ALPINE GARDEN SOCIETY EAST LANCS GROUP
SPRING is in the air in Rossendale. But blue skies and sunshine have been in short supply in the valley in 2024 so far!
Outdoor activities have involved warm jackets, waterproofs and wellies for the most part, goodness knows what the plants feel about it.
John Dower dispelled such gloomy thoughts at our April meeting when recounting his 2005 visit to Dubai.
It was hot! 40˚ hot!
John is a brilliant speaker and he soon had his audience enjoying the heat too.
He contrasted the opulence of his hotel with the starkness of the desert and the strange plants that made it their home.
Camels too of course, though he had not taken the opportunity to take a ride.
The sight of John on a camel would have tickled us all, but we had to remain disappointed.
Sunshine shone out of his slides, fed the soul and galvanised us into the task of selecting prize-winners at the end of season ‘mini-show.’
Our last evening meeting of the season is an opportunity for members to exhibit some of their favourite ‘alpines’ in friendly competition.
The East Lancashire group is fortunate to include some of the finest and most knowledgeable alpine gardeners in the country, so the range and quality of plants on display proved a challenge to everyone.
Nevertheless a clear and deserved winner emerged, ‘Best in Show’ was Norman Davies from Burnley with his magnificent Arisaema ringens.
All the plants were splendid, but so were the
cakes we enjoyed afterwards!
The ‘alpine’ year is not yet quite complete.
On Saturday May 4 between 11am and 3.30pm, the East Lancs Alpine Garden Society hosts ‘The National
Flower Show and Plant Fair.’
Gardeners and growers from all over the North of England will be bringing the beautiful, the rare and the exotic to The Ashcroft on Market Street, Whitworth, a wonderful opportunity for local garden lovers to enjoy a prestigious flower show on their own doorstep.
Plants from all over the world, grown to perfection!
Specialist nurseries will be there providing a wide range of alpine plants and expert advice on their care and well-being.
Admission is £4 but free to children and AGS members.
A bar and refreshments are available too and cakes!
Flowers and cakes, what a very good day out!
We look forward to meeting everyone who has a passion for flowers and gardening.
CENTRAL METHODIST LADIES
THE ladies certainly knew a lot more about farming after the meeting than they did at the beginning!
The Rev David Burrow entertained the group with humorous tales of himself and his farming family.
The family’s interest in farm life went back many decades, so there were many stories to tell.
One tale he told was of himself cleaning, shovelling and sweeping the floor of the barn where the bull was kept.
He felt safe because the bull was tied up, but the bull broke free and David had to run outside and jump over a wall to safety.
They had many sheep dogs over the years, but he
told of two with quite different personalities.
The dogs always were kept outside, but one dog was scared of thunder and was brought inside where she went between her master’s legs and stayed under the table until the storm was over.
Another dog was very laid back and had a mind of her own.
She was ordered to round the cows up from the other end of the field and bring them home.
She set off and went halfway up the field and then disappeared and the farmer had to do her job himself. She later came ambling back just in time for her tea.
One of the horses was difficult to ride and most of the riders had been thrown off at some stage, but not David’s Dad, who boasted he was the only one who could ride her safely.
One day he was unlucky and came off and the horse bolted.
The family had a laugh
as they saw the horse galloping away with the rider in full pursuit.
David brought along two handmade walking sticks and said every member of the family had one, there had been hundreds made over the years.
The ladies were handed a quiz sheet “a few things rural” to try to answer.
There were 24 questions and also six pictures of different kinds of wild deer living in Britain to identify.
A lot of answers were guesses but at least the ladies now know how many front teeth a sheep has on its upper jaw, why pigs have rings in their noses and how many offspring a breeding pair of rats produce in a year.
So, they had an amusing, educational and entertaining afternoon delving into farm life which was enjoyed by everyone.
The next meeting is on Tuesday when Richard Hall will visit the group.
The talk “Listening In The Dark” will be a musical afternoon starting at 2p.m. All ladies welcome.
ROSSENDALE RAMBLERS
WE had begun to think that it would never happen, but this week we had three walks in excellent weather!
On Wednesday, 21 ramblers enjoyed glorious scenery on quite a tough 10-mile walk from Settle.
The views from the Dales High Way and the Pennine Bridleway included Malham Tarn and the Yorkshire three peaks.
On Saturday, glorious sunshine greeted 21 more walkers on a two-hour pub walk from Edenfield.
The centrepiece of this walk was Chatterton, where a member of the Workers’ Uprising Bicentennial Committee explained the background to the events of April 1826, when six people were shot
dead in the village by the military, much as happened at Peterloo in Manchester in 1819.
The majority of the walkers enjoyed a thoughtful lunch in a local cafe after the walk.
The sun stayed out on the following day, when 16 walkers enjoyed an eight-mile walk from Heywood, taking in quite a number of old mills in the area, thereby linking back to the power loom protests that we heard about on the day before.
Coming up, on Sunday, we have a leisurely eight-mile walk from Newton in Bowland.
The Forest of Bowland is an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), and is one of our favourite walking areas.
Then on Wednesday we offer a varied 10-mile walk from Skipton that will take in parts of the Dales High Way and Millennium Way, plus several moorland stretches. On anything like a good day, the views will be excellent.
Finally, on the evening of Thursday, we have our first evening pub walk of this year, which will be a two-hour walk from a pub in Bury, with optional refreshments in the pub afterwards.
These pub walks are an excellent way for new walkers to get to know us, so we hope to see you there.
Our walks are free, but after three walks with us we ask you to join The Ramblers, at a cost of only £3.42 per month.
Further information about Rossendale Ramblers can be found on our website at www. rossendale-ramblers. co.uk or you can contact us via secretary Bernie on 07752 570 304, or at inforosram@gmail.com