need sponsors to help offset the costs, just call in the Town Hall and you will be warmly welcomed and quickly relieved of your money!
Park Insurance Services have generously donated £500 for competition prizes so there is plenty of incentive to improve your garden displays and enter the various categories that are open to all, entry is free and the relevant forms will be available later in the season.
As Bugs Bunny might say “That’s all Folks “ if you have had a mild case of hibernation , wake up- get digging and planting, find some ideas to help us to give you a winning Town in 2008.
By Sweet William - September 2007
The Battle of the Flowers...
The cultivation and use of flowers has been integral with society for thousands of years with some evidence found of association with humans in prehistoric times. We have used flowers to celebrate anniversaries, to express our feelings when being romantic; we use them to enhance our surroundings both at home and in our towns and villages. Many countries have national flowers, among them the daffodil of Wales, the thistle of Scotland and probably the most well known of all, the rose of England.
We have flower shows, exhibitions, competitions, and festivals and in Jersey they hold a wonderful annual spectacle known as the Battle of the Flowers. Every year Thornbury is entered in the South West regional Britain in Bloom competition, which may be thought of as our battle of the flowers against the big guns of the region namely the likes of St.Ives and Sidmouth.
On 20th of September some intrepid members of your Committee headed west to St. Ives to the Area presentation ceremonies and we were rewarded with the news that once again Thornbury had one a Gold award (the highest possible) in our group and additionally we were awarded the Bruford Cup for the best non municipal floral town centre display in the whole of the South West region. This is a tremendous achievement and congratulations go to all our suppliers of floral arrangements, our watering team (we must try and extend the watering season somehow) our sponsors, our supporters and helpers not forgetting all Committee members for their enthusiasm and desire to make Thornbury the "Best in the West".
We concluded the 2007 season on Friday 28th Sept by holding our annual presentation evening in a somewhat crowded and buzzing Cosham Hall, this commenced with an informative and amusing talk by Sue Aitken about the structure of National, Regional and Local competitions. This was followed by the Town Mayor and Lady Mayor presenting prizes and trophies to the many worthy winners. An excellent evening was enjoyed by all and with a final thank you everyone we say farewell until next year and then we’ll be back!
Due to space constrictions a Sweet William article for September was not printed in the magazine but it is available on the website. Log on to www.thornburyinbloom.co.uk there you will find all sorts of information.
By Sweet William - August 2007
We seek it here, we seek it there...
Suddenly it was dark. I had been so engrossed with the latest copy of the Wizard (it may have been the Hotspur) that I had failed to hear my mother entering my bedroom to tell me that it was time to put out the light and get off to sleep, as I had to be up in the morning to go to school. As I was miles away she gave one flick of the switch and darkness descended and despite my protests that was that. However, I had a trick up my sleeve or rather under my pillow for there was my secret weapon for beating the lights out regime, a torch! Under the bedclothes I went and carried on reading about the adventures of Wilson, The Wolf of Kabul and his sidekick Chung and many others. These boys’ papers attracted some negative comments even though they were well written and if one wanted to follow the adventures of your own heroes you had to learn to read and once you had the reading bug you progressed to other forms of literature. I for one am very grateful to the Wizards of that old fashioned world for giving me a life long interest in reading all sorts of books and papers.
I recall the ‘Just William’ books (how did the female author get the name Richmal?) Some Tom Sawyer stories, Treasure Island, Death on the Nile and a super yarn The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy a member of the Hungarian nobility; now there’s a thing to impress a young lad. The Pimpernel was in reality an upper crust Englishman who constantly outwitted the French Revolutionaries by smuggling aristocrats out of France and eluding capture hence the saying 'We seek him here, we seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere that damned elusive Pimpernel'.
Now we in Thornbury have been seeking our own elusive objective which is to win top spot in our Britain in Bloom group: we have Gold awards which reflect our high standards over the years but our own elusive Pimpernel has given us the slip. Can we capture it this year? The judging team have been around the town with members of the Committee and all ended up like drowned rats for it probably was the worst day of this wretched summer but we believe that the judges were suitably impressed with the floral displays, Mundy playing fields, Filmore Woods ,the wild flower meadow and other areas which were on the judges route. There is nothing we can do now except to patiently wait until September 20th when all will be revealed in the Cornish resort of St. Ives. What a triumph that would be if we could capture our Pimpernel in the fortress of one of our biggest rivals.