October 2012 meeting.

This month, the speaker was Harry Brickwood, speaking on "Gardens to visit". He is a well known gardener who lives in Rayleigh, Essex. He, and some friends,  have won a gold medal at Chelsea, after a few silvers, with his exhibit called "English Villa Town Garden". There were  250 Clematis plants in it, wound around several trellises. 

The first of his slides went through the months of the year, with spectacular flowers in bloom at that time. My favourite was the Horse Chestnut blossom. A branch had been blown down onto the ground, so he was able to get a close-up shot of it. His favourite flower are peonies, roses and lilies, which he has been growing for 10 years. 

Harry Brickwood with Peter.

The BBC payed a visit to his garden for "Gardeners World" last July. Monty Don interviewed him and it was fascinating to hear him speak of all the work involved in presenting the programme, even down to having to have a radio, a mug of tea and plate of biscuits on a small table for the photographer to film.  They asked him the same ten questions over & over again, so he would be word perfect when the actual clip was filmed.  His wife was also filmed helping out with the hanging baskets, but said there were a lot of tasks she was not allowed to do, especially around his lilies!  He spends about two hours a day, just dead heading them.

Some of his more atmospheric shots were due to some advice he had been given by a friend, and that was "always have a camera with you". He does guided tours, so some of the gardens he showed us were abroad. There were also many a lot closer to home, including Sheffield Park in the Autumn, which was where our last club visit was to (See previous article on this blog).

After his presentation he asked for questions, which he answered. The club will visit his garden sometime in the future.

One of our newer members is Carol Hudson, Peter and she recognised each other. Apparently, they used to work together about 20 years ago, from 1989 to 1993, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Carol worked in Building Services. Isn't it a small world?

Carol Hudson and Peter.

Some of you may have noticed that Jeanette, the lady who collects the subs at the back of the hall near Kathy, was  AWOL during the meeting. It was for a very good reason, the day before she had been made a great grandmother to a beautiful baby girl, called Alexis. She weighed in at a healthy 7 and a half  pounds. Her Mum, Lisa, went to hospital just before 8am, and Alexis was born just before 12 midday.  Didn't she do well?  Needless to say, Jeanette couldn't wait for her first cuddle, so went to visit as soon as they were home from hospital, hence her absence from the club.

One of our members has a recommendation to make regarding a good tradesman, his name is Ray Bond, a qualified electrician. He is based in Havering.  His telephone numbers are:

 0208 599 1851.  Mobile no: 0770 8010 595.

e-mail: ray.bond58@hotmail.co.uk

It was a very busy club night, as well as everything else going on, a list was being passed around by Loretta, for everybody to note down what they will bring to next months "social" meeting. We have a buffet and Peter has booked a singer to entertain us. So as to get a good mix of food, and not end up with all crisps and mince pies, the list was created and members asked to tick off what they would bring. If you could not attend this meeting but will be coming next month, and would like to contribute to the goodies, please contact Kathy . She has the list & will be able to tell you if anything specific is needed.

At the November meeting, the 2013 programme will be distributed.