Herald - Issue 413

Page 46 • The HERALD • 7th October 2021 v GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE HERALD v | DOWN THE GARDEN PATH | Contact Nick 07825 662955 or 023 8017 3186 (office) • Local Domestic and Commercial Tree Surgeons • Hedging work • Tree reductions • Thinning • Tree dismantles • Arboricultural reports and Surveys • Fencing Free no obligation quotation, and free advice E: enquiries@langleyarb.com W: www.langleyarb.com THE TREE & LANDSCAPE WIZARD All aspects of tree surgery, garden maintenance and landscaping undertaken Family run business for over 20 years No Job Too Big or Small Please call 07552 977731 for a Free Quotation BLACKFIELD GARDENING CLUB MEETING On Tuesday 14th September the Black eld Gardening Club held their rst meeting since the COVID-19 lockdowns. e meeting was very well attended with several new faces joining for the rst time. It commenced with a VERY SHORT A.G.M. and a welcome from the Chairwomen, Tricia Beard. e secretary also welcomed everyone a er the long ‘sabbatical’, and pointed out that the COVID-19 shutdown had seen many small local clubs close down, so Black eld Gardening Club could be happy that they have survived. e Treasurer gave a short summary of the current nancial state of the club, plus a projection for its survival out to 2023. e meeting then commenced with a presentation by Christine Bennett, on ‘ e Lost Gardens of Heligan’, situated in Cornwall. Many of the members had visited the gardens themselves and were interested to see the changes that had occurred since their visit. Originally the gardens were part of a 1000 acre estate owned by the Tremayne family. It was divided into areas and garden types, and had been developed over a 150 year period by various generations of the Tremayne family. Sadly the elegant house had to be sold and has been turned into private apartments. Christine started her presentation from 1990 when the gardens were rediscovered by Tom Smith and John Melton who excavated a tiny corner of the gardens and found the ‘ underbox Room’. In this room were discovered signatures and names of many of the sta who had enlisted in World War 1. (WW1). A er WW1 with so many brave men killed or maimed in the con ict, the gardens were no longer maintained. Labour was di cult to nd and expensive. From their rediscovery, the gardens are gradually being returned to their elegant original state. It is the largest garden restoration in Europe. e Japanese garden designed by Jack and John Tremayne contains large exotic specimens of trees from all over the world, including azaleas, rhododendrons and acers. In 1993 the ‘Pineapple Pit’ was restored to working order. It takes 15 tons of fresh horse manure to rot down and produce enough heat to grow the pineapples. Originally, when pineapples were rst grown in England, the average cost of a pineapple was around £5000!! ey were normally displayed in a magni cent fruit arrangement, by the very wealthy families, but not eaten until they became almost over ripe. ere are gardens for every season of the year, and a huge amount of information can be found on line to enable visitors to choose the season and displays that they are most interested in. Club meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month, starting at 7.30pm, in St Francis Church Hall, Langley. e next meeting will be on Tuesday 12th October Martin Perry will be presenting ‘Friends with Bene ts’ (Companion planting). All are welcome. For any additional information please contact the club secretary Patricia Hedley-Goddard: 023 8024 3795. Red Ladies Enjoy Visit e Waterside Red Hat Ladies enjoyed a garden tour and a cream tea at the Healthy Haven Garden on Tuesday 24th August. Jill thanked the team of volunteers for putting on the cream tea for them and photos were taken to remember the Red hat ladies outing. e cream teas nished at the end of September but any enquiries can be made to Christine Bennett on: 07795 976807.