Berry in Bloom
BERRY IN BLOOM
We had a great start to 2022 with a village spring clean and litter pick on Saturday 5th March. Many of the regular bloomers turned out along with some new village helpers and in just a couple of hours almost all the litter pick areas were covered and some areas, such as the car park and back of the shop, had a good spring clean.
The wildflower area in the dog walking field was strimmed and more wildflower seeds have been scattered.
Then, most importantly, we all enjoyed a cuppa and a slice of cake outside in the lovely spring sunshine. Thank you to everyone involved, hopefully we shall be holding another village clean up on 30th April.
The village is planning a big celebration for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, 3rd, 4rh and 5th of June. As a fundraiser for this weekend, there will be a Soup, Pud and Quiz Evening at the Manor Hall on Saturday, 9th April. Doors will open at 6.45 for a 7.30 p.m. start. Tickets £10.00 available from the Shop.
Any offers of donations of a soup or a pud would be gratefully accepted.
26
BERRY IN BLOOM
Happy new year to all of you. Let's hope that 2022 is happy and healthy for us all.
Berry in Bloom held a Christmas themed Fun Quiz in December with mince pies, sausage rolls, pigs in blankets and other seasonal goodies. Phil was once again our Quiz Master and the musical bingo round he set with Christmas carols was fiendish, so well done to anyone who got a full house. Thank you to the shop for providing us with lots of goodies for a Christmas hamper. After expenses we made around £300.
The carol singing in the square with mulled wine and mince pies was very well attended. It was a fine evening, although a bit of panic set in as it poured with rain all that afternoon and at one time we thought we might have to open the Manor Hall. Thank you to everyone who donated wine, 34 bottles and we still had only enough to go round! Thanks to Nic at The Globe for the mince pies plus extra donated by Berry in Bloom and the new Christmas lights provided by the Parish Council added to the atmosphere. There was a collection made of £364.00. Half went to the Manor Hall and half to the Devon Air Ambulance. A lovely way to start Christmas.
We were donated some plugs of the common but beautiful primrose and have planted them in the grass verge at the car park. Let's hope we shall soon see their cheerful little flowers telling us spring has arrived.
This coming year we are hoping to recruit some new members, as the old saying goes 'tempus fugit' and some of the bloomers are beginning to show their age! So, would any of you young villagers like to come and help keep the village looking ship-shape and well loved? If you think you can, just contact me, Wendy Applegate, on 07436811657.
24
BERRY IN BLOOM
Wendy
21
BERRY IN BLOOM
This summer there have been so many visitors in our village
and, having spoken to a few, they have said how much they enjoy all the
flowers.The hanging baskets made by Sally, Dan and Oli
have been great and the new and extended watering systems have kept everything
in tiptop condition.
At the time of writing, we are still awaiting the results of
the competition but I am hopeful we shall be awarded GOLD again.
Our
next task will be to take out all the summer bedding and get in the spring
bulbs. So, the annual cycle of spring
and autumn goes round again.
Jean has been very busy again this year taking cuttings and
raising seed, and once again has very kindly donated half of the takings to
Berry in Bloom, an amazing £1910.00. Well done,
Jean, we are so
grateful.
We must not forget Gill, in the Sterridge Valley, who has
also been growing plants for us.Gill grew all the plants for the tubs and
planters at cost price and has also been selling cuttings and young plants at
the gate for Berry in Bloom.Thank you,
too, Gill for your donation of £250.00.
Once again we are extremely grateful to both of you, and to
Arthur and Andy for helping their wives with their efforts.Also
thank you to all the villagers for buying the plants.
We are hoping to start our own fund-raising now that most of
the covid restrictions have eased, and Phil has agreed to be Quiz Master once
again for a Fun Quiz and Supper on Saturday,
16th October in the Manor
Hall.Tickets are on sale in the Village Shop.Supper will be good old cottage pie with a
vegetarian option and a cupcake to follow. Teams of roughly up to 8.Doors
open at 6.45 for a 7.15 p.m. start. Hope
to see you there.
10
BERRY IN BLOOM
The whole Berry in Bloom team are shocked and saddened by
the sudden death of Alan Eales. Alan
was our No.1 man to go to for help with everything we do around the
village. With his smiling face and
cheerful manner, he was always willing to help and could provide all manner of equipment
from hedge cutter to tractor and trailer.
Alan you will be sorely missed and Barbara our hearts go out to you.
Alan's
death came as we were preparing for the judging on 6th July and we had to pick
ourselves up and get on with the job, and I am very grateful to those in our
group who stepped into the breach in so many ways.
This
year, because of covid, we only had 1 judge, Tim Eley. We
started in the car park and shop then visited Jean to see the wonderful job she
is doing in growing plants for sale at the gate and in raising almost £2.000
for the Hospice and Berry in Bloom. Then on to see the planter and sign at the top
of Barton Lane and down to the harbour and castle. This gives the judge an overview of the
village. We travelled up the Sterridge Valley
to visit this year's 'growers'; firstly, Gill and Andy who grew the
plants for the tubs. and then Dan, Oli and Sally who grew and planted all the
hanging baskets which the judge was very complimentary about.
Then back to the car park where the
judging continued on foot through the centre of the village, taking in Claude's
Garden and as far as the small dog walking field to see the wild flowers
planted last year in lockdown. Finally, we
met some of the children and teachers at the Pre-school where the Berry in Bloom
team have been turning a stinging nettle infested corner into a child-friendly
wildlife and growing area.
Tim
then joined some of the team in the Manor Hall for refreshments and a chat.
We
don't get the results until October but I am quietly confident and hope it is a
GOLD for Alan's sake.
8
BERRY IN BLOOM
Following about six weeks of extremely dry and cold weather,
sadly, the spring bedding was a bit disappointing and soon over. Also. the summer bedding being brought on by
Andy and Gill in their
poly tunnel, by Alan in his greenhouse, and the hanging basket plants being
grown by Dan and Oli and team, have also been held back by the extremely cold
nights.
No doubt the weather now warming up a bit will mean we can
have our usual bright summer displays but we shall probably have to wait a week
or so longer than usual for the plants to catch up. It's very exciting this year as we are having
everything grown by people who live in Berrynarbor, all very local and I'm sure
the judges will approve.
This year the date for judging the South/West in Bloom
Competition is Tuesday 6th July. We
have just two hours to show the judges the work we have been doing around the
village and for them to meet the good people who have been doing it. Once again, we are going for GOLD.
You might see our team busy around the village and if you
want to join us or know more about us, please contact me on 07436811657.
21
BERRY IN BLOOM
'Spring has Sprung'
At the time of writing, it is the most glorious sunny spring day and there is hope on the horizon as we slowly come out of lockdown 3. Never have we needed the sight of a golden daffodil more!
We have been informed that there will be a Britain in Bloom competition this year and we have started preparing ourselves to go for GOLD once again. We think Berrynarbor is the best little village in the South West, let's hope the R.H.S. Judges do too.
For the last 10 years or so our hanging basket displays have been done by Streamways nursery in Georgeham, when they sold the nursery they still did ours privately. Their baskets have been wonderful and we are sad to lose them, but wish them a very happy retirement.
However, we are extremely lucky that Dan and Oli have moved in to the Sterridge Valley and with their family have set up a poly-tunnel and have agreed to plant up the baskets for us.
Welcome to Berrynarbor to the whole family and good luck with your new venture. We love the idea of keeping things local and all helping each other. They have informed me that they are happy to re-fill baskets for anyone else in the village.
Hopefully we shall gradually be able to get back to normal and we hope the sight of a few cheerful flowers around the village should help.
17
17
Artwork: Angela Bartlett
18
BERRY IN BLOOM
Spring came early this year and what a glorious spring and early summer it was and a great help to us all as we went into lockdown. How glad we were to be living in beautiful Berrynarbor.
In our small way Berry in Bloom tried to help by planting up the tubs and putting up the hanging baskets as usual. A splash of colour as villagers took their daily exercise. A little bit of normality.
This year we have not been able to hold our usual fund-raising summer events and we are not certain we shall be able to have our annual Quiz and Supper Night in February next year and we need
around £2,000 a year to maintain the displays. We could have been in trouble for next year BUT Jean Lashford has single handedly donated £930.00 to Berry in Bloom. This money was raised by Jean from the sale of plants at her gate halfway up Barton lane. All these plants she grew from cuttings, seeds and some plants re-cycled from the Berry in Bloom tubs. and we should like to give her a huge thank you. She also gave the same sum to the hospice, they were thrilled too . Well done Jean! I know many of us enjoyed a wander up the lane to see what goodies we could buy when we were not allowed to visit garden centres.
We are also indebted to Pat and Maureen from Fuchsia Cottage who donated £227. 00 towards the planting of the wild flowers in the dog walking field. We are pleased that after a late start the flowers are blooming nicely, the bees are buzzing and hopefully the flowers will set seed for next year. Thank you, villagers, and finally thank you to the Parish Council for their continued support. Wendy
The dog walking area:
Before
After
19
BERRY IN BLOOM
Thank goodness for beautiful Berrynarbor we are so lucky to live in this lovely village and never more so than in these difficult times.
This year because of the corona virus, all competitions were cancelled. However, this has not stopped the group from planting up the tubs, and hanging out the hanging baskets around the village. We had already put in our orders for plants and we do it for the love of our village not just to win the competition.
We did have problems though as Grow@Jigsaw who supply our plants were unable at the last moment to fulfil our order because of social distancing - they work with many who are in the at risk group. We had to put in a last-minute order to St John's garden centre and although the plants were of a good quality, cost us more.
We managed all the planting out while socially distancing and even managed a cuppa and slice of cake 2 metres apart in the village square.
Wild flower planting in the small dog walking field has been completed. The seed and plug plants arrived in lockdown and at the beginning of 8 weeks of dry, sunny weather. The plug plants were tiny so we potted them up [300 plugs] and waited. We have only planted approximately a quarter of the small field, an area to the left and right of the lower half of the field on either side of the new path. The seed has also been sown which comprises annual and perennial wild flowers. We waited until the dry spell of weather ended or the seed would otherwise have been expensive bird food!
To fund this project we had a donation of £227.00 from a couple of generous villagers and that was matched by a grant from the North Devon District Council. We now await the results in hopeful anticipation of a glorious display of wild flowers. We do not intend to do anything in the large dog walking field as the grass there needs to be kept shorter.
Unfortunately, we are not able to hold any fund-raising events this summer but hope we will be able to nearer Christmas or in the new year when hopefully life becomes a bit more normal.
19
BERRY IN BLOOM.
What a difference two months can bring! All the plans Berry in Bloom had made for
this coming year have changed because of the corona virus and lockdown.
The main change is that all competitions this year have been
cancelled. There will be no open gardens
this year and therefore no summer fund raising. However, the plants for the tubs and containers
around the village were ordered from Grow@Jigsaw
in January and up until the beginning of May the team at Jigsaw were certain
that they would be able to deliver the plants.
Sadly, they then realised the delivery would be impossible because of
social distancing. Berry in Bloom are
sad for them as they had invested lots of money and effort and will end up
seriously out of pocket. However, we
have managed to get a last minute replacement order delivered from St. John's
Barnstaple and have been able to empty and plant the tubs, either by single
persons or in lockdown couples. The
hanging basket are due for delivery at the end of May. We hope that all of you in our lovely village
will feel heartened and have your spirits lifted in a small way.
Let us
all hope that by the Autumn we shall be able to socialise
again, something we are all sorely missing.
The planting of the wild flowers in the small dog walking
field has been put on hold as when the plug plants arrived, we were in the
middle of five weeks with no rain and the plugs were tiny. We have
potted them up and are growing them on until they are big enough to withstand
the weather. Likewise, the sowing of
the seed that would have not germinated in the dry and would have become
fancy birdseed. This is definitely a
work in progress.
9
BERRY IN
BLOOM
This spring the Berry in Bloom team will once again be
filling the tubs around the centre of the village with summer flowering plants
and putting up the hanging baskets. However,
the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom judges are
putting great emphasis on encouraging wild flowers and natural planting.
Last autumn we were given permission by the Parish council
to plant wild flowers in the first, smaller dog walking field. Because
of the terrible wet weather, a path has been laid to allow the walkers to
access the larger field. We propose to
plant two areas either side of the path.
These areas are in the process of having the grass removed/killed to
give the plug plants. perennial wild flowers such as ox-eye daisies, a better
chance to get established. We are also proposing
to scatter wild flower seed. It is hoped
this double whammy will show quicker results.
It will, however, probably take around three years to reach
fruition.
The plug plants will cost £270.00 and
Berry in Bloom will fund these. We have applied for a grant from Andrea Davies,
our District Councillor, to buy the seeds which will also cost £270. 00. This will be our main project for 2020.
This year to raise funds we should like
to have an Open Gardens afternoon. Two dates were suggested, either the 21st or
28th of June. Obviously, this all depends on the good folks
of Berrynarbor allowing us to open their gardens. It was proposed to have 5 or 6 of the gardens
in the centre of the village open with teas served in the manor hall. If you live fairly centrally, would you be
willing to open your garden for 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon? Don't worry, we're not looking for perfection!
If you would, please let me know. Tel 07436811657.
Wendy
10
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
January and February are not a
very busy time for the bloomers to be out and about planting and weeding but it
is a busy time planning for the coming year.
Our plant order has been sent to
Grow Jigsaw and no doubt the wonderful team there will soon be sowing and
potting up in their greenhouses. We are moving forward with our plans for introducing
more wild flowers to the dog walking area and litter picks will recommence in
February.
Our next fund-raising event is our annual Quiz and Supper
evening on February 7th with Phil as our quiz master and our famous cottage pie
supper. Tickets available from the shop at £10.00. The manor hall doors open at 6.45 p.m. with
the quiz starting at 7.15 p.m. and the supper about 8.00 p.m. There will be a vegetarian option. So, get
your team together [up to 8] and come and join in the fun.
The AGM will be held on Wednesday, 12th February, at 7
o'clock in The Globe. Everyone in invited.
The
Berry in Bloom team is friendly and always welcomes newcomers so if you fancy
helping us in any way you are welcome to come and join in. Phone Wendy on 07436811657
18
BERRY IN BLOOM
In this year's R.H.S Britain in Bloom campaign, Berry in Bloom were awarded GOLD. As this is the highest award, we are all thrilled! What a great team the village has - many thanks to everyone involved.
The judging marks are divided between Horticulture 40%, Environment 30%, and Community 30%. This year we have been working especially on the Environment aspect. With permission from the Parish Council, we are leaving some places and a section of the dog walking field with longer grass and hopefully the wild flowers will return to these areas. We have spread some hay from a local wild flower meadow hoping that the seed will fall and generate, but we shall also be adding some wild flower plugs. This will take at least 3 years to get going so keep an eye open for our progress. If you spot a scruffy area with a blue wooden heart it will be an area we are trying to re-wild so please bear with us.
The team is standing down until the spring except for two fund- raising events. The first on 7th December in the Manor hall starting at 2.30 p.m. with the doors opening at 2.00 p.m. This will be an afternoon with a Berry in Bloom Christmas Tea accompanied by our Village Choir singing Christmas songs and a light hearted table quiz. Judie will be running a raffle towards funds for the newsletter. Do come along and support us, and on a cold afternoon enjoy a lovely tea and some singing. Tickets £5.00 available from the Shop. The second will be our annual Quiz Night with Quizmaster Phil and this will be on Friday, 7th February in the Manor Hall.
Once again, we'll be singing Christmas Carols in the square on Christmas Eve, commencing at 6.30 p.m. with Phil Bridle on the organ and the singing led by Tony Summers.
Make sure you come promptly as a little bird has told me the singing will commence with a solo from a visiting opera singer! Mulled wine and mince pies will be served, and Colin and myself, at Bessemer Thatch, will be gratefully accepting bottles of red wine towards the refreshments. In case of a downpour, we'll move to The Globe.
I am addicted to marzipan so when I saw this Christmas recipe I thought I'd give it a try.
12
BERRY IN
BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
It's
September and the bedding in the tubs and the hanging baskets is looking very
tired as the weather has been either baking hot or wet and chilly. It will soon be time to replace everything with
spring bulbs and bedding. However, everything looked wonderful when the
South West in Bloom
judges came on 22nd July 22. The whole team had worked so hard and I am
sure that the judges were impressed, especially with the wonderful community
spirit in the village. However, we are
still waiting for the results that will be announced at the presentation in
Newquay on 11th
October. Many thanks to everyone who
supported us.
The
community spirit was certainly on display when we held our fund
raising Tea on the Lawn afternoon on Sunday 11th August.Claire and Jamie Singer had kindly offered
to hold it at the Old Rectory but the run up to the 11th was wet and stormy and
at the last moment we had to switch venues
to the Manor Hall. We were all disappointed not to be at the Old
Rectory but we still had a wonderful afternoon. The
village choir sang beautifully, well done and our thanks to Graham, Stuart and
all the choir members. Also, thanks to all the bakers who donated
cakes and those who helped in whatever way
and a special mention for Saleh who made a great waiter. We made
almost £600.00. Wow!
As the afternoon was such a success and
feedback from villagers was positive, we are going to have a Berry in Bloom
Christmas Tea with the Choir singing Christmas themed songs on Saturday 7th December
in the Manor Hall from 2.00 p.m. onwards.
I do hope you will come and support us.
19
BERRY IN BLOOM AND BEST KEPT VILLAGE
June and July have been the busiest
months of the year for the Bloom team as this year's judging date was 22nd
July. We have worked hard in the car
park area, pulling out overgrown shrubs, cutting back and tackling the worst of
the weeds. Alan Eales has made some new
tubs, some of which contain herbs that shop users are free to pick.
We have not yet cut back the hedge at
the Manor Hall as we are awaiting the end of July when the bird nesting season
ends. However, we have been in the pub
garden - not boozing, I promise - helping to tidy up and plant.
Because of the lovely weather, watering
has been a mammoth task all around the village and I should like to thank the dedicated
team who have undertaken this task.
Berry in Bloom is participating in the
Blue Heart Campaign. This is the idea
put forward by the R.H.S. that some areas of grass should be left un-mown to
allow wildflowers and insects to thrive.
So, if an area is looking a bit scruffy but has a blue heart on it, you
will know the reason why.
The community spirit is brilliant and
if we don't get a Gold I'll have to eat a hat-shaped cake all by myself! We don't get the results until early
October.
Talking of cake, please come and
support our fund-raising afternoon at the Old Rectory Berrynarbor on Sunday,
11th August, for Tea on the Lawn, 2.00 to 4.30 p.m. And let's hope the sun keeps shining!
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
As we move from spring into early summer, the
Berry in Bloom team shift up a gear. The spring bulbs and bedding have been removed
ready for planting out the summer flowers. We have been given the 22nd July for the
Britain in Bloom judging and there is lots to do but luckily we have a good
team of helpers.
The area where the septic tank is next to
the shop in the car park had become very overgrown and weedy but it's amazing
what a man and a tractor can do! We have cleared it and will replant the area. Likewise, we are planning to remove a dead
tree at the Manor Hall car parking area and cut back and tidy the hedge when
the bird nesting season is over at the end of July.
The
litter picks have continued and new 'pickers' are always welcome.
This
summer, on the 11th August, we hope to have a fund-raising Tea on the Lawn
afternoon at the Old Rectory, kindly hosted by Claire and Jamey Singer and
family. Please look out for our posters
in July.
Once again, we thank
everyone who supports us.
12
BERRY IN BLOOM
Spring
has sprung in Berrynarbor. The tubs have been 'bloomin' lovely before and
since the wonderful spell of weather we had in February and so the Berry in
Bloom year begins.
In
early March three of the Bloom team attended a seminar in Chippenham run by the
R.H.S. Britain in Bloom organisation.
There has been a slight change in emphasis in judging. It is moving more towards care of the
environment and community spirit, of which we in Berrynarbor have
an abundance. Flowers are still important but will not get
such a high proportion of the marks as they have in the past.
This
coming year we will continue to run regular litter picks and look after the
flowers, but if you see a blue heart on a stick above a slightly scruffy area,
that will denote it has been left for the wild life and that area will only be
mown or cut once a year.
Although
we were not out and about much in January, we did hold our annual fund-raising
quiz and supper evening and managed to raise over £500.00 towards the purchase
of flowers, compost etc. hank you to
everyone who came along to support us.
5
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
GOLD for Berry in Bloom
Wednesday 11th July was judging
day for Berrynarbor in Bloom and we got the results on October 4th at the presentation
in Yeovil. We were
thrilled to get a GOLD once again.
The
judges arrived in lovely weather and we had just two hours to show them our beautiful
village. We started in the car park and
met the volunteers in the shop and talked about the 10th Anniversary of our Community
Shop. They liked the transformation of
the old red telephone box in to an information centre. From
there we travelled by car up Barton lane stopping to admire and talk about the
new village signs and the lovely wall that Chris has made that the In Bloom
team have planted. Then down to the
Sawmills to see their lovely flower display and on to Storm in a Teacup boat
café and our pretty harbour. No time for
a cup of tea sadly but they did say what a magnificent addition it is for
locals and holiday makers alike. Then a quick trip up the Sterridge Valley
and back to the car park where they continued the visit on foot around the
middle of the village with a visit to the Pre-school where the children were
very keen to tell them about their garden,
They finished their tour at The
Globe where Ann and her team from Jigsaw had helped to tidy and plant up the
garden, a big job on a very hot day. Finally, they stopped for a cuppa and slice of
lemon drizzle and a chat with some of the Berry in Bloom team and some of the
clients from Jigsaw. All in all, they were pleased enough to give
us the highest award, a GOLD! Thank
you everyone.
On
Friday 2nd November, in conjunction with Beaford Arts, we held a light-hearted
talk and supper evening. Mic Riggulsford talked about the Charter of the
Forest [ancient laws and commoner rights] this proved to be a bit wacky, very
informative and good fun. A jacket
potato and pudding supper followed and we raised £430.00. Thanks to
Beaford Arts and all the cooks in the kitchen.
A date for your diaries - Saturday, 26th January
This will be the annual Berry in Bloom Quiz with
cottage pie supper and Phil as Quiz Master
again. Hope to see you all there.
11
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Summer has come to an end, and what a remarkable summer it
has been. The wonderful hot weather meant that providing
we kept everything well-watered [no easy task!], the plants loved it and I
think the village had one of the best displays of flowers I have seen.
At the time of writing we have still not had the results of
the competition but Ann Harris and I will receive them when we go to Yeovil for
this year's presentation on October the 4th.
While we wait we shall still be busy as by the end of
September we'll be planting up the bulbs for the spring displays and shall, of
course, be continuing the litter picks.
Our fund-raising event in July, Tea on the Lawn, held at
Middle Lee was a great success and with thanks to all those who helped with
that event, and with a kind donation from the Parish Council, our funds are
fairly healthy.
Our next fund-raising evening is at the Manor Hall on Friday, 2nd November, in
conjunction with Beaford Arts. This will be an evening with a lighthearted
and fun talk about Devon's past with Myc Riggulsford followed by a jacket
potato and pud supper. Please come along and support us.
11
BERRY IN BLOOM &
BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Berrynarbor hosted the Judges for the R.H.S. Britain in
Bloom on 11th July.
The village was looking lovely and I am sure that they were
impressed with all our efforts. The judging was over a two-hour period and we
tried to show them as much of Berrynarbor as we could. Alan and I met them in the car park and talked
to them about trying to make the car park and Shop a welcoming area. They
met some of the volunteers in the Shop and liked the new herb tubs and the
seating area with the telephone box information centre. We
then travelled by car up Barton Lane to view the new village signs and the
planting in the new stone bed. Then down
past the bright and beautiful flower display outside the Sawmills Inn to our
lovely Watermouth Harbour and the new Storm in a Teacup Cafe, also bedecked
with flowers. We then travelled up the Sterridge Valley so
that they could take in the greater part of the village and then back past the School
to the car park when they walked around the centre of the village with Ann and
Barbara, taking in the War Memorial, the Manor Hall and the Pre-school, where
they met some of the children who eagerly showed them what they had been
growing in the garden that we helped to renovate last year. Finally,
they visited the pub garden to meet with some of Ann's Grow@Jigsaw team who had
worked so hard there. Completing their
visit, they met some of the Berry in Bloom team over a coffee.
Well done Bloomers and all of you in the village who have
helped in whatever way, fingers crossed we'll get GOLD again!
Sunday 22nd
July saw Berry in Bloom holding Tea on the Lawn at Middle Lee Farm. The weather was glorious and the venue lovely
for everyone to have a scrummy tea with sandwiches, clotted cream scones and a
great selection of homemade cakes, and all for a fiver! A goodly sum of £428.00 was made, some of
which will, no doubt, be spent this autumn on bulbs for our spring displays. The raffle raised £140 for the
Newsletter. Many thanks to everyone who
helped.
18
BERRY IN BLOOM &
BEST KEPT VILLAGE
June is the busiest time of the year for the Berry in Bloom
team. The lovely display of spring
bedding of tulips, daffodils and polyanthus is over and the tubs are emptied,
the compost refreshed and the summer bedding planted. Watering will start again in earnest.
Almost all of the plants we use are grown by Grow@Jigsaw,
our local social enterprise and we have always been very pleased with their
quality and price.
This year Grow@Jigsaw and the new Landlord of The Globe have
undertaken to give the pub garden a tidy up and revamp. The work will be done in exchange for the
Jigsaw Christmas lunch - what a good idea, everyone wins! Hopefully we will be able to take the R.H.S
judges there for tea after our Judging
on 11th July. The judges look at
the village as a whole and every area is important.
Last year we had a fun and successful Tea on the Lawn fund raising afternoon in Phil and Lynn's lovely
garden at the Lodge. This year Phil and
Chris Brown have offered to have it at Middle Lee Farm. The date for this event is Sunday 22nd July from 2.00 p.m.
onwards. Weather permitting, phone
07436811657 if in doubt.
Every year we rely on the support of the village and we are
grateful to everyone who helps in whatever way.
8
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
After all the bad weather finally 'Spring has Sprung' with cheery daffodils and primroses around the village and this means the Berry in Bloom year has begun.
We had our annual meeting at the beginning of March and talked about our plans for the coming year, set some dates for litter picks, debated whether to run the open gardens again this year - to be decided in May.
The bedding plants are ordered from Jigsaw. Our finances are healthy, thanks to the generous support for our fund-raising events, and although we are always looking for new volunteers, hopefully we shall be able to get GOLD again for Berrynarbor.
The Berry in Bloom team love the village, and if you do too and would be interested in joining our friendly band of helpers for a little planting, weeding and tea drinking etc., please contact Wendy Applegate on 07436811657
10
Berry in Bloom & Best Kept Village
There is not much going on gardening
wise at this time of the year but it is good to look back on the previous year
and our success in the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom competition when we achieved
gold.Our thoughts are on how we might
emulate our good work this coming year.
Therefore, we shall be having our annual
meeting on Wednesday, 7th March to
discuss our plans and finances for the forthcoming year.We shall
be meeting in The Globe at 7.00 p.m. and if you are interested in helping with
litter picks and planting around the village, you are very welcome to join
us.If you are new to the village, it is
a nice way to make friends.
Also, on Friday, 9th February, we are having a fund raising Fun Quiz and Supper
evening in the Manor Hall with Phil as quiz master and our yummy supper. We hope you will be able to support us.
20
BERRY IN BLOOM &
BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Berrynarbor has won GOLD
[the highest award] in the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom Competition 2017.The
village was also awarded joint top place for the size of our village in the
South West. Obviously, the Berry in
Bloom team is thrilled to bits!
The judges came on the 5th July and spent 2
hours driving and walking around the village, from Watermouth Harbour to the
Sterridge Valley, but concentrated mostly around the centre of the
village.They chatted to several of the
team over a cup of tea in the Lodge garden.
Areas they commented on of special
achievement are:
The
village Website and Newsletter.
The
village Shop with the new red telephone box Information Centre.
The
renovation of the garden at the Pre-school undertaken by the team and the
encouragement to the children to pick up litter in the playground by giving
gloves and litter pickers for them to use.
The
thriving village activities, from the Church Choir and Bell Ringers, the
village Pub Skittle Teams and Quiz Nights and the numerous activities
undertaken in the Manor Hall.
The
Berry in Bloom team is commended for their fund-raising activities and their
partnership with Jigsaw who supply the village with almost all the plants used.
Areas the judges felt could be improved are:
Claude's
Garden where there could be some flower borders.
The
shrubbery in the car park could be renovated.
We shall be entering the competition
next year and striving for gold again. Meanwhile,
the bulbs for the new year are planted and we look forward to spring again.
We held a very successful 'soup and pud'
fund raising evening on Friday 10th November. After expenses £820.00
was raised. Many thanks to everyone involved and for the donations of
homemade soup and yummy puddings.
16
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
It's been fairly quiet for the group in the village through
the summer holidays with just watering and dead heading being the main jobs.
Autumn though is the start of a big burst of activity as the
summer bedding and hanging baskets are removed and the spring bulbs and bedding
are planted ready for a welcome display in the early months of spring.
We get the results of the Britain in Bloom competition on
the
5th October at the Presentation,
held this year in Torquay.
We hope you can join us for a fun get together on 10th November
when we are having a fund-raising Soup and Pud Evening
in the Manor Hall. Tickets will be available from the Shop and The
Globe in October.We hope you will be
there.
13
BERRY IN BLOOM
June and July have been very busy months
for the Berry in Bloom team getting ready for the R.H.S. judges who came on 5th
July to judge the village for the Britain in Bloom competition. They spent two hours driving and walking
around the village, then met some of the volunteers working in the shop and
made a visit to the Pre-school to see the work on the garden that the team had
undertaken and meet some of the children and teachers. Finally, they had a lovely Berrynarbor tea on
the lawn at the Lodge and met some of our helpers. We shall not know the
results until the end of September, but I am very hopeful we'll get GOLD again!
We have also been busy fund raising and held
a Tea on the Lawn and Mini Fete on Sunday 25th June. We
were lucky with the weather as it was raining in the morning but it cleared up
for the afternoon and the event was very successful. Thank
you to everyone who helped and especially Phil and Lynn for hosting the
afternoon in their lovely garden.
As we are in the main holiday months now,
the team will go a bit quiet with litter picking and watering being our only
tasks, However, we are already planning
for the autumn planting and our next fund raising event which will be a Soup
and Pud Evening in the Manor Hall on Friday 10th November. I do hope you will be able to support this
fund-raising event.
19
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Hooray, summer seems to be here at last,
after lots of dry, sunny weather, but definitely with a chilly wind. The tubs looked lovely in the spring
although nobody could see them for the six weeks of the road works that
coincided with the flowering, but that's all done now and the village is
looking great.
During this period, the group has been
hard at work helping the Pre-school
refurbish their small garden.This
needed some work from six of our beefy men and they have done a great job.Thank you to Alan, Andy, Greg, Tony, Barry
and Geoff. The children are keen to
grow some of their own fruit and vegetables and we are glad to help them.We also supplied them with gardening gloves
and litter pickers and they have undertaken the task of keeping the play park
area litter free. Well done children!
In the car park, the group has cut down
a huge winter flowering clematis that had outgrown the trellis on which it was
growing and opened up the area where the benches and tables are.
Down at the flower bed opposite the
Sawmills, we have removed two huge phormiums that had also outgrown their space
and had a good tidy up.
As we are not having Open Gardens this
year, we have decided to have a mini fete and tea party at the Lodge.Phil and
Lynn have a beautiful garden and a £5.00 entrance fee will get you a yummy
Berrynarbor cream tea with masses of cakes and scones and hopefully a sunny
afternoon socializing on the lawns.We
do hope you will support us and come along and enjoy yourselves on Sunday June the 25th from 2.00 p.m.
onwards.
Judging for Berry in Bloom [Britain in
Bloom] is on 5th July.Wish us luck!
16
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
At the moment, we seem to be having a bit of a cold, blustery start to spring, but the daffodils are blooming and the birds are singing to their mates, and hopefully it won't be long before the sun is shining.
At the annual meeting on 21st February it was decided that we should have a rest from holding the two Open Garden events this year. This is not to say that we shall not open again in the future, but after disastrous weather on the day of the Sterridge Valley day and not very many turning up for the Village Open Gardens, maybe a rest will enthuse everybody in another year. I should like to thank everyone who has participated in the last few years and don't give up on the weeding because I am sure we shall open again!
We are entering the Britain in Bloom competition and judging is at the beginning of July but we haven't been given a definite date yet.
The Quiz and Supper Evening on the 3rd March was a great fundraising success, bringing in just over £1000. I should like to thank all of you who supported us in any way. With this event in mind we have decided to hold a Soup and Pud Evening on the 10th November, so please put this date in your diary.
The first litter pick/work party of the year has already taken place. If you are interested in helping in any way, please do contact me on [01271] 883170 or 07436811657.
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Because of the mild weather in December and over the New Year, the spring bulbs and bedding are quite forward and the nights are drawing out so we are looking forward to getting back out and enjoying a beautiful Devon spring.
Our thanks to Graham Sanders for donating the Christmas tree in the village square and Ben and Phil Bowden for putting it up, and not to forget Dave and Eve Walker for the electricity. What a team! Also, it was lovely to read all the Christmas thoughts and wishes that the children from the school had written on their paper Christmas baubles. Thank you, kids. The evening of carol singing in the square on the 18th December [luckily without rain this year] led, once again, by Phil and Tony, with mince pies donated by Karen and family from The Globe, went really well and thanks bottles given by all the good folks of Berrynarbor, the mulled wine was certainly plentiful! A collection raised £210.00 which has been shared shared between the Devon Air Ambulance and Freewheelers, a charity that delivers organs for transplant by motorbike.
We shall be holding our annual meeting at The Globe on Tuesday, 21st February at 7.00 p.m. If you are interested in our group do please do come along.
Don't forget the Berry in Bloom Fun Quiz and Supper on Friday, 3rd March in the Manor Hall. Bring your teams of up to 8 or join in with others for a fiendish [only joking] brain teaser and a yummy cottage pie supper. This event is one of our main fundraisers so do come and join in.
To contact me phone [01271] 883170 or 07436811657.
17
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
The autumn weather has been lovely and
certainly drier than usual, but now winter is upon us. The Berry in Bloom group has almost finished
all the tasks for this time of the year, just the hanging baskets to take down
from the shop and centre of the village.
However, at the time of writing they were still going strong as the
weather has been so good.
The GOOD news is that the village has
won Gold again in the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom competition. We have also been awarded a Highly-Commended
Certificate from the C.P.R.E. Well
done, and thank you to everyone involved.
The Coffee Morning hosted by Pat and
Maureen at Fuchsia Cottage raised £220.00 shared between Berry in Bloom and the
Newsletter. Again, thanks to all
involved.
Throughout the year we rely on the
support of the village and our next fund raising event is our Annual Fun Quiz
and Supper Evening to be held in the Manor Hall on Friday, 3rd March, with Phil
as our Quiz Master.
Carol Singing in the Square with mulled
wine and mince pies will be on Sunday, 18th December. Normally we ask for donations of wine, but
this year there has been a kind donation of wine left over from the Military
Wives evening in the church - thank you Judith and Stuart and all involved in
that splendid event. Hope to see you at the Quiz.
21
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
The judging for both competitions has
taken place and we await the news of how we have done. I think the village has looked lovely this
summer and hopefully the judges have agreed.
I know that the team couldn't have worked harder. We get the results at the beginning of
October.
We shall be taking out the tired summer
bedding and planting the spring bulbs in late September and early October.
The
village Open Gardens afternoon in August was successful and we made over £300
to go towards spring bulbs etc. but as the weather was lovely that afternoon we
had hoped for a few more people. Maybe
the holiday makers were all headed for the beach on that day. Many
thanks to everybody who supported us in whatever way, especially all those who
worked so hard to open their gardens, and Phil and Lynn for hosting the teas in
their lovely garden at the Lodge.
If anyone is interested in helping our
team we should welcome you with open arms, just contact me on 01271 883170.
With the money donated at her funeral,
in remembrance of Edna Barber we have now purchased a ceramic planter. It is placed near the remembrance cross in
the churchyard, planted with a rosemary surrounded by violas and under planted
with bulbs to flower in the spring.
8
BERRY IN BLOOM &
BEST KEPT VILLAGE
The Berry in Bloom group were extremely
busy throughout May, June and early July getting the village planted and tidied
up ready for the judges who came on 6th July.
We were lucky that this year it didn't rain on the afternoon of the
judging, as it did the previous year.
Points are given for:
Plant
impact and design - the choice of plants etc. 20
Horticultural
practice
- the cultivation and maintenance and quality of plants20
Community
involvement - involving the public in community
gardening 20
Development
and continuity - evidence of on-going projects 10
Local
environmental quality - the care of signage, the absence of litter,dog fouling, graffiti etc.
10
Last year we were awarded a GOLD, the highest award.Fingers crossed for this year.We get the results in early October.
The judging of the Our Outdoors [terrible
name, I think, for the new competition that was previously called Best Kept Village]
is ongoing throughout August when the judges will pay the village an incognito
visit.So all you wonderful people, please
keep up the good work.
21
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
The Best Kept Village award was run by the Campaign to
Protect Rural England, CPRE.Berrynarbor has entered this competition for
several years and won on several occasions.
However, CPRE has not run the
competition for the last two years and has now announced that they are
launching a NEW competition called Our Outdoors and it is our intention to
enter this new competition.
From what I can ascertain the competition runs on roughly
the same lines as the Best kept Village competition so hopefully we'll stand a
good chance of winning.
I hope you all enjoyed the spring flowers in the tubs and
planters around the village.The show
began with hyacinths in March, then daffodils and finally a great show of
tulips still flowering in May.These
will be followed by the summer bedding that should flower right through till
October and be ready for the Britain in Bloom judging which will be on
Wednesday, 6th July, at 2.00 p.m.
We have held three litter picks so far this year.It is amazing how much is thrown from cars
and just generally discarded without thought and the first litter pick gathered
up about thirty bags of rubbish.The worst area is on the main road between
Diggers Cross and the top of the Sterridge Valley and took four people almost
two hours to cover.Getting rid of all this litter could be
difficult so we have been very grateful to Martin our 'road sweep' who collects
the bags and takes them to the tip for us.
He retired at the end of May and we thank him for all his help and wish
him a happy retirement.We welcome his replacement Mark and look
forward to working with him.
Our next two fund raisers are:
The
Sterridge Valley Open Gardens is on 26th June
We
hope you will all come and enjoy the gardens and the lovely tea served in the
Manor Hall.
The
Village Open Gardens on 14th August
11
BERRY IN
BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Spring is sprung and the tubs and
planters around the village have been bright with hyacinths and daffodils with
tulips to come. These will be followed by the summer bedding. All of
this is quite an expensive job. Last
year we spent £537.00 on the summer bedding, £376.50 on the hanging baskets and
£195.00 on bulbs and spring flowers. Another £141.50 went on compost and stone
chippings, £127.48 replacing broken planters and insurance for the open gardens
cost £162.00.
It is vital therefore that we raise
money to pay for this and this year already we have had a successful quiz and
supper evening and a jumble sale in conjunction with Jigsaw. We shall be running a cake stall on 2nd April at the Horticultural &
Craft Show Coffee morning.
Our other two main fund
raising events are:
The Sterridge Valley Open Gardens on the
26th June
The Village Open Gardens on the 14th August
If
you are able and willing to open your garden, please contact me. Don't worry that yours may not be up to
Chelsea standard, people just love to wander around our pretty village and all
the gardens are lovely and interesting in their own way. To keep everything shipshape, our first
litter pick of the year has taken place and litter picks will be held regularly
- keep an eye on the blackboard in the bus shelter for dates.
Thank you to every one for your support,
we shall be going for GOLD again this year.
21
BERRY
IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
What very strange weather we have had
for the last three months. The constant rain has been a bit depressing and the group
certainly has not been doing any gardening.
However, Berry in Bloom has been involved in the village over the
Christmas period.
Have you ever wondered where the
Christmas tree in the centre of the village comes from? In the past John and Fenella Boxall have
supplied the tree but for the last two years our thanks must go to Graham
Sanders who with the help of Chris Townsend has provided us with the Christmas
tree. Our thanks also to Roger, Ray
and Phil for putting it up and removing it, to Dave and Eve at Muffet's for
letting us use their electricity and it was Berry in Bloom who supplied the
Christmas lights. We hope you all
enjoyed the display.
Please note we are also having our
annual meeting in The Globe on Wednesday
24th February at 7.30 p.m. If you
are interested in helping keep the village clean, flowery and tidy we should
love to see you.
We rely on support from the village and
one of our main fund raising events is our annual quiz. This year the date is Friday 4th March with Phil as our Quiz Master and as usual we shall
be serving delicious cottage pie. We do
hope you will come to this fun event.
We shall also be holding a joint
Jumble Sale with Jigsaw to raise funds on Saturday,
19th March from 1.00 to 3.00 p.m.
Items may be taken to the Hall from 11.00 a.m.
14
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
We were very happy to be awarded a Gold in the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom Competition. These are some of the comments made by the judge:
Berrynarbor is a pretty village of around 800 residents. The entry includes the village centre and extends out to the Watermouth Cove in one direction and the Sterridge Valley in the other. Berrynarbor has been famous for some years for its superb floral displays.
The village is a beacon to many others with its strong community spirit and excellent floral displays with plants provided by the Jigsaw community project.
Funding is achieved via a subsidy from the Parish Council, coffee mornings, quizzes and open garden days.
There was a useful visit to the village school where great work was being started to restore the school garden and use the plot as an educational resource.
Community involvement is very well illustrated by the procurement and operation of the community run village shop and the work being undertaken to seek a lottery grant to refurbish the Manor Community Hall.
It was an enjoyable tour (despite the inclement weather) which covered all aspects of the marking criteria.
What more can be said Bloomers? Except many thanks to all of you who participate in any way in helping us win this prestigious award. I hope you will join us next year.
10
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Autumn is here and for Berry in Bloom
that means all change to
the
tubs and planters. So it is out with the summer planting that is looking
very tired and in with the tulip, hyacinth and dwarf daffodil bulbs to give us
all a good show of colour in the spring.
This last summer hasn't been very good
but the joy of gardening is that you always have next year to which you can
look forward.
September was the Sterridge Valley open
garden trail. After all the bad weather through August, on
the day it was the PERFECT autumn day and the gardens were looking
beautiful. A yummy cream tea was served at the Manor
Hall by Judie and helpers and we managed to make just under £300.00, so a big
thank you to all involved. We do rely on these fund raising events to
pay for the bulbs, flowers and hanging baskets so we are grateful for the
support from the village and holiday makers.
We await the results of the Britain in
Bloom competition on 24th
September at the presentation in Dartmouth.
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Summer is in full swing and the Berry
Bloomers have been in full swing too. Firstly the Open Garden Trail in June was a
great success - the
weather was excellent, the gardens lovely and as usual the teas scrumptious. This event is such good value for locals and
holiday makers alike. where else can you see nine or
ten lovely gardens and have a cream tea as well and all for £5.50? Let's
hope that the Sterridge Valley Garden Trail on Sunday 6th of September is also
blessed with fine weather and lots of visitors.
We made almost £450.00 and thanks
goes to all those involved in any way.
Well. all the £450.00 has been spent and
more on the hanging baskets and plants for the tubs around the village and we
hope that you are all loving the displays.
It was the Britain in Bloom judging on July 14th and we hope the judges
were impressed with the flowers as well, but it isn't just flowers that they
are judging us on, as community involvement and tidiness are just as
important. We await the results but I am very hopeful
that we get gold.
11
BERRY
IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
This year we found out that the C.P.R.E.
[Campaign for the Protection of Rural England] Best Kept Village Competition is
not being held, as they are bringing out a new competition next year in a new
format. A year off you may think, but
no, the team are still dedicated to keeping the village looking tidy. We have regular litter picks and the amount
of rubbish collected is amazing.
Out of date posters! A reminder to those displaying posters
advertising events being run in the
village, please don't forget to go round after the event and remove them.
Sadly we are still finding that lots of
people are not picking up after their dogs and it can't all be from holiday
makers, I guess you know who you are as
not many dogs are seen out loose. Please
think of others and help to keep our village beautiful.
A big thank you to the Parish Council
for their financial support and appreciation, which mean a lot to all Berry
Bloomers!
This is the time of the year when we are
busy emptying tubs and planters and planting the summer flowers and it won't be
long before the hanging baskets arrive.
We have ordered our plants from Jigsaw who are a social enterprise
project for people not profit. Their
ethos is to help people from all walks of life. Aiming to give them a purpose in life,
helping them gain qualifications, to assist in the job market, helping to
reduce social isolation, they produce organic vegetables and of course top
quality plants and flowers. We are
pleased to use their plants.
The first Open Garden Afternoon is on
Sunday 14th June with tickets available from the Shop and the Globe in advance
and The Lodge on the day. You can enjoy
a lovely stroll around the village and a scrumptious cream tea to follow at The
Lodge, What could be nicer? Hope to see lots of you there.
23
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Spring has sprung with March winds and April showers and the Berry in Bloom gang have leapt into action to bring forth May flowers. We started the year with a well-attended meeting in The Globe when we decided to enter both the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom and the Best Kept Village competitions for 2015. The dates were set for the garden open events; Sunday 14th June for the Village and Sunday 6th September for the Sterridge Valley.
On Friday 6th March we held a Fun Quiz at the Manor Hall and raised just over £600 to help fund the purchase of flowers, hanging baskets, compost etc.
On Sunday 8th March we had our first litter pick of the year and as usual the first is the worst and we collected 22 bags of rubbish, mainly from the main roads - some of the items picked up were unmentionable! But weather wise it was a lovely afternoon and the tea and cakes went down a treat afterwards.
We shall be holding a Coffee Morning and Seed & Plant Swap on Saturday, 18th April, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon in the Manor Hall, and look forward to seeing you all there.
We are always looking for villagers to join our group so for the dates of the next litter picks and work parties please ring me on 01271 883170 or keep an eye on the blackboard in the bus shelter in the centre of the village.
9
BERRY
IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Well Christmas has come and gone and I
hope you all had a lovely one. This year for the first time we had to
abandon carol singing in the square because of the rain but we all squeezed in
to the back room of the Globe and very jolly it was too. The collection raised £145.00 which was split
between Devon Air Ambulance and Motor Neurone Research. Thank you all carollers and a big thank you
to Phil and Tony for leading us in the music.
Thank you also to Graham Sanders for
donating the lovely Christmas tree in the square and to Dave and Eve from
Muffet's for their electricity and again to Phil for putting it up and
decorating it.
Not much happening on the gardening
front in January and February, other than willing the daffodils to start
cheering us up, but plans are being made for 2015. Our order for bedding plants has gone in to
Ann at Jigsaw as the quality of plants they grew for us last year was
excellent. Now we have to raise the
money to pay for them. To that end we
are planning our annual Fun Quiz and Supper in the Manor Hall on Friday 6th March. We do hope that you will come and enjoy
yourselves and support us.
We shall start the litter picks in
February or March depending on the weather - look out for our posters and on
the blackboard.
If you are interested in our group and
in keeping the village tidy and in flower, please join us at our annual meeting
on Monday 2nd March at the Globe at 7.00 p.m.
We are always looking for new members and new ideas.
Lastly, every year we take the empty
hanging baskets to Streamways for re-filling. Their prices are very reasonable and they
deliver them back to us 'ready to go'. If you would like to have your baskets
re-filled, please drop them off to me at Bessemer Thatch before April.
22
BERRY
IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
What a lovely September we have just had
and October was mainly fine and certainly warmer than usual. This meant that we had to remove the summer
bedding when it was still going strong but we had to make way for the planting
of the bulbs for spring. This has now been completed and a big thanks
to everyone who helped. Ken has turned
off the watering systems for the winter and the hanging baskets are about to
come down. This is a sad time for
gardeners but we can all look forward to 2015 and hopefully a fine spring.
Next year we hope that you will be able
to join us to help keep the village clean, tidy and full of flowers. Thank you to everyone who helped in 2014.
18
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
On the whole we have had a lovely summer and the first few weeks of September have been warm too. However, the hanging baskets and tubs are beginning to go over and it will not be long before we'lll be getting ready for winter and spring by planting bulbs and winter flowering bedding. We have had lots of visitors and villagers alike commenting favourably on the displays and one plant in particular, the small violet/purple trailing scaveola, in the baskets at the shop has been much admired.
On the first weekend of September we had the gardens in the village open and as the weather was so lovely many garden lovers made the hike up Barton Lane to view Longacre and then up Castle Hill to visit Sloley Farm, stopping on the way at Maurice Draper's show stopper of a garden - a new garden to us - and to take in the views from Gilly's garden. Back down to the centre of the village to see all the work that has been done at Geoff and Judith's, Flowerdew, then Lee Cottage and Langleigh House , where plants were for sale in aid of Berry in Bloom. Finally a yummy cream tea at the Lodge with Phil and Lynne and a walk round their lovely established garden. Thanks to everyone who opened their gardens, helped with printing tickets, baking cakes, serving at table, doing the raffle and transporting chairs and anything else. We made about £360.00 including the plant sales.
Late News: Not having entered for the last three years, we were thrilled to learn that we had been awarded Gold in the RHS Britain in Bloom Competition this year - well done to all the 'Bloomers'!
This is a good time of the year to think about Christmas! This year Colin and I shall be making lovely fruit liqueurs to give as presents. They are SO easy to make but start now as they need time to mature. Best fruits are sloes, damsons, blackberries and raspberries but other fruits such as lemons and apples are good too.
This year is brilliant for blackberries and Colin has picked masses so we shall make blackberry and apple gin - bramble apple gin sounds so nice! If you don't like gin, vodka or brandy is fine. We look in supermarkets for their cheap offers.
14
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
How lovely the village looks this summer. The warm weather has really brought all the flowers to a peak, both the wild flowers in the hedgerows and gardens and also the hanging baskets and tubs.
The Bloomers have been very busy cutting back, weeding and tidying up in readiness for the R.H.S. Britain in Bloom judging on the 9th July. This year is the 50th anniversary of this competition, so keep your fingers crossed that we will get gold.
The Sterridge Valley Open Gardens in June were very successful. The Valley was looking lovely and the gardens that opened were too. Many thanks to all the garden owners for their hard work and many thanks to Judie and her helpers for serving up such a lovely tea. Don't forget the Village Gardens are open on the 7th September from 2.00 to 5.00 with teas at The Lodge. Let's hope the weather is fine and we hope you will come along and support us. If you would like to open your garden in September, please give me a call on [01271] 883170.
27
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
For gardeners this is the busiest time of the
year but I like to take time to stop and admire Mother Nature as she does her
bloomin' thing. How lucky are we to
live in such a lovely place.
We have been busy planting up the tubs
and containers with summer bedding, hanging up the hanging baskets and
generally weeding and tidying up around the village. The plants we bought from Jigsaw have been
very healthy and as always Streamways Nurseries delivers beautiful baskets
ready for hanging up.
Best kept village judging takes place
anonymously and at any time between May and August. The judging for the new R.H.S. Pennant
competition takes place in July, so we will all have to be on our toes!
We ran a successful cake stall at Easter
and had a very kind donation of almost £200.00 from a kind villager, so the
coffers have been replenished. But as
any of you who buy plants know, the cost goes up year by year.
This year the Sterridge Valley Open Gardens will be on 8th June between 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. with Teas
in the Manor Hall from 3.00 p.m. The Village Gardens will be on
September 7th, again between 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p. m. Please come to either of the Open Gardens (or
both) and support us, whatever the weather you are certain of a great tea. None of this could take place without the
support and generosity of our helpers, so thank you all very much.
22
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
Hooray Spring has sprung! This last winter has been so long and wet but
at last there is some sunshine.
We had our A.G.M. on 25th February and it
was decided to enter the Best Kept Village competition again this year. So from May onwards we hope that the whole
village will be aware that the judges will be walking around and maybe chatting
with villagers. They are looking for
absence of litter, well-kept public areas, tidy gardens and general house
maintenance. But more than that, they
are looking for that something extra. We think that Berrynarbor has that something
extra so let's prove it to the judges!
This year we are planning to have the
gardens open again and the dates decided are Sunday 8th June for the Sterridge
Valley gardens and Sunday 7th September for the village gardens. We hope that many of the gardens that have
opened before will join in again but it would be nice to have some new ones too,
so please let me know if you can participate.
There is still time to bring your
hanging baskets to be re-filled by Streamways Nursery. They do a wonderful job and the charge is very
reasonable. Bring your empty and
labelled baskets to Bessemer Thatch and we will take them over all
together. They will be delivered back to
the village during the 3rd week of May. Please telephone me if you want to join
the hanging basket scheme or if you can open your garden on the above dates Tel
01271 883170.
The first litter pick of 2014 saw a
really good group of volunteers turn out for the dirty job of picking up other
people's litter! Spurred on by the
promise of a hot cup of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake, almost the whole
of the village and outlying roads were covered. Some of the items collected were quite
interesting - a bed frame, a rucksack, a green rugby top, a number plate and a
patio umbrella pole, being among them. Sadly though the vast majority of items were
obviously thrown from cars with McDonald's containers, drink cans and crisp
packets being the most numerous. Also
there was quite a lot of plastic wrapping caught in the hedges and the dreaded
poo bags festooned on the bushes beside the path. Why do people do that? Many thanks go to all the good folk who
turned out on a Sunday afternoon for the love of their village.
P.S.
Berry in Bloom has been
persuaded to enter a new competition run by the RHS called the Pennant
Award. The judging for this will be in
July and encourages group involvement in looking after villages. So, wish us luck and do join in.
17
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
This winter is proving to be very stormy
and wet although the temperatures have so far not been too cold and the pansies
and cyclamen have been flowering well in the planters around the village. Shortly the daffodils will be cheering us all
up and the days lengthening. Spring is
just around the corner and we will be holding our first meeting of the year on
February 25th at 7.30 in the Globe.
Please try to come along and support us as we are always looking out for
help and new ideas. We will again be taking the hanging baskets over to
Georgeham to be filled and you are welcome to join this scheme, just let me
know Tel. Wendy on 883170. This coming
year we hope to have Berrynarbor open gardens again.
6
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
We have had a busy autumn removing the
summer bedding and re-planting with bulbs and winter flowering pansies and
cyclamen. We also managed to re-use some small shrubs
saved from the previous winter displays.
We had some help planting the bulbs at the Manor Hall when the playgroup
children joined in! They were doing a
project about autumn so we hope they enjoy watching the tulips and crocuses
grow.
Sorry to say that although we tried our
best this year to win the Best Kept Village award we only managed runner
up. Never mind, next year we will have
another chance and hope that more villagers will join us. We held
the last litter pick of the year in early November and look out for our poster
in the New Year with the date of our first meeting for 2014.
On 19th September we held a musical
evening in conjunction with the Horticultural & Craft group. It was a lovely evening and we are grateful
to Ian Hudson for organising the singers and players. We
raised £155.00.
Another fun event was the Pumpkin
Fair held on 19th October with the children dressed in their fancy dress
costumes. Not much of a fundraiser but
the kids and adults had a great time!
12
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
What a lovely summer we've had and we've been busy with the watering, but at least the flowers have had plenty of sun to bloom.
Although we did well, sadly we were not winners in the Best Kept Village competition but came within the top few with a creditable 91%.
The autumn will see us re-planting the tubs with bulbs for the spring and trying to save some of our larger plants for next year. We had a litter pick at the end of August and the amount of litter was proof that the summer was busy with lots of holidaymakers. Thank you to all the regular 'pickers' for your sterling work over the past year. There will be at least one more before the winter, so if you want to join us look out for the blackboard in the bus shelter.
15
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
At last the sun has come out and the village is looking lovely, we hope that the judges for the Best Kept Village competition think so too! You may wonder what the judges are looking for.
General tidiness
An absence of litter, dog fouling, overflowing litterbins, overgrowth of verges and hedges although areas managed for wildlife are fine.
Private buildings
The general condition and care of houses and gardens in the village.
Public buildings
The condition and cleanliness of public toilets and public telephone kiosk, well maintained public buildings with clear signage and well maintained notice boards.
Public open spaces
The maintenance of village greens, playing fields, schoolyards, public seats and car parks.
The village environment
The state of footpaths, stiles, field gates, signposting and ponds and streams. The condition of churchyards, cemeteries and war memorials.
Commercial and business premises
General tidiness, cleanliness and evidence of involvement with the community.
Evidence of Initiatives in the care and enhancement of village amenities
Such as evidence of public flower planters, maintained public gardens and children's play areas.
Evidence of community spirit
Such as the community shop, village newsletter, clubs and volunteering projects.
The final judging is in July and August so keep up the good work Berrynarbor and we could win again.
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
You may have seen us beginning to tidy
up the flower beds and tubs around the village. We should soon be starting to
plant out for summer but as the weather has been so cold we may have to wait
before the tender bedding goes in. We
have been given a grant of £250.00 and plan to use it around the Manor Hall
where work has already started to repair the small wall around the flowerbed.
We had a fun fundraising car treasure
hunt in April and raised just over £100.00.
Some of the clues were quite fiendish but team G.B. (Colin, Jan, Gilly
and Fenella) were the winners with Charlotte, Mickey, Morgan and Roker the
winners of the family treasure hunt.
Tea, cakes and something a little stronger were on offer at the Globe
for both winners and runners up and a special prize went to Alan and Rosemary
for completing the route on a motorbike.
By the time you are reading this, we
should have held our next litter pick on Sunday, 12th May. Don't forget, we are entering the Best Kept
Village competition and the judging is on-going through May, June, July and
August, so we appreciate any help we can get.
9
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
We have decided to enter the Best Kept
Village in Devon competition again in 2013.
Although we tried to keep the village tidy last year we did not actually
enter the competition.
Sunday, 24th February saw our first
litter pick of the year and we had a really good turn-out of Berrynarbor
villagers and managed to collect about 20 bags of rubbish!
We try to cover as much of the village
as we can from Diggers Cross to Watermouth Harbour, the Old Coast Road,
Sterridge Valley, Goosewell and Slew Lane - not much escapes us, BUT would you believe it, the next day you
can always see fresh litter that has been thrown from cars.
One of the most annoying problems is
with dog owners who neatly pick up and bag the poo only to decoratively hang it
from bushes or trees. Can we please
plead with dog owners to take their dog waste home with them for disposal OR if
caught without a bag it is better to flick with a stick into the hedge where
eventually it will naturally degrade?
Don't forget - if you put up posters for
an event, to take them down again afterwards!
In
February we ran a very successful Fun Quiz and Supper Evening in the Manor
Hall, raising over £500.00. Thanks to
Phil the Quizmaster and his lovely assistant 'scores on the doors' Tracey and
Gilly who organised a great raffle and, of course, the ladies who cooked the
tasty food.
We
are planning a car treasure hunt in April so keep an eye out for our blooming
posters.
Also a last reminder that we shall have
taken most of the hanging baskets over to Streamways for re-fill by April but
it is not too late if you want to join the scheme, just let me know on
07436811657 or 01271 883170.
12
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Goodbye to the wettest year on record and welcome to 2013. We sincerely hope it will be a bit dryer!
Our treasurer and all round hard worker, Jenny Downer, has moved to Wiltshire and we wish her and Robin all the best and happy gardening in the future. We shall miss her and all her gardening knowledge but we are pleased to welcome Len to the blooming team who has kindly agreed to take over Jenny's role of treasurer.
Thanks also to The Globe for the donation to our funds with money raised from the Sunday night quizzes. Talking of quizzes we are holding another Fun Quiz and Supper Night at the Manor Hall on Friday
22nd February, 7.00 for 7.30 p.m. Bring your own drinks and glasses and a team of up to 8 people. Phil Bridle will be the Quiz Master and tickets, at £7.50 each will be available from the Shop from the 1st February. Make a note of the date, get your tickets and see you there!
We'll be taking the hanging baskets to Streamways in March and if you are interested in the re-fill scheme where we deliver the empty baskets, Streamways do the wonderful re-fill and then deliver them back to the village in May, please contact me on 01271 883170 or
mobile 07436811657 Please note my change of home number.
16
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
This year it feels as though we have had
no summer and the autumn seems to have slithered straight in to winter. We are very relieved that we did not enter
any competitions and although we planted up the tubs and hung up the hanging
baskets we were more relaxed about how they looked after all the hard work and
stress of representing the south west in the national competition last
year. However, every rain cloud has a
silver lining and one of these was that we did not have to worry about the
watering quite so much, in fact I think some of the plants must have grown
flippers and water wings it was so wet.
We have tidied up and planted the tubs
with bulbs and bedding plants and pray and hope that next year the weather will
be kinder to all of us.
Thank you to the entire Berry in
Bloom team for litter picking, opening their gardens, baking, weeding and
planting, and all the villagers who support us in whatever way. Don't forget we are always looking for more
good folks to join us!
This year I am determined to cut down
the costs of Christmas and one really nice way is to give home baked Christmas
gifts. I have made these cookies for
fetes and coffee mornings and when presented in a clear cellophane bag tied
with a Christmas ribbon I think they will look and taste very seasonal. [I buy the cellophane bags from Lakeland www.lakeland.co.uk,
Catalogue reference 12007, 50 bags for £2.99].
24
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
It looks like we are coming to the end
of one of the wettest summers on record, but just as the day of the village
Jubilee celebrations turned out to be one of the only fine days in June, we
were lucky with the weather on the 9th September for the Village Open
Gardens. The sun brought out at least 50
villagers and holidaymakers. The
gardens, surprisingly considering the wet summer, were looking lovely and the
teas were as usual yummy. Many thanks
to everyone who opened their gardens and to Phil and Lynn and all the 'girls'
involved with the teas.
We shall be removing the summer bedding
and hanging baskets and planting some spring bulbs and hope to have another
litter pick in October. Please look out
for our 'blooming' posters.
One of the cakes I made for the last
litter pick proved to be very popular and as it was so simple to make here is
the recipe. This cake does not contain
any flour and takes long slow cooking.
16
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Well, thank goodness we were not entered in any competitions this year because the weather has not been good for gardening and we should have struggled. However, all the village planters and hanging baskets looked great for the Village Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and we were so lucky that the weather on the Monday stayed fine - it was a great couple of days and the whole village was at its very best.
We have had another litter pick afternoon and are planning the next one for the 19th August and we do hope that you can come and join us. Look out for our posters.
The next Open Garden afternoon will be on the 9th September with teas at The Lodge, courtesy of Phil and Lynn when we hope to see you all there.
6
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
This is the time of year when we are at
our busiest with planting, trimming, weeding and generally trying to keep on
top of all the gardening jobs. The
hanging baskets arrive in late May in time for the Jubilee celebrations, but
this year with the watering system in place some of the work has been cut down.
We have had our first litter
pick of the year and very successful it was too, with twenty eight good souls
turning out on a lovely sunny day armed with bin bags and the promise of a
lovely cup of tea and slice of cake afterwards.
Thanks to all the new and regular 'pickers' and a special mention to
Martin our 'road sweeper' for taking all the bags of litter away for us. Please keep an eye out for our 'blooming'
posters with the date of the next litter pick.
Our fund raising this year is going
quite well with the coffee morning organised by Pat and Maureen at Fuchsia
cottage followed by the cake stall at the Easter Fayre organised by the
Horticultural and Craft Show committee. The Quiz and Supper Evening in the
Manor Hall was a great success and hopefully enjoyed by all who scratched their
heads over Phil Bridle's fiendish horticultural questions. Many thanks to everyone who helped run these
events and, of course, thank you to the good Berrynarbor folk for supporting
us.
This
year the first of the two Open Gardens afternoons was on 20th
May for the Sterridge Valley. We were
very lucky that the weather was kind to us and the afternoon sunny and
warm. The Valley gardens were in all
their natural spring loveliness and as always Judie and Ken organised a delicious cream tea. We made about £250.00 so many thanks to
everyone who weeded, baked, or visited the gardens. The next Open Gardens afternoon
will be on the 9th September for the Village.
25
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
This is a very busy time of the year for the blooming team, but with the lovely sunshine we have been having lately we are ready to start the years gardening and litter picking. Our first litter pick will be Sunday,
1st April, meeting at 2.00 p.m. at Bessemer Thatch. Everyone is welcome to join us and well follow the litter pick with tea and cake.This is weather dependent, so if in doubt please check with me on [01271] 882296 or 07810038659.
At the Berry in Bloom and Best Kept Village meeting held on 7th March, it was agreed to change the dates of the Gardens Open to May 20th for the Sterridge Valley and September 9th for the Village gardens. This is because of the very busy June, July and August this year with the Queens Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and all the usual village fetes. As always we are keen for any new gardens to open - they dont need to be perfect but if you have a lovely view, interesting water feature or whatever, please get in touch with me.
Well be running a Fun Quiz Night at the Manor Hall, 7.00 p.m. on Friday 20th April with Phil Bridle as Quiz Master, and with supper included for just £6.00. We shall also be manning the cake stall at the Horticultural & Craft Show Coffee Morning on Saturday 7th April, so we look forward to seeing you all there.
We hope that you will support these events as well not be getting any funding this year and must be self-supporting.
Wendy
18
BERRY
IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
What a difference a year makes! Last year we were all frozen and the gardens
were hibernating. This year in the first
week of January in my garden I have in flower, snowdrops, hellebores,
primroses, camellias and some daffodils are almost open. Not that unusual, but there are also roses, fuchsias,
geraniums and many other flowers that have not stopped flowering since summer.
This year we shall be continuing to
plant the tubs and supply the hanging baskets but we are having a year off from
actually entering the competitions. We
hope that you will continue to support us and join us for the litter picks and
the garden open events. If you would
like to take advantage of the hanging basket re-fill scheme please let me know
on 882296. We'll be collecting empty
hanging baskets to be re-filled by Streamways nursery from March onwards.
The first fund raising event for us this
year will be a Fun Quiz and Supper Night in the Manor Hall on 2nd March in
conjunction with the Horticultural Show Committee. We'll also be holding an open meeting in The
Globe on Wednesday 7th March at 7.30 p.m., please come along if you have any
ideas or want to join us.
23
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
The bloomers are
coming to the end of a very busy gardening year. As most of you will have heard, we won a
GOLD in the National R.H.S. Britain in Bloom Competition and were thrilled to
be awarded this as we represented the whole of the South West in the village category. We were, however, pipped to the post by
Luddenden in Yorkshire who were the overall winners.
This
is the second time that Berrynarbor has won a Gold in the national competition
so we really have done our best.
We have had a
bit of a tidy up and taken down the hanging baskets, planted a few bulbs for
the spring and some little conifers and cyclamen at the war memorial.
Entering the
national competitions is a lot of hard work especially administratively and we
plan to have at least a year off from entering the Best Kept Village and
Britain in Bloom competitions. However,
if anyone feels they might like to take on this responsibility, please do make
yourself known!
In the meantime
we'll be doing the digging, planting, litter picking, etc. and keeping
the village blooming beautiful.
Many thanks to
everyone who has helped us in any way in the last year and we hope to see
you again next year - don't forget the
tea and cakes!
As usual we'll
be getting together in the new year, probably in February, to make plans for
the special Diamond Jubilee year - I hope to see you there.
23
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
The Judges for the National Britain in
Bloom competition arrived via the Sterridge valley on the 1st August and had a
whirlwind tour of the village as they were only allowed one and a half hours in
which to make their appraisal. We felt
that the judging went well and despite the rain the village was looking
great. We know they were impressed with
the School Garden; the Community Shop and car park and the carnival float
because they told us so, but we will not have the results of the competition
until the 25th September when Wendy Jenner and Ann Harris and their spouses
travel to Scotland to the presentations.
We can, however, announce that in the Regional Britain in Bloom, we have
again taken a Gold Award.
Meanwhile we have had the results for the
Best kept Village competition and having won last year I am sorry to say that
we have not done so this year, but it is nice that another village has a
chance. We did, however, receive 90+
points out of 100 and had glowing comments.
The judges remarked on the sensitivity of the care of the village,
pointing out the wild flowers in the hedgerows and the churchyard and how nice
the hanging baskets looked outside the bus shelter. The swallows' nest in the porch at the Manor
Hall, the community spirit and the clean ladies toilet were all favourably
commented on. There were, however,
suggestions that there should be doggie bins on the footpaths. All in all we are very pleased and a copy of
the full report can be seen in the shop.
Many people in the village have worked very hard this year and we should
like to thank them all.
Unfortunately we have had to take down
the planter at the bottom of Pitt Hill leading to Lee lane because although it
has been there for at least ten or more years the Parish Council, after a
complaint, deemed it to be a visual hazard.
9
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
I hope you all agree that, as we approach
judging time, the village is looking
lovely. We have pushed out the boat a
bit this year and spent the money we
have raised on beautiful flower displays as we are representing the South West
in the National R.H.S. Britain in Bloom competition. We are lucky that so many villagers are dedicated
to help with litter picks, gardening and other tasks in trying to achieve the
goal of champions.
We have applied for a grant from Anglian
Windows who are sponsoring this year's competition and have been given
£250. Our intention is to buy a new bench
and table to go in the gravelled area next to the Shop/Post Office so people
can bide a while and maybe enjoy an ice cream.
The shop helpers must be very pleased that a watering system has been
installed to save them the difficult and soggy job of watering the hanging
baskets - thank you, Ken.
Ken has also installed a watering system
in the centre of the village and again this is an absolute boon to the
hard-pressed wielders of the longest hosepipe in the west.
Our plans to renovate the area to the
right of the bus shelter at the bottom of Pitt hill will hopefully come to
fruition but not before the judging. It
will have to be a work in progress. We
have been very fortunate to be given a donation by the firm of one of our
villagers to complete this work and our thanks go to Geoff and Judith.
The two Open Garden dates have come and
gone; the first a complete washout as we had persistent heavy rain with strong
winds and only sold six tickets!
However, the Sterridge Valley afternoon was lovely and was well
attended, with Judie's team providing the visitors with wonderful teas as
usual. Many thanks to all who helped
and Phil and Lynn for hosting the B.B.Q. for Berry in Bloomers in the evening.
We have done our best and now await the
judge's results!
17
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT
VILLAGE
What
a dry and warm spring we have had! This
has meant that the colourful displays of daffodils, tulips and pansies have
been over in a flash and the dreaded watering had to start early. We shall be planting out the summer bedding
and taking delivery of the hanging baskets by the end of May, all in preparation
for our goal as Best Kept Village and Britain in Bloom National entrants.
We
have continued having litter picks and work parties at roughly five week
intervals and this has worked well.
Thank you to all those who sometimes take their lives in their hands on
the roads and thank you to Martin who collects the bags of rubbish for us.
Following
on from the Quiz Night fundraiser in February, we have had a very successful
Coffee Morning in conjunction with the Horticultural & Craft Show
Committee. Fund raising is in full swing
and we are very grateful to the Amos-Yeo and Hart families for their generous
donations.
Our
next two main fundraising events are the Open Gardens afternoons on 12th June
for the Village gardens and 3rd July for the Sterridge Valley. It is not too late to offer to open your
garden and we are particularly looking for new gardens [new to us that is, as
an old established garden cannot be beaten], so be bold, gardens do not have to
be immaculate just well loved, and if you don't want to open your garden come
along and have a nose at other people's and have a scrummy home baked tea at a
bargain price.
10
We
have got off to a really good start this year, with a very successful fund
raising quiz night at the Manor Hall in February, followed by a well attended
and helpful meeting in The Globe and at the first litter pick of the year we
had so many good folk attend that we almost ran out of roads to send them
on! It is great to know that the village is pulling
together to try and equal our win in the Best Kept Village competition last
year, and help us in our efforts to get Gold in the National R.H.S. Britain in
Bloom competition 2011, where we'll be representing the South West. Two Bloomers went all the way to
We have decided to use Streamways Nurseries again
for the hanging baskets and if you want to join in this scheme we'll be collecting
and taking the baskets over to Georgeham in the next week or so. Please ring Wendy on [01271] 882296 if you
would like to participate.
We've
also set the dates for the two Gardens Open events this year. 12th June for the Village gardens and 3rd
July for the
20
This year, Berrynarbor has been asked to
represent the South West in the National Britain in Bloom Competition, and we
have again entered the
Firstly though we are having a fund
raising evening in the Manor Hall on Friday, 25th February at
This will be followed by a meeting in The
Globe at
Forget the February cold weather and the
chilly economic climate and try this winter warming pudding. Look out for supermarket Stollen going cheap
at this time of the year or one that you have not used since Christmas.
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
We had a wonderful afternoon on the 9th October when we had the presentation at the Manor Hall for the Best Kept Village. One of the judges, Diana Tremlett, and the County Organiser, Elizabeth Cummings, presented the village with a voucher for £100.00 to be spent at Mole Valley Farmers [the sponsors] and our Best Kept Village 2010 plaque. The bell ringers greeted them with peals of bells and the village choir sang for them. Many villagers joined us to enjoy a delicious tea with a wonderful selection of cakes, all provided by ladies of the village. Many thanks to all who helped.
However, we must not rest on our laurels, we are already planning for next year. As the winners for the southwest this year, we have been asked by South West in Bloom to represent the southwest in the national competition run by the R.H.S. in 2011. We are aware that this is quite a feather in our cap but also a bit scary and we'll need all the help we can get from the whole village. We are hoping to recruit a few more helpers - could you take over the watering of an area for example? Also, we shall be having a few more fund raising events, so we hope we can count on your support. Look out for our blooming posters in the New Year and if you can help us in any way, please contact me on [01271] 882296.
17
Winners
of the Best Kept Village in Devon 2010
[Past
Winners' Group]
We were
thrilled to hear that the village had won the
We were also
thrilled to win two gold medals and the Mary Mortimer Cup [Best in the South
West for our category - large village] for
Meanwhile, and
back to earth, we'll be commencing the autumn jobs of clearing the
summer bedding, putting away the hanging baskets and planting up the bulbs for
spring. We'll also be having a litter pick before the Presentation
[must keep our efforts up!] so look out for the blooming posters for more
information.
Congratulations Berrynarbor!
24
The excessively dry weather has kept the 'blooming' team very
busy, especially with watering! All the tubs and planters have been planted
up, some for the second time this year because of a few disasters! We
have been busy weeding, cutting back and litter picking, yet there still seems
a lot to do. We are waiting for the
judging of
The two
Thanks to everyone involved in the two events which raised a
sum of over £700.
On a lovely day, the
16
Spring has been such a long time coming but at last the sun
is shining and although cold, the spring bulbs are just about showing their
faces. In the autumn we planted about a thousand
crocus bulbs in Claude's Garden and they are in bloom along with several clumps
of snowdrops that were already there - they look lovely. This
autumn we could plant another thousand and it would not be too many!
I expect many of you who use the shop and the car park will
notice that the hedge at the back and side of the public toilets has been cut
back and a membrane laid with gravel over it. This has tidied up the area and completes the
work that was done in conjunction with the shop last year. This work was funded by
We are planning to have a litter pick on either of the two
last Sundays of March [dependent on the weather] prior to the Easter
holiday. The litter over the winter has definitely
accumulated in certain areas, although I know that some good souls pick litter
all year round.
We are also collecting up and delivering the hanging baskets
to Streamways Nurseries, Georgeham, for filling. If you
would like to join in with this scheme, please let me know.
27
Berry in Bloom and Best kept Village
Obviously with all the Arctic weather we've been having there
has not been a lot going on with the
We should like to thank John and Fenella for the Christmas
trees in the village, and Tom and Inge for allowing us to plug in to their
electricity. This all added to the atmosphere at the Carol Singing in the
square, as usual led by Phil and Tony, and of course this being Berrynarbor
there had to be mince pies donated by the Globe and a good helping of mulled
wine, which helped us to raise £84.00 for the Devon Air Ambulance.
10
We were very pleased to be awarded a Silver Gilt in
the
Over
the last few weeks we have planted around 1000 crocuses in Claude's
garden. The children from the playschool
group were going to help but the weather was against us and we were afraid they
would blow away! We had our last litter
pick at the end of half term and all the tubs have been planted with
bulbs. We look forward to Christmas and
then another lovely Berrynarbor spring.
26
We
have had a quiet couple of months with not much happening apart from watering
and dead-heading, but we had a litter pick and work party mid-September to
start clearing up after the main holiday season. The weather has not been very kind to the
summer bedding plants even though early September was lovely, so we have
started clearing them ready for the spring bulbs. We plan to plant crocus bulbs in Claude's
garden with the help of the school children and tulips and daffodils in the
tubs around the village.
We
did much better this year in the
As
we go to press we have not yet had the results for the
13
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
We
have had some lovely weather over the last two months with extremely hot and humid days. The
hanging baskets and tubs have loved it and the village is looking at its best. Claude's Garden is now tidy with its new
railings and gate, just like a village green, although not all village greens
have such a lovely view! The planting
to the side of the shop is also complete
and should fill out by next year. We have planted mainly scented climbers on the
fence and trellis with lavender and roses.
The idea is to mask any nasty
whiffs from the septic tank and the public toilets!
The
first
The 16th July is the date for the
judging of
We
must thank the art group who were in Claude's Garden and made a donation of
£20.00 to
12
Over the
last two months the weather has been fairly dry and bright. However, we managed to pick an afternoon for
our last litter pick when the heavens opened and we all got soaked! Never mind, a hot cup of tea and a large
wedge of cake revived us, and we did have a sense of satisfaction that a job
had been well done. We have now
removed the spring bedding from the tubs and planters around the village and
started to replace it with summer flowers.
The small sitting area outside the shop has been planted with lavender,
climbing roses, honeysuckle and clematis, the idea being to screen the area
from the toilets with scented plants.
This has been a joint project with the Shop Management. We hope to do some more planting to the
left of the shop and keep the car park area tidy. At the bottom of
In the
last few days a fence has started to be erected around Claude's Garden. Maybe work can start here now. Watch this space.
The
village
7th
June,
5th July,
Tickets
will be available in advance from the Shop, The Globe, or at one of the Gardens
on the day.
Please
keep up the good work of litter picking:
the judging for The Best Kept Village is on-going throughout the
year. If you are advertising an event,
don't forget to remove the posters afterwards, out-of-date notices leave a
black mark on the judging sheet! Our
floral displays for
If you are
in to gardens and would like to look further afield, Kentisbury will be holding their
If
you are having a summer B.B.Q. or party you might like to try this easy dessert
recipe that needs hardly any cooking. It
does however contain uncooked eggs so is not suitable for pregnant women or the
very elderly.
26
Another
year another litter pick. We have had
our first litter pick of the year with quite a good turn out and loads of
litter picked up, at least 12 large bags, which we took to the tip. The centre of the village was, as usual,
pretty tidy thanks to the regular walkers who do their best to keep it so. Unfortunately the main roads were very bad
as is normal for the first pick of the year.
Regular picks will be made throughout the coming year.
At
the first meeting of the year it was agreed that we should continue to enter
the
We
also decided that the
For
the last few years we have had our hanging baskets planted by Streamways Nurseries at Georgeham - they do a wonderful
job! If you would like to have top
quality planting in your own baskets we can take them over for you. Streamways
deliver them back here in the last week of May. The guide price is: 12" basket £14.50,
14" basket £16.25, 16" basket £17.25.
Again, if you are interested please 'phone me on the above number.
Our
first fund raising event of the year was a Coffee Morning at Fuchsia
Cottage, A big thank you to Pat and
Maureen and the ladies who supplied the lovely cakes. £200.00 was raised with half going to
Meanwhile,
despite the coldest winter for 20 odd years, our spring planting is springing
in to flower. Tempting the first
bumblebees of the year are the mini daffodils and chunky hyacinths, we hope you
enjoy them.
23
This
is proving to be a cold winter, good and bad news for gardeners. Good because the cold will kill quite a few
of the creepy crawlies that plague us and I am thinking particularly of the
'foreigners' that have thrived in the run of really mild winters we have had in
the last few years. However, the cold is
bad news for all of us trying to nurse tender plants
through the winter. This is a quiet
time for the
We
shall be having a meeting at the Globe on Wednesday, 11th February at
13
We are thrilled that we managed to get a Gold for
We have had our last litter pick of this
year and completed our autumn clear up.
'Get a Stick and Flick it!' - this is the policy of Exmoor National
Park, Devon Countryside Access Forum and
the Kennel Club, as seen on the notices on the walks to Heddons
Mouth, regarding the disposal of dog poo. How sensible! This is a far pleasanter and environmentally
friendly way of keeping our 'walkways' free, and so
much better than poo left in bags beside the road or
beside paths. On a recent 'litter
pick' walk up the Valley, no less than 4
poo bags were found surreptitiously hidden in the
undergrowth on the side of the road - it can't rot in plastic bags but the rain
and weather will break it down if it is 'flicked' into the hedgerow.
You may have noticed that the shrubs at
the bottom of Pitt Hill have had a severe haircut, but they were very overgrown
and will soon grow again in the spring.
The planters and tubs have been planted with bulbs and polyanthus and we
hope you enjoy them in the spring.
We shall meet early next year to discuss
our plans, so look out for our posters and we hope you will join us.
Wendy
13
Disaster
has struck! From winning the
The
reason? Not because the village was
untidy, not because of litter or dog fouling, not because the flowers looked
messy, not because of the lack effort from the 'Bloomers' and villagers
themselves, but because of Claude's Garden!
We feel this to be very unfair.
We are waiting for the Parish Council to build steps and paths, tenders
have gone out, but obviously work has not begun. The problem is that the judges come
unannounced, we do not meet them and therefore we cannot explain that the
garden is a 'work in hand'. The project
will not be resolved until work has been completed on the Garden and we do not
know when that will be. Our apologies
to all who have tried so hard to make the village look 'best kept'.
No
result yet of the
This
autumn we will be putting in bulbs and spring bedding plants. Let's hope again that next year will be
better.
Wendy
Advance
Notice ... Bank Holiday
8
Since
the new Shop opened in the spring,
Thank
you to Tony Summers for his magnificent job of repairing the very tatty finger
post at the bottom of Barton Lane/Castle Hill.
We
have continued with the litter picks and planting of tubs around the
village. This includes planting up and
looking after the tubs in the centre of the village outside empty houses,
either up for sale or holiday homes.
This adds to the commitment of watering, so many thanks to those that do
this very necessary task.
Late
May saw the arrival of the hanging baskets.
The van arrived in the village centre to unload and the heavens
opened! But once again they look lovely
and defy the elements.
The
first of the
The
second event in July followed horrendous weather that week and could easily
have been a washout. However, we must
have done something right as although cold, windy and threatening, the rain
held off until
Friday,
11th July and the
Thank
you to everyone in the village who supports us, especially Mike Hart and family
for their very generous donation.
P.S. Look out for our posters as to when the next
litter pick takes place.
6
On
the whole it has been a cold spring, the advantage being that the daffodils and
primulas lasted longer in the planters, whereas last
year in the warm spring they were over in a flash.
This year we have added to the
containers of plants around the village with new wooden planters outside our
lovely new shop and post office. I hope
you agree that the little yellow violas and cheery red daisies (bachelor's
buttons) have added to the welcome.
These will be supplemented with bedding plants for the summer. Thank you Jackie, Anita and the army of
volunteers for keeping them watered.
The
hanging baskets are due to arrive at the end of May and then the real work of
keeping them watered starts. We shall
also be changing the spring bedding to the summer display.
At
the moment we are waiting for tenders to go out for work to begin on Claude's
garden.
We
had a donation of £100 from the barn dance in May and have donated this to the
school, as we like to support and encourage the children in the gardening
club. Last year the
Our
main fund raising event as usual will be the
This
year they will be:
teas at Chicane
thanks to Ken and Judie
The
Village, Sunday 6th July
with teas at The
Lodge thanks to Phil and Lynne
We
have one or two new gardens opening this year so let's hope for good weather
and please come along and support us.
Just
a reminder that judging for the
We have already had a couple of litter
picking afternoons followed by tea and cake (just a little bit of
bribery!) and are always grateful to
those who help in any way and always welcome new helpers. Just look out for our 'blooming' posters.
16
Having
been away for most of the winter, it was lovely coming back to the village and
seeing the snowdrops and primroses.
There is nowhere in the world lovelier than a
We
held our first meeting at The Globe on 5th March and it was well attended. It was agreed to help our new Shop by
supplying some new tubs and to ask the School to help by planting them up.
We
shall be entering the
Our
main fund-raising events will be the
and the
[a change from the 29th June - our first choice - as the
Unfortunately,
the first Litter Pick on the 16th March was cancelled due to the pouring
rain. As soon as the decision was made
to cancel it, out came the sun!
However, most areas were covered the following day and some of the tubs
in the village were supplemented with spring flowers to make a cheerful display
for Easter.
Please
look out for our 'Blooming'
Posters for further Litter Pick Dates.
Years
ago I was lent an old American Cake Book dating back to the 40's and 50's. Some of the cakes had weird ingredients,
such as mayonnaise and beetroot, but one really caught my eye! I tried the recipe out and tested it on
friends and family [poor souls]. To our
amazement the cake was moist, sweet and slightly spicy - yum, yum, but you have
to admit you would never guess the main ingredient 'Tomato Soup'!! So, for April Fools Day I give you Tomato Soup
Cake. Do try it out and get your family
to guess what's in it, they will be amazed!
28
On the whole we have had a lovely autumn
- just what we all needed after the miserable summer, but now winter is upon
us. The group have
had a year of litter picking, planting and tidying up the village and can now
rest until the spring. We hope you've
enjoyed the floral displays around the village and may be you will consider
joining us next year.
This year we again won a Silver Gilt
Award from the
We hope to see you next year, our first meeting will be some time in February, so
look out for 'blooming' posters!
26
At
last we have had a bit of sunshine again and amazingly there is still a good
show from the hanging baskets in the centre of the village, but on the whole it
has been a slightly disappointing year for us.
The results of the
Hundreds
of polyanthus plugs have arrived and been potted up by Phil ready for the
winter bedding displays, and that will be the next ask to be completed. But in the meantime, we continue to do the
litter picks [on the last one some holiday makers joined in!] and have work
parties to tidy up. Do not forget - all
are welcome to join and enjoy the tea break afterwards.
22
Well,
what can we say! Having had the sunniest
and driest spring, summer is turning out to be a total washout. This has made it very hard for all the
gardeners and no doubt the farmers too.
The planting in the tubs has refused to flower and the hanging baskets
are being blown to pieces! However,
with the litter picks and a lot of hard work from the trusty band of
'bloomers', when the
The
judging for the
The
two
The
day of the
Many
thanks to all those who opened their gardens, those who provided food for the
yummy teas, transported chairs, etc., and made the events successful despite
the weather.
26
The wonderful weather that we had in late March and April means
that the spring bulbs, primroses and cowslips were over in a flash. We do not start watering the tubs and plants until the summer bedding is in, so the poor old
tulips, daffodils and primulas suffered quite a bit. Who would think that we could complain about
it being too dry in April!
This
year we have been asked by the Parish Council to help with the rejuvenation of
Claude's Garden. Over the years this
has become overgrown and in need of a make-over. The idea is to open it up and make it more
accessible. To enable the whole village
to have their say as to how they would like to see the garden progress, a
meeting was held on the 22nd May to discuss the options. The Parish Council is applying for grants to
help the funding of this, but it is hoped that the whole village will join in
and be involved.
The
litter picks continue and the hanging baskets are due to be delivered on the
25th May. The dates for the
SUNDAY, 17TH JUNE
The
1.00
Teas
from
SUNDAY 15TH JULY
The
Village
1.00 to
Teas
from
If
you would like to have your garden open on one of these dates, please 'phone
Wendy on [01271]882296. It's a lovely
way to meet people and your garden doesn't have to be perfect. If you are in the process of rejuvenating
an old garden or creating a new one, we should love to see 'work in progress'.
Please
make a note of the dates and come along and support us.
Judging
for the
31
It
has been decided that the village will enter the
We
have asked Streamways Nurseries at Georgeham for
their help again with the hanging baskets.
Anyone who wants to join in the scheme [we take the empty baskets to
them and they deliver them back beautifully filled for a reasonable price],
please contact Wendy on 882296.
Our
main fund raising events are the
Thanks
to Pat and Maureen for the donation from the coffee morning held on 9th March
at Fuchsia Cottage, and to Rainer and Jill for the donation from the Flowerpot
Men books.
We
are on the lookout for small, plastic flowerpots to pot on the small plug
plants we have ordered. If you can
spare any, please drop them off to Jenny at Middle Lee Farm.
Happy
gardening to you all.
21
Not
much has been happening but we hope you enjoyed the Christmas tree in the
centre of the village - the lights provided by
We
should like to thank Derek Phillips for the donation of £200 for the help given
by members of our team at the Classic Moto-Cross des Nations meet on the 2nd
and 3rd September. It has been agreed
with Derek that £100 should go to the School to help with their gardening club.
We
shall be having our first meeting in February and the date will be announced on
one of our 'blooming' posters! Hope you
can join us in 2007.
18
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
We
have had a lovely autumn and cannot complain about the well needed rain. We recently had a work party to clear the
summer bedding and plant spring bulbs and primulas in
the tubs. The hanging baskets are down
and in storage until next year.
The
presentation of a plaque was made to Sue Sussex, on behalf of the group, for
our position as Best Kept Village Runner Up.
This took place at the Globe [due to the fire in the Manor Hall] at the
beginning of the November Parish Council Meeting.
We
should like to thank the Parish Council for their support over the past year
and look forward to their continued support next year.
As
a group, we start again in the spring and hope to welcome any new faces.
Happy Christmas, Wendy
20
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
September is proving to be another
glorious month weather-wise. This last
spring and summer has been difficult for all gardeners and no less so for Berry
in Bloomers. Despite this we managed to
win Silver Gilt for the Berry in Bloom award and came second in the Best kept
Village competition. Britain in Bloom
is not a competition as such, but awards are made on the merit of planting,
quality of flowers, involvement of the village etc. As in the Chelsea flower show, Gold is the
top award. then Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze. In the Best kept Village we only lost by one
point. No shame in that when the judges
admitted the village was near perfect.
But the whole point of our involvement in these competitions is not just
to win but also to keep our village a clean and attractive place for us all to
live in. Therefore, once again we must
thank all the good folks who help in whatever way.
Later this month we shall be emptying the summer bedding and planting up
the containers with bulbs and spring bedding.
We are also helping the school by providing money and plants for their
gardening club. Litter picks followed by
tea and cakes are, of course, ongoing.
The next one will be on Sunday, 15th October, 2.30 p.m. at Middle
Lee Farm. Any help would be
welcome. For future 'Picks' look out
for our blooming posters! And once
again well done Berrynarbor!
Wendy
14
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
The
sun is shining, the birds singing and I hope you all agree that the village is
looking lovely. The Best Kept Village
judging is on-going and we do not know when the judges make their visits. So obviously we have to be on our toes all
the time.
The
judging for Britain in Bloom took place on 12th July. The judge is not allowed to give a hint as to what he thinks,
but he seemed to like what he saw.
Certainly he enjoyed the cream tea kindly provided by Phil and Lynne at
The Lodge. We could not have a band
of more willing helpers and thanks to all who help in whatever way.
The
first of the Open Gardens, the Village, took place on 18th June. The weather was fine but cloudy and there
were plenty of visitors. The second,
the Valley, took place on the 23rd July.
It was a very hot and sunny day and again there were a lot of visitors,
many of whom were anxious to look at the garden at Harpers Mill. Many thanks to Phil and Lynne and Ken and
Judie and their bands of waiters and cake makers for once again providing teas
at The Lodge and Chicane, where on both days, evening BBQ's followed for everyone involved. The two days together raised nearly £700 - a great effort by
everyone involved.
Please
keep an eye open for our 'blooming' posters as we are planning a car boot sale
in the late summer.
30
Spring
is a very busy time for all gardeners but despite the cold weather, the
The
hanging baskets arrived on the 21st May in time for the Spring Bank Holiday
[Whitsun]. Unfortunately, this was a
cold, windy and rain-swept day but we hope they will thrive and be enjoyed by
the village and holidaymakers and, of course, help us to win again!
We
have removed dead conifer and tree stumps from outside the Manor Hall and plan
to plant a tree and some perennial planting there. Although we may have to wait until we get
the bindweed under control! The next
urgent project will be to replant the large bed by the bus stop opposite the
Sawmill Inn.
Times:
Shop and
at the Gardens on the Day
Adults: £3.50
Under 8's: £2.50
Proceeds
to Berry in Bloom and other Local Charities
Please
come along and support us and have a good time
For any other dates, please look our
for our 'Blooming' posters. Thank you
to the Combe Martin Carnival Committee for their kind donation, and also the
folks at the Village Barn Dance, for their donation.
Wendy
30
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE This year the weather forecasters have predicted a very cold winter. Let's hope that this is not the case, although a cold snap would help to eradicate all the bugs that cause anguish to the gardeners and farmers. The Berry in Bloom brigade have stopped work for this year but we shall continue to pick up litter as we see it, and as usual we invite help from all villagers to keep the lanes litter free. In October we removed all the summer bedding and planted spring bulbs and bedding in the containers around the village. We also tidied up and weeded the cobbles outside the church running up to Barton Lane. There have also been a couple of litter picks. On the 24th October, the presentation to the village of the Best Kept Village award was a great success. The Council for the Protection of Rural England presented the award and it was received by the Parish Council on behalf of the village. There was tea and cakes aplenty [all kindly donated by kind folks in the village] and a lot of friendly chatter. The award is sponsored by Mole Valley Farmers, who kindly gave a donation of £200 to the Berry in Bloom Committee. We shall be starting 2006 with a meeting at The Globe at 8.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 21st February. Wendy
9
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
What a lovely summer we've had and now it is the time of mellow fruitfulness and we are just about finished in our work for this year.
The good news is that we have won the Best Kept Village award again! This year the award is very special as we were entered against the villages in Devon of our size that have previously been winners, and we won! So you could say that we are the Best of the Best. Well done to all the willing helpers and well done to the Village. The award is sponsored by Mole Valley Farmers and they will be presenting the award in the Manor Hall on Saturday afternoon, 22nd October, at 3.00 p.m. There will be a cream tea and the whole village is invited, so do come along.
Unfortunately, there was a spate of graffiti and vandalism in the late summer, but we hope that this was just 'high spirits' and is now over.
A work party was held on the 25th September to tidy up the shrubs at the bus shelter at Pitt Hill and also to clear the walls. Another work party is planned [look out for the date on our posters] to clear the summer bedding and plant miniature daffodils and winter bedding. There will also be a last litter pick about the school half-term, and again look out for the posters.
We all had a great afternoon on 11th September, when we held a BBQ and games afternoon at Middle Lee Farm. There was a mean game of rounders!
Thank you to everyone who has helped to look after our lovely village. Just to pick up one item of litter or to put out one tub of flowers makes a great difference.
Wendy
29
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Here we are in high summer and I hope you will agree that the village is looking lovely. The comments from villagers and visitors alike make it all worthwhile. A work party gathered one Sunday afternoon and in the space of a couple of hours and on the principle that 'many hands make light work', the planting out was completed. The hardest task during the hot weather is the watering. The litter picks have continued and work parties are planned for certain areas in the village. Many thanks to all who help and to the littler pickers, planter-outers and fundraisers. We are always keen to recruit new helpers, so if you would like to join us just look out for the next poster.
A BBQ was held at Middle Lee Farm on Sunday, 26th June. This was well attended by Berry in Bloomers but was also intended for everyone in the village. We played boules and croquet in the paddock next to the Shetland ponies and everyone enjoyed themselves. Next time DO come and join us. No date as yet has been set, but watch out for news of the next one in September.
The two main fund raising events have been the Open Garden Days. First on the 19th June when the beautiful Sterridge Valley was open - this proved most successful. Luckily it was a fine day and not too hot as there are plenty of steep slopes to climb in the gardens. Judie and Ken were in charge of the cream teas that were included in the price of the ticket and these went down a treat. Second, the Village Gardens were open on Sunday, 10th July, which was a scorcher and almost too hot, but there was a good turn out of locals and visitors and Phil and Lynne at The Lodge provided the teas, which stopped everyone from completely wilting. In the evening a BBQ was held there for everyone involved in both open days. Over £500 was raised by these two events. The money will go to plant spring flowering bulbs and plants in the autumn and to start us off next spring with plants and compost. Thanks to all the people who came, opened their gardens, sold plants or who helped with the teas, etc.
Next year it would be nice to include a few new gardens so if you are interested you have a year to weed, prune and make everything in the garden rosy!
The next litter pick is on the 7th August, meet at Middle Lee Farm at 3.00 p.m. Tea and cakes to follow.
Is it just me or does any one else hate the sight of the wheelie bins? I know it is very difficult for some people, but in this beautiful village it would be so nice if they could be hidden away except on collection days.
Wendy
26
BERRY IN BLOOM
Things have been happening since the last Newsletter.
The Quiz Nights at The Globe have been very successful raising needed money for plants. A couple of Litter Picks have left the village cleaner BUT a really heartfelt [even nose-felt] plea to dog owners, please, please pick up the pooh and dispose of it in the correct manner - not under or on bushes! 'Fouling' is particularly bad again around the outer reaches of the village and it is extremely unpleasant for the litter-pickers bent on keeping the village clean and tidy.
Planting has taken place and pots, tubs, containers and hanging baskets will all be completed shortly.
Although the village has not entered the Britain in Bloom Competition this year, the high standards of the past, under Anne and Vi's guidance, must not be allowed to slip. So, it is hoped that everyone will continue to do their bit to help keep our village as beautiful as ever.
The Best Kept Village competition has, however, been entered and judges will visit the village on two or three unannounced occasions during May, June and July, so again please do your bit to ensure it is looking its best, with no litter, out-of-date advertising, etc.
There are things continuing to happen during June and July.
Firstly the two Open Garden Days. The Sterridge Valley ones will be open on the 19th June and the Village ones on the 10th July. Cream teas will be available at Chicane and The Lodge respectively, and the gardens open from 2.00 to 5.00 p.m. The cost to visit, including tea, is £3.50 and programmes/tickets will be available from the Post Office, Globe and Sawmills, or at the gardens in a couple of weeks' time.
If anyone would like to open their garden and have not been approached, please do contact Wendy on 882296. The more, the merrier! And don't forget, Chelsea exhibits are not required or expected - the afternoon is a walk with a purpose and a cream tea at the end!
There will be a village Bar-B-Q on Sunday, 26th June [please note change of date] at Middle Lee Farm. Everyone welcome. Bring your own food to cook and drink, salads will be provided, and there will be stalls and a raffle. Watch out for posters!
Two Litter Picks are scheduled, 5th June and 3rd July. Meet at Middle Lee Farm at 3.00 p.m. and return there for tea and cakes afterwards.
Wendy
23
BERRY IN BLOOM
After many very successful years running Berrynarbor's Britain in Bloom, Ann and Vi Davies have decided to take a well-earned rest. However, the group that helped Ann and Vie have decided to carry on keeping the village looking nice, but not to enter the competition this year.
To raise funds for planting out the many tubs and hanging baskets, particularly in The Square and around the Manor Hall, several events are being planned. Everyone is welcome to join in.
Keeping our village litter-free is also on the agenda and the first litter pick up took place on the 13th March. The second one will be on Sunday, 10th April, starting at Middle Lee Farm at 3.00 p.m. Please bring your 'marigolds' and a black bag. Tea and cakes over a chat will be provided on the return to Middle Lee.
Following on that evening, The Globe will be hosting the first of four more Quiz Nights at 8.30 p.m. This one, however, will be one with a difference as the entry fee per person will be £1 and all funds raised will be given to Berry in Bloom.
The next meeting of the group will be at The Globe on Monday, 18th April, at 8.00 o'clock.
Advance Notice:
Open Gardens in the Sterridge Valley will be on Sunday, 19th June, followed by cream teas at Chicane.
A Village BBQ will be held at Middle Lee on Sunday, 3rd July.
Make a note of these two events in your diaries NOW!
Wendy
24
BEST KEPT VILLAGE & BERRY IN BLOOM NEWS
The Great Berry Litter Pick ups
The dates for June and July are:
Sunday 27th June
Sunday 18th July
Meet at Langleigh House at 3.00 p.m.
Don't forget to bring your black bag and gloves Tea and Cakes on your return!
Fund Raising Event
VILLAGE DANCE with the ELDERLY BROTHERS plus other entertainment!
FRIDAY 11TH JUNE, 8.00 p.m. till Late
Manor Hall
Bring your own drinks and glasses
£3.00 entry includes bread and cheese supper
VILLAGE GARDEN TRAIL
[open gardens]
Sunday 11th July The
Village Gardens
Sunday 1st August -
Sterridge Valley Gardens
2.30 to 5.30 p.m.
£3.50 includes Devon Cream Tea
Details .and programmes will be available from early July
BERRY'S MAZZARD ORCHARD
Many thanks to everyone who sponsored Ann's 12 mile trek
Over £100 has been raised for the Mazzard Orchard which will be planted in the Autumn
If anyone wishes to make a contribution it is not too late,
please contact Vi on 882696
VILLAGE COMPOSTING SCHEME
from June the Village will have its own community compost area thanks to
Jackie and Roy at Langteigh House
If you have any waste and wish to take advantage of the scheme, please contact Jackie or Roy on 883410
Berrynarbor compost - potting for the future!
BERRY IN BLOOM MEETING
Thursday, 10th June, 7.30 p.m. in The Globe
38
BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE NEWS
Chinese New Year Celebrations - 31st January
Firstly, many, many thanks to John, Fenella and all their and Berry in Bloom friends for a fantastic evening at Sloley Farm. The evening was full of fun, fabulous food and music to dance the night away with Jimmy and Phil - what a great night!
RHS Bicentenary Launch - 16th February
The RHS invited the four national Britain in Bloom gold medal winners from 2003 to attend their Launch to mark the start of the RHS Bicentenary year.
Berrynarbor was invited to stage an exhibition at Lawrence Hall, Westminster, Lon on, which was attended by His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Anne Harris and Ann Davies traveled to London to represent the
Village with the following in tow:
- A Devon Cream Tea
- Lots of photographs of the Village
- A Pot Man - appropriately named Phil Pot!
- And a six-foot high, decorated Mazzard Tree - which generated lots of admiring glances, particularly from a London Cabbie at Paddington Station when we reassured him it would fit into his cab!
HRH spent a lot of time chatting about Berrynarbor's exhibit, in particular the Mazzard tree, as the picture shows.
Photograph reproduced by kind permission of the RHS
Primrose Bank - Bob Richards Memorial
Many of you will have realised that the primroses at the entrance to Barton Lane are not wild primroses. The Nursery that supplied the plants have acknowledged a mistake this is disappointing for everyone, in particular the committee and volunteers who spent considerable time preparing and planting out the plants. However, a solution is in hand. Many people have already potted surplus wild primroses [from their gardens] to plant in the bank. If you have any plants willing to donate, please contact us even if it is only a few plants.
The plants, which are already planted, will not seed and additionally will not survive in a grass bank setting.
Elderly Brothers - Village Dance
The Elderly Brothers have very kindly offered to raise funds for the Berry in Bloom Competition. If you came along to the last dance, you will know what a great evening is in store.
The Dance is taking place on a Friday in June at the Manor Hall, 7.30 p.m. 'til late. Refreshments will be provided but bring your own tipple! The date and details will be displayed in the village and in the June issue of the Newsletter. Keep Fridays free!
Open Gardens
We have set two dates for our Gardens Open event- 11th July and 1st August, 2.00 to 5.00 p.m and insurance is covered by Berry in Bloom.
Illustrations by: Paul Swailes
We always welcome 'new' gardens and would love to hear from anyone who would be willing to open their garden on one of the above dates.
Best Kept Village
The Great Berry Litter Pick Up - Take One 2004 3.00-4.30 p.m.
Our first Litter Pick Up has been arranged for Sunday, 4th April, meeting at Roy and Jackie's home, Langieigh House.
Don't forget to bring gloves, black rubbish bag and you will be rewarded with a cup of tea and Wendy's scrumptious cakes!
Please contact Vi Davies if you can help in any way with the Berry in Bloom/Best Kept Village Competitions - 882696.
27
BLOOMIN' BEST . . . AND EVEN BETTER!
As reported in the October issue, our entry into the CPRE Large Village competition won the award, and the village celebrated with a Devon Cream Tea at the Manor Hall on the 8th November. Presenting the award and representing CPRE were Ros Crighton and Mrs. Crowther and receiving them on behalf of the village were Emma Vanstone - a young supporter - and Graham Andrews, Chairman of our Parish Council. Thank you to everyone involved in putting on an excellent afternoon.
It was also reported that we had won the Britain in Bloom Mary Mortimer Trophy and were awaiting the outcome of the National Competition to be announced at the Awards Presentation at the Guildhall, London, on 30th September.
What a result! Representing the South West we won a Gold Award!
Does everyone realize what an incredible achievement this is? Throughout the country, only 4 Gold Awards were made over all the categories - large city, city, large town, town, small town, small country town, large village, village, urban regeneration, urban community and coastal resorts A and B. The other 3 Gold Award winners were Darley and Harrogate in Yorkshire and Nottingham. Sadly, we did not take the Overall Category Winner since Darley pipped us by 1 point, both being in the Large Viliage Category. Although Barnstaple, for instance, was hailed as an Overall Category Winner, of the four awards - Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze - their entry only took a Silver Gilt award.
So we should all be very proud but we could not have achieved this wonderful accolade without Ann and Vi and their dedicated band of supporters whose cajoling and enthusiasm spurred us all on. A very big THANK YOU to you all, but especially Ann, and her dedication to the incredible amount of paperwork that has to accompany the entry, and Vi.
Illustration by:
Debbie Rigler Cook
The Judges were impressed by:
- The effort and enthusiasm is evident from the whole community and could well be an inspiration to all. The sheer joy and spirit of this entry is overwhelming.
- Floral Displays - Consistent high standard of maintenance. The variety of plants together with good co/our co- ordination and design giving a most elegant display. The initial thoughts on ornamentation [flowerpot men] added immeasurably to the fun and spirit of Berrynarbor in Bloom areas.
- Permanent Landscaping, including shrubs - The wonderful quality, variety and maintenance shown throughout the vi//age, especia//y the very steep embankments and roadside verges which were breath-taking.
- Local Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development - Recycling huts, composting schemes at the school and communal/ water barrel.
- Local Environmental Quality - Terrific input of local community by daily collections, even along the dangerous main road and in all weathers. Exceptional cleanliness
- Public Awareness -Judges' 'Welcome' poster in the bus shelter. The fact that the majority of the community knew about the judges' arrival and why.
17
BLOOMIN' BEST!
Illustrated by: Debbie Rigler Cook
What a wonderful summer it has been for the village and our thanks and congratulations must go to Ann and Vi for their enthusiasm, hard work, which has resulted in a bumper crop of events and awards.
The second Open Garden Trail, on an equally was just as successful as the first -another perfect day. The two raffles held on the Open days raised £100 for the Newsletter, which was very much appreciated.
Our entry into the CPRE Large Village section of competition took the award, with a score of 98 out of 100. The judges comments were:
"What a delightful village - it was very difficult to find any fault with it at all. The private houses were all well maintained with attractive gardens. The flowerpot men in their various guises added to the attraction. All the commercial properties were in an excellent condition and looked welcoming. The public toilets were housed in an attractive building and in a spotless condition. They were situated in a good, well landscaped car park. The 'Quiet Garden' open to the public, was a joy to visit- a real haven lovely setting overlooking the village. It was nice to see that the W.l. had planted a Mazzard tree there to commemorate the Millennium. There were several cherries on it - do hope the birds don't get there first! It was obvious that everyone was proud of their village as it was so well cared for. Looking at the notice board there are many activities for all ages. It was a pleasure to visit such a lovely village although it was a dull damp day. Well done!"
Then at Shepton Mallet, Ann received the fantastic news that our entry for the Southwest in Bloom [RHS], small village category, had won the Gold Medal and Mary Mortimer Trophy. Now we await the outcome on 30th September of our entry into the Britain in Bloom [RHS] National Competition in the large village category. There are nine villages in the running, but we hope to have good news in the next issue. Well done Vi and Ann, all your helpers and all the village gardeners!
12
BERRYNARBOR IN BLOOM VILLAGE &
BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Firstly thanks to everyone who has helped with various projects in the village - too many to mention, someone! Secondly, we have a number of events planned and would be delighted of any offers of help and support - in particular:
Great Berry Litter Pick-up - 'Take 4'
We have had three successful pick-ups to date. 'Take 4' is arranged for 6th July. Meet at Middle Lee Farm, 3.00 p.m., spend an hour around the village and be rewarded with scrumptious tea and cakes.
Middle Lee Fam BBQ, 3.00 p.m. onwards on 20th July [if very wet it will be held the following Sunday, 27th] Village barbecue open to everyone. Bring food for barbecue and own drinks. Bread and salads are provided free of charge. However, there will be a raffle and bring and buy stall, which we hope you will support to raise funds.
Village Garden Trail
Two days have been arranged:
- Sunday 13th July - Sterridge Valley Gardens Open. Refreshments at Chicane.
- Sunday 3rd August - Village Gardens Open. Refreshments at the Manor Hall.
In total 19/20 gardens will be open. Judie has kindly offered to do the refreshments at her home. Programme/Map for both days will be on sale early July from the Post Office and additionally at the Manor Hall on the days the gardens are open. Entry to the gardens is by at a cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.
Judging for Britain in Bloom has not yet been confirmed but will be in the period: Regional 20th - 31st July, National 4th - 17th August.
At the time of going to press, Best Kept Village will have been preliminarily judged [May]. If we succeed, the final judging takes place in July.
It has been an extremely busy time and the effort of a great many People has resulted in numerous projects being completed. Thanks to all for help and donations.
Ann Davies
31
BERRY IN BLOOM
Many thanks to everyone who has been helping out with clearing, digging, weeding, planting, etc. The phrase 'many hands make light work' is certainly very true and out thanks go to the intrepid gang of helpers.
Theme for Berry's entry into the National Competition is Country Gardens and we shall be aiming to plant flowers and shrubs that attract butterflies, bees and hopefully the judges!
23
BERRY IN BLOOM
Berrynarbor has been selected to represent the South West in the National Britain in Bloom 2003 Competition.
We are holding a meeting to discuss how, what and where we are going to approach our entry.
If you would like to get involved, a little or a lot, please come along to The Globe on Tuesday, 18th February, 7.30 p.m. for a short meeting.
Just looking after one hanging basket can make a huge difference!!
30
BERRY IN BLOOM
Once again we must thank Ann and Vi and their hard working Committee for arranging a lovely 'Get Together' in the Manor Hall on the 9th November. The hall looked good and we were served delicious refreshments - lovely cheese and good wine!
But we were there, not for the beer, but to thank them on their success in winning the Mary Mortimer Trophy, awarded to our village for the wonderful floral displays that so impressed the judge. We were also there to congratulate the Carnival Committee and all those who took part in producing the prize-winning [at all the Carnivals] float, 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. Well done! Finally, Gordon Hughes, as Chairman of the Men's Institute, presented Hedy with the plaque for Josef's bench. A lovely afternoon.
I should like to express my grateful thanks to everyone who has shown me so much kindness and support, not only during my stay in hospital, but always at other times too. Doreen [Siviter]
I should like to say thank you to everyone who has sent me cards, flowers and fruit during my stay at the Tyrrell, where I am now convalescing following a few days down in Plymouth.
I have been delighted to see so many visitors - thank you for coming - everyone has been so kind.
Vi K.
18
BRITAIN IN BLOOM - JOSEF BELKA
Over the past few months, fundraising events have been held in the village to raise funds for Josef's bench. Thanks to the tremendous support, over £300 has been raised and the bench has been ordered. Once it is in place, we are intending to have a ceremony, so please look out for details.
28
BERRY IN BLOOM
The Berrynarbor in Bloom theme this year will be a celebration of the Queen's Jubilee, with flower arrangements in red, white and blue. If you would like to follow this theme yourselves, that would be great perhaps you could even add a touch of gold!
22
Berrynarbor in Bloom
Congratulations to Annie and Vi and the Berry Resident Flowerpot Men who have just scooped up the prestigious top prize - The Mary Mortimer Trophy - in the Britain in Bloom awards for Villages under 1000 Residents in the West Country.
The judge commented that the 'new residents', coupled with input from the village school children and the whole community, helped in the win. He was also very impressed with the compilation events and photos which Ann had put together.
If this was not impressive enough, just a couple more points would have given us the Overall award for the South West, this year presented to Taunton. Well done!
We are so pleased that our efforts this year have paid off and we have been successful in winning the Mary Mortimer Trophy in this competition. Without the help of the many people of the village involved, this would not have been possible and we should like to say many, many thanks for your support.
Ann and Vi
11
BERRY IN BLOOM
Vi Davies would like to thank everyone who supported the recent Jumble Sale. Takings amounted to £150.00 which has been divided between Berry in Bloom, the Carnival Float and the Newsletter. [In turn, may I thank Vi for the Newsletter's share produced by her and her hardworking helpers. Vi's continued support of the Newsletter is much appreciated. Ed.]
27
BERRYNARBOR [Britain] IN BLOOM
Volunteers are required to help plant up baskets and tubs for the village. PLEASE COME AND HELP! Sunday, 18th June, 2.30 p.m. at the Manor Hall. |
17
BERRYNARBOR IN BLOOM
The Village has looked really pretty this summer with its numerous floral arrangements and thanks are due to the many helpers that made this possible.
In answer to the plea for help in planting up the baskets and tubs, 15 gallant volunteers came forward and a very pleasant afternoon was spent gardening in the Manor Hall. Thank you all for coming and thank you Phil and Lynne, who provided the workers with a most welcome and refreshing tea.
Particular thanks must go to the stalwarts who have tended and watered the arrangements throughout the summer.
Sadly, despite all our efforts, we were again beaten into second place by Catcott in Somerset.
Vi and Anne Davies
Congratulations to Vi and Anne and all their helpers - your efforts on our behalf are very much appreciated.
17
BERRYNARBOR IN BLOOM
Vi and Ann would like to thank all who have contributed many hours of their time in helping with planting and watering.
The effort of everyone involved has been wonderful and the displays throughout the Village are a credit to your hard work. Thanks.
Coffee Morning on
the Glorious Twelfth
Thursday, 12th
August,10.00 to 12.00 noon, Manor Hall
Thanks to Rainer's creation, the Village's flowerpot person is now 'flourishing' in situ by the Post Office. To help with the cost, we are holding a Strawberries and Coffee Morning on 12th August.
Donations of cakes, bric-a-brac and produce will be very welcome. Please phone Vi [882696] if you require any item collected, or bring items along to the Manor Hall on the 12th. EVERYONE welcome!
19
BRITAIN IN BLOOM - BERRYNARBOR
Once again we received a Runners-Up Certificate with the following comments from the Judge:
- "The colour displays at the entrance to the village heralded the riot of colour which I saw throughout the village.
- Residents 'front gardens were very good and the cottages without front gardens managed to supply a blaze of colour with containers, baskets and climbing plants.
- The village inn and hotel had made good use of many containers filled with flowers and other traders also contributed.
- The Church, bus stop and village hall were well looked after and tended with no litter or graffiti to be seen.
- A worthy effort and everyone in the village is to be congratulated."
My thanks to the many planters, waterers and everyone who has helped to keep our village blooming so beautifully all summer.
Vi Davies
Thank you, Vi, for all your hard work and commitment and as a tribute to everyone for their contributions to the Best Kept Village and Berrynarbor in Bloom, I hope you will enjoy the centrepage spread of photographs of the Village taken this summer. This special addition to the Newsletter has been made possible by the generous donations received from readers, and it was felt that this was a way to repay you for your support and encouragement.
Thank you.
Ed.
12
BEST KEPT VILLAGE 1985-1991
Once again the Parish Council has endorsed the village's entry into this competition. Sadly, the Youth Club is unable to undertake this project this year, so IT'S UP TO US AS A VILLAGE, WORKING TOGETHER.
How YOU can help:
- Don't drop litter and if you can, please pick up any that you see. Encourage others to do the same.
- Please, if possible, put your rubbish out for collection on the day, NOT the night before, and tie securely. The birds, wind and animals can scatter it everywhere!
- Have you a 'pooper scooper' for your dog?
If you can help in any way, please contact Joy Morrow, Fuchsia Cottage [882531] after the 15th April.
Preliminary judging takes place during May and June, with judging in July. Judges DO NOT advise when they are coming - they can appear at any time! The judging schedule is:
- Absence of litter and unsightly refuse dumps on verges.
- Condition of village greens: playing fields, school yards, public seats ad notice boards.
- Condition of private buildings, gardens and allotments, including hedges, walls, fences and outhouses.
- Condition of churchyards, cemeteries and war memorials.
- Condition of public halls, sports pavilions and surrounds, car parks.
- Cleanliness of bus shelters, telephone kiosks and public lavatories.
- State of footpaths, stiles, field gates, signposting, ponds and streams.
- Condition of commercial and business premises including advertisements and other signs.
- Clear evidence of local commitment and initiative in the care and maintenance of the village.
Items 1 to 8 carry a maximum of 10 points each, and item 9 a maximum of 20 points.
* Did you know that Berrynarbor has won in 1985 and 1988 and that in all the intervening years has been placed Runner-up for North Devon?
Let's do it again!
Joy Morrow
6
BRITAIN IN BLOOM AND BEST KEPT VILLAGE
Applications have been completed, so LET'S ALL DO OUR 'BIT' whatever that might be - picking up litter when we see it, tidying our own little patches, lending a helping hand when needed, etc. All these deeds add to making Berrynarbor a pleasant village to live in. Spring is almost here!
Joy Morrow
11
BRITAIN IN BLOOM
By the time you read this the judging will have taken place [13th July]. The village looks LOVELY and we have high hopes that we earn a cup this year. Thank you so much to everyone whose garden and baskets are 'in bloom', but especial thanks to the following team of flower planters, tub makers, bench and litter bin painters, slug killers, etc:
- Josef & Heddy Belka
- John & Jackie Weaver
- Roy & June Perry
- Les & Heather Levey
- Carol Redwood and Noel
- Edna Barber
- Sally Barten
- Arthur
Best Kept Village
Did you
realise that what we call ' home' is a kind of paradise
for the holidaymaker? At least this is what many visitors say about
Berrynarbor. We are lucky to live in such beautiful village BUT the credit for
such a paradise belongs to all of us who really CARE about where we live. We
assume that the first round of judging is complete and we shall just have to
wait and see how we fare this year. [No news at time of going to print]. Thank
you to everyone who picks up litter, sweeps and just plain keeps their patch
'best kept'. Well done, Youth Club, for the litter walk.
Joy Morrow
11