A bulb masterclass is the next event of the Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society. Beginning with a talk about the variety of bulbs providing flowers throughout the year at the award-winning Forde Abbey 30-acre garden, the evening moves on to a how-to demonstration on planting bulbs of the daffodil, tulip and crocus families, then a have-a-go session at planting your own spring bulbs to take home – with pots, bulbs and compost provided. There will be bulbs for sale, and coffee, tea and committee member Rob Harvey’s celebrated cake to provide a chance to be sociable. The bulb evening is Wednesday, October 23rd, at 7.30pm at Uplyme Village Hall.

Everyone is welcome, admission is free for members, £2 for non-members.

After more than 20 years regularly competing in the Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society’s shows, John Wood won the prestigious Bullock Cup for most points overall in the Autumn Show on Saturday September 21st. “It was just luck. I entered the same classes as usual with entries of a similar standard, but the competition was less fierce.” says John with modesty.

The full show results were:
Bullock Cup (most points overall) John Wood
Dr Mutch Cup (best exhibit roses) Tony Cook
Dahlia Trophy (best exhibit) Roy Keeley
Musto Cup (most points vegetables) John Wood
Stan Parker Cup (best exhibit chrysanthemums) Roy Keeley
Stevens Memorial Cup (best exhibit fruit) David Edwards
Stobo Memorial Cup (best exhibit tomatoes) Paula Wyon-Brown
Mrs Thomas Cup (most points home produce) Ann Prince
Diploma (best exhibit pot plants) Sylvia Rickard
Diploma (best exhibit vegetables) Jane Garland

Prizes in the Fun Classes went to:
Chris Corbyn for A Christmas Card
Rosemary Bowler for the Longest Bean
Rosemary Bowler for the Tastiest Raspberry
Peter Hampton for his photograph of a Local Snow Scene

Jenny Harding, chairman of Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society presenting cups to John Wood, overall winner of the Autumn Show.

Proceeds from our highly successful summer show enabled donations to a variety of local charities. At the Society’s autumn show on Saturday September 21st chairman Jenny Harding presented a cheque for £450 to Axe Valley and West Dorset Ring-and-Ride. Other organisations receiving gifts were: Uplyme Village Hall £150, Uplyme and Lyme Regis Cricket Club £70, King George V Playing Field £50 and St John’s Ambulance £70.

Sandra Ward, receiving the cheque on behalf of the Ring-and-Ride, said “This is manna from heaven. The service is experiencing unprecedented numbers of users, and gifts such as this are crucial.” The charity operates a minibus for the elderly, disabled or disadvantaged people in the local area, picking up passengers from home and taking them into town for shopping or to use local services.

Peter Williams, director, Stan Williams, treasurer, and Sandra Ward, chairman, of Axe Valley Ring-and-Ride receiving a cheque for £450 from Jenny Harding, chairman of Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society

Enjoy an evening in the tropics – the Society’s next evening talk,  Abbotsbury Gardens – Past, Present and Future by Steve Griffith, Curator of Abbotsbury Gardens, is on Wednesday, September 25th, at 7.30pm at Uplyme Village Hall.

Steve’s illustrated talk tells how this unique woodland valley garden has been transformed and restored since it started life in 1765. It is the story of its history and present development, highlighting its unique microclimate, new rare plant collections and tender plants that survive outside in its subtropical environment.

Following the talk will be an opportunity to ask questions and meet fellow gardeners and plant enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome; admission is free for members, £2 non-members, and refreshments will be available.

Our Autumn Show and Plant Sale will be on Saturday September 21st from 2pm to 4pm at Uplyme Village Hall – a show of late-summer flowers, foliage, fruit and vegetables, as well as floral art, cookery and preserves.

Take a look at the schedule to see which classes you might enter, then submit your entry form by Wednesday 18th September. It is open to everyone, members and non-members. Download the schedule here or pick up a printed copy from Uplyme Post Office, Raymond’s Hill Post Office and Ginger Beer in Lyme Regis.

Afternoon tea, coffee and home-made cake will be available from Pam ‘the Jam’ Corbin and her team. There will plants, produce and hand-made craft items for sale.

Donations of plants and produce – cakes, jams, fruit and vegetables – to sell to raise funds for the Society will be gratefully received at the hall from 9am on the morning of the show.

Further details are available from show secretary Brian Cursley on 07831 533580

At the end of June, the society planted three trees on the grass triangle opposite the church to replace the Horse Chestnut. They are Devon Whitebeam (Sorbus devoniensis), Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) and Double White Hawthorn (Craetagus laevigata “Plena”  We hope these will all flourish and provide a lasting feature to enhance our beautiful village.

Already we are planning our competitive Autumn Show and Bring & Buy Plant Sale, which takes place at Uplyme Village Hall, Saturday, September 21st, from 2pm to 4pm. Admission: adults £1, children free. Printed schedules are now available from Uplyme Post Office, Raymond’s Hill Post Office and Ginger Beer in Broad Street, Lyme Regis, or download here.
Donations of plants and produce (cakes, jams, fruit and vegetables) to sell to help raise funds will be gratefully received at the hall from 9am on the morning of the show.

DIARY DATES

Sunday August 18th – a coach trip to Highgrove the home of Prince Charles. This is extra to those trips listed in the programme. The cost is £25 for members. There are a few seats available on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to go please let me know as soon as possible.

Wednesday August 28th 7.30pm – talk ‘Designing a Show Garden’ by Hugo Bugg, RHS Young Designer of the Year 2010 and Gold medallist RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. PLEASE NOTE the venue for this talk is Woodmead Halls, Hill Road, Lyme Regis. Admission: members free, non-members £2

Tuesday September 10th – coach trip to National Trust’s Avebury Manor and Gardens as featured in the BBC’s ‘To the Manor Reborn’, plus Avebury Henge, the world famous stone circle – similar to Stonehenge but here you can walk beside and touch the mystical ancient stones originally placed in position about 2600BC. Coach fare: members £11, non-members £13. Departing at 8am from Uplyme Village Hall. Please ring Rob Harvey on 01297 631664 as soon as possible to reserve your place on the coach.

Wednesday September 25th 7.30pm – talk ‘Abbotsbury Gardens Past, Present and Future’ by Steve Griffith curator of Abbotsbury Gardens. Admission: members free, non-members £2.

TOUR OF ROSE FIELDS

Members and guests enjoyed a visit to St. Bridget’s Rose Fields in Exeter on Tuesday, July 23rd, where they learnt about the production of roses and were able to see the various stages in situ.The sunny weather enabled the fragrance of the fields of flowering roses to be fully appreciated. They were also able to see plants being raised from cuttings in the extensive glasshouses and polytunnels at St. Bridget’s, where all plants sold are home-grown.

LOST PROPERTY . . . ?

Certain Summer Show handicraft exhibits were accidentally left behind at the end of show day. Please call me on 01297 443793 if you think one of them might be yours.

DIARY DATES

Tuesday July 23rd – St Bridget’s Rose Fields near Exeter, an afternoon visit and tour departing in shared cars from Uplyme Village Hall at 1.40pm. To book your place please phone Ann Prince 01297 443793 or 07901 932535 by July 20th. Members free; non-members welcome £2.

Wednesday July 31st 7.30 pm – ‘Snakes Alive’ the scariest ticket in town. Not photographs but the real thing – a display and talk on snakes and exotic reptiles by Tiny Boas of Exeter in support of Lifeboat Week. This is an all ticket evening in Uplyme Village Hall. Adults £3, under 16s £1. Tickets available from Uplyme Post Office and the Lifeboat Shop, Cobb Square, Lyme Regis. Dare you come?

Every July we hire a huge marquee and hold a Summer Show at the Uplyme Village Hall and Playing Field. This is the 84th year and it will be held on Saturday, July 20th between 12noon and 5.00pm. Entrance £2.00, car parking free.

There are trophies and awards in fruit, flower and vegetable classes, as well as floral art, home produce, handicrafts and photography. And there are hotly-contested classes for eggs, home-made wine, ‘fun’ entries and those for juniors.

To see how you might compete, download the Summer Show schedule 2013 which contains a full list of classes that you can enter as well as notes on awards, judges and recipes. It also includes the official entry form. Download an entry form 2013 if you need extras of that page only. Or you can obtain a free printed copy of the schedule at Uplyme Post Office, Raymonds Hill Post Office and Ginger Beer in Lyme Regis. Entry forms need to be in by 9pm on Wednesday July 17th. Compete in as many classes as you wish. Entry is open to all – members and non-members – and there is no fee.

entries on display

The day’s entertainment will include marquee displays of all show entries, and the presentation of awards. Out on the playing field and in the village hall will be an afternoon of fun with a countryside theme.

• The River Cottage team returns – this year Head Gardener Craig Rudman and assistant Will Livingstone. Craig will give a talk on the unexpected versatility and delicacy of edible flowers, both cultivated and foraged from the wild. He and Will are also judging two new show classes sponsored by River Cottage.River Cottage Head Gardener Craig Rudman

• There will be birds-of-prey displays – twice – see the awesome power of eagles, cute and cuddly owls and falcons swooping past at 150mph.

• A miniature steam-train will be running all afternoon with free rides for those small enough to climb aboard.Steam train with small passengers

• Non-stop live music and dancing will be performed by Uplyme Morris Men, No Mean Feet Appalachian dancers, Black Velvet Band, the Shanty Singers and Uplyme music-man Ian Thompson.

• Cute canines will compete in the various classes of the Family Dog Show. See contestants being put through their paces – for ‘The Most Appealing Eyes’ or ‘The Waggiest Tail’.

• Children will be urged to join in races and fairground amusements – with a bouncy castle, a ‘test your strength’ machine, fun rides and candy floss.

• East Devon bee keepers will be there to offer advice on apiculture. They will bring an observation hive of live bees (totally enclosed!) and invite you to join in honey-tasting.

• Wattle-hurdlemaker Alan Brown, sixth generation of a family making traditional hurdles from Dorset coppiced hazels will demonstrate one of the oldest country crafts.

• Ladies of the Rousdon Spinners will produce woollen yarn from sheep and alpaca fleeces. Ask them questions, compare their different spinning wheels, have a go… and find out why last year’s fleece of an alpaca named Daisy is special.

• Lyme Regis Museum researchers Graham Davies and Richard Wells will present a continuous slide show Parish of Uplyme, Past and Present and will be delighted to answer questions about Uplyme’s history – find them in the village hall throughout the afternoon.

• Sideshows testing skill and luck come in many familiar guises – tombolas, raffles and coconut shies – but nothing can prepare you for edible tombola and… croquet.

• Local artisans will display their wares for sale – potters, blacksmiths and wood-joiner craftsmen; nurserymen who grow plants, orchard-tenders who make cider, and farmers who shear their alpacas for wool; basket-weavers, candle-makers, fudge-producers, ice-cream makers and even a 5-minute-portrait artist.Sitting Spiritually – here exhibiting their seating at Chelsea – will be at our show

• For visitors who crave a sit down and a cup of tea, River Cottage’s Pam-the-Jam Corbin and her team will be serving sandwiches, delicious strawberry cream teas and home-baked cakes that will make you feel nurtured – all in the village hall.

• And for those who prefer ‘grazing’ outside on the field, the Mary Jane Food Truck will serve Caribbean-style dishes. Olivia Holmes with friends Jess and Julie will be offering jerk chicken with rice and peas, a vegetarian or a goat curry.Olivia and Jess at the Mary Jane Food Truck

• There will be a beer tent featuring Mighty Hop, a family-owned Lyme Regis micro brewery, with its cask beers on tap. They’ll also be offering a choice of wine.

• Emma Stapleforth will be serving her Rumpy Scrumpy farmhouse cider, made from local hand-picked cider apples, fermented in oak whiskey barrels.                            Emma Stapleforth with her prizewinning farmhouse cider

• Especially made to be served at the show is a fresh batch of Pam’s elderflower cordial – a sharp, lemony, thirst-quenching drink.

• The show’s Grand Raffle will have cash prizes – a first of £50 – as well as complimentary tickets for local entertainments: Lyme’s Regent Cinema, Seaton Tramway, Pecorama and a family fossil walk with geologists Paddy and Chris of the museum. Plus prizes of local restaurant meals, cream teas, hampers – even a haircut and blow-dry.

Programme of Saturday’s events

8.00am   Marquee opens to exhibitors to stage their entries

10.00am  Marquee closes to exhibitors
10.15am  Judging commences
12 noon   Show opens
12.30pm  Birds-of-prey display by Xtreme Falconry
2.00pm   Taste the Flowers talk – River Cottage’s Craig Rudman
2.30pm    Family Dog Show – fun classes for family pets
3.15pm    Children’s races on the field
4.00pm    Birds-of-prey display by Xtreme Falconry
4.45pm    Presentation of awards and raffle draw
5.00pm    Exhibits may be removed