From the Editor
Happy New Year Readers,
Perhaps you didn’t recognise me and the mag as it landed on your doorstep with everything being so different!! We’ve overhauled the design and added some new features to give it a fresh new feel for the new year.
Psychologically, I love the changing of the year. It just feels so cleansing and myself and the team very much feel like that with the magazine changes. We thought that as we had so much turbulence last year, why stop there! It’s hard to believe that this little magazine will have been going for 15 years this September, but it has survived all that has been thrown at it so far. We’ve had some wonderful feedback over the last year in particular but we are determined not to rest on our laurels, so we are going to get back to our roots, with a real focus on championing local businesses and community groups.
Our Christmas give away was one example of this and it was a huge success with tons of entries. The winners will be announced in the February edition as this edition has to go to print earlier than usual. But don’t be disappointed if you missed out, we’re planning more special giveaways throughout the year.
More big news… we’ve (finally) got a live website again! It’s been about 6 years in the
making and has evolved so much without ever going live, but we’re really pleased with the end result, and we hope you like it too.
One of my personal traditions is to start each year with some resolutions/targets/bucket list items/whatever you want to call them! Strangely, I don’t think I set any last year as I somehow seemed to know that it wasn’t going to be a goer!! However, this year feels different, I feel more hopeful – so plans are afoot for us! In the meantime, we’re off to see out 2024 in style, travelling at 100+mph face first down a zipwire in Wales! I wonder what 2025 has in store for us all?
Happy Reading,
PS: Don’t forget to mention the ‘Voice’ when you use any of the companies in this magazine
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS IN 2025
Every great success story starts somewhere, and Voice Magazines is no exception.
The very first edition in 2010 was a 32-page magazine, targeted at a handful of homes in Swanwick, Riddings, and Leabrooks. Fast forward to today, and the magazine is a must-read across 11 editions, from Bakewell to Selston, Ripley to Kirkby and everywhere in between, and reaching a whopping 152,000 residents every month.
But let’s take a trip back to 2010. Picture this: Emily, the founder of Voice Magazine, is staring at her first edition. It’s 32 pages long, and every one of those pages represents blood, sweat, and probably more cups of tea and coffee than anyone should consume in a week. Delivering to 2,500 homes was no small feat either—especially when you’re also holding down another job.
In 2012, Emily took the leap, moving to premises in South Normanton, marking a major milestone. Having an actual office meant fewer late-night sessions at the kitchen table and more room to dream big. From there, things started snowballing (in a good way, not the “rolling downhill in winter” kind).
The magazine’s reach grew, the pages multiplied, and Emily’s vision for Voice Magazine as a community resource really began to take shape.
But everything has to keep developing and changing in order to flourish and grow, and you may have already noticed that this January 2025 issue looks a little different from previous magazines.
Yes, that’s right—Voice Magazine has had a New Year Makeover!
The brilliant covers are still the stars of the show—it’s the inside that has changed. You’ll notice:
• TOP TIP’S (This month on how to stay healthy)
• DID YOU KNOW? (This month has little known facts about health and fitness)
• SPOTLIGHT ON (An advertiser is spotlighted throughout all 11 editions for the month)
• WHAT’S ON? (This month is about Park Runs near you)
I see this New Year, New Voice Mags edition as a gym membership for your brain—packed with all the things you need to kick-start the year without actually making you sweat ��
Voice Magazine’s journey from humble beginnings to a monthly staple is proof that with a bit lot of determination, gallons of tea and coffee, and maybe a few “what am I doing?” moments, you can achieve amazing things.
A small army of people now deliver the 11 editions across 70 towns and villages, and Voice has a team of people all working to create the best magazine they can.
Emily and her nearest and dearest no longer have to do everything themselves. Let’s be honest, even superwoman Emily would struggle to produce and deliver all those mags by herself… although I bet she’d have a go.
So, here’s to (at least) another year of connecting communities, sharing stories, and maybe even sneaking in a few more jokes along the way.
Because if you can’t laugh at life—or your first attempt at a Park Run—what’s the point?
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If you’re interested in a sports massage, call our Reception team on 01623 723 328 to book in.
Specialist Podiatry Services We are based at:
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Resolve Your Civil Disputes with Elliot Mather LLP: Your Trusted Legal Partner
Are you facing civil challenges? Elliot Mather LLP is here to guide you toward solutions. As your local solicitors, we specialise in achieving the best outcomes for our clients. Our expertise covers a wide range of civil matters:
• Challenging a Will.
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• Settlement Agreements.
Pre-arranged Funeral Plans, tailored to your specific wishes, are available
The need for foster carers in the East Midlands has reached a critical level. Over 3,300 children in care across Derby City, Derbyshire, Nottingham City, and Nottinghamshire are in urgent need of foster homes, yet only half are currently placed with foster families. There is a significant demand for long-term and short-term carers, as well as those experienced in supporting children with special needs. Additionally, carers for sibling groups and teenagers are desperately needed.
To address this demand, Foster for East Midlands, a collaborative regional fostering hub has been established by local councils. This hub supports new and existing foster carers, providing guidance from the initial inquiry stage through to application, and offers continuous support to current carers.
YOUR SUPPORT COULD MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING DIFFERENCE FOR A CHILD IN NEED.
If you’re interested in learning more about fostering, please call 03033 132950, visit fosterforeastmidlands.org.uk, or join us at one of our informal information events Details are available on our website.
Sutton Heritage Society
JANUARY 2025
GETTING A JOB
Leaving school at 14 in 1934, there was no jobs, unless you were a very big strong boy. You stood a chance of going to work in the “pit” doing almost a man’s work for very little money, and only 2 or 3 days a week.
Employers gave a variety of excuses to send you home. After spending an hour or so getting to work, no pay for this time. It was either “no railway waggons” or “couldn’t sell the coal. Coal buyers were always wanting to pay less per ton.
I didn’t fancy a pit job. Every parent would say” My lad’s not going down the pit!” Sadly, a great many had no other option to survive the hard times. The cheapest commodity was men.
I used to go into the library to read about how the elite lived in their big houses, employing men, women and young girls in service, as it was known, for slave wages and their keep.
It was about six months before I got a job in a shop. It lasted about four weeks. I was told not to go anymore – no reason given.
Next, I got a job in an insurance office. I was only the tea lad, letter poster, and general dogsbody for about 6 bob a week. I decided to stick to it, and eventually I started night school three nights a week, learning shorthand typing and book-keeping. I thought it was better than the pit. A factory job
was an impossibility unless one of your parents worked there.
I managed to survive three and a half years, then my maternal grandad, who was a very shrewd man with his hands in several pies said he’d have a word with a solicitor in Mansfield who looked after his interests. I went for an interview, and they asked if I intended to carry on going to night school. I said “yes” as I was keen to get on. I stuck it. I progressed year after year from a lowly clerk, to more or less secretary to the head of the firm. I got on well with the boss. He was an older man who didn’t retire till he was in his 90’s.
By Fred
Guess the words and Fill in the crossword !
Pitcherwits® are crossword puzzles where some of the clues are in pictures. Sound easy? It’s not called “Pit-your-wits” for nothing! The mixture of cryptic and picture clues, combined with Professor Rebus’ unique sense of humour, will keep you entertained for hours.
Across
5 Foolishly ran out of bean curd three times! (5)
7 Pet to turn ‘quiet’ (5)
11 Bothering to get rid of tedious article (3)
12 Brief invitation (on paper at least) to burgle? (1,1,1)
16 They have a thousand containers of seasoning (5)
17 Tree, say, where the sunworshippers are? (5)
Down
2 Last ‘ouch’ to bestow (5)
3 Ill-fitting, and/or gassy! (5)
10 The injurious bits of a credit (3)
14 Teacher, talking about a bit of silica (5)
15 From the 26th onwards, bear can be African ‘horse’ (5)
1 Raw, sea-green ingredients that bring in the bacon? (4,7) 9 Relaxes as weathered by wind and sun (7) 13 Bubble bath for Jack? Who’s he to talk? (7) 18 Hoarder hits out at Terriers (11)
Entrances have gasket twice replaced (6,5)
Showy Nordic design of little white flower (5,6)
Could be a July, American flyer (7)
Supply line for talking? (7)
1 Preparation, 2 Urn, 3 Inn, 4 Glad tidings, 6 Excited, 7 Beeline, 8 Rejoice, 14 Art, 15 See.
1 Plum pudding, 5 Newborn, 9 Alec, 10 Just, 11 Igloo, 12 Aunt, 13 Iced, 14 Adheres, 16 Nutcrackers.
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9-11 Outram Street, Sutton- in- Ashfield, Notts, NG17 4BA (Next door to Wilko’s and with Asda car park directly behind us)
Full range of mattresses inc. orthopaedic, pocket sprung, memory foam, etc in ALL sizes
Slimming World Recipe
Pasta Cauliflower Cheese
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.
2. Put the pasta in a large bowl, pour over 800ml boiling water then set aside to soak.
3. Put the cauliflower florets and sage in a non-stick ovenproof dish (about 23cm x 20cm), spray with low-calorie cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes. Add the cauliflower leaves and roast for 5 more minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and add to the cauliflower along with 100ml of the stock. Stir well and cook for another 5½ minutes.
January is all about comfort food, whilst staying on plan and this recipe ticks both boxes by combining two classics, mac ‘n’ cheese and cauliflower cheese. Cheesetastic!
5. At the same time, put the cottage cheese in your food processor and add the remaining stock and half the Parmesan. Season lightly and blitz to form a smooth sauce, then add the egg yolks and give it another quick blitz.
6. Stir the spinach through the cauliflower and pasta and put the dish back in the oven to cook for 2 minutes. Give everything a good stir, then pour over the sauce and mix well.
7. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top and return to the oven for a few minutes to brown. Divide between 2 plates and serve with a mixed salad.
Serves: 2
Syns per serving: 6
Ingredients:
• 200g fresh fusilli pasta
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into little florets, small leaves reserved
• 10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 vegetable stock pot, dissolved in 150ml water
• 300g fat-free natural cottage cheese
• 60g grated fresh Parmesan cheese or vegetarian alternative
• 3 egg yolks*
• 100g baby spinach
*Pregnant women, the elderly, babies and toddlers are advised to choose eggs showing the British Lion stamp if eating raw or partially cooked eggs.
Ready in: 40 Minutes
COACH TOUR HOLIDAYS
EASTBOURNE
Haddon Hall Hotel
Mon 10th - Fri 14th Feb
5 Days - £275 (½ Price Evening Bar)
LYTHAM ST ANNES SINGLES BREAK Inn On The Prom Mon 10th - Fri 14th Feb 5 Days - £375
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Burlington Hotel – Sandown Mon 17th - Fri 21st Feb
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5 days - Half Board - £225
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- Mon 17th Mar
MYSTERY WEEKEND
Mystery Hotel Sat 22nd - Sun 23rd Mar 2 Days - £130
NEW BOOKING OFFICE: Parkvilla,124 Market Street, Clay Cross, Derbyshire S45 9LY
BOOK REVIEW
Treat the one you love to a Special Mother’s Day Break in LYTHAM ST ANNES Inn On The Prom Sun 30th - Mon 31st Mar • 2 Days - £135
Days - £435
House Hotel Mon 31st Mar - Fri 4th Apr 5 Days - £435 SCARBOROUGH Crown Spa Hotel Mon 31st Mar - Fri 4th Apr 5 Days - £499
MOBILE BOOKING OFFICE LOCATIONS
1st Friday of each month 9.30am - 1pm | Shirebrook market
2nd Tuesday of each month 9am - 1pm | South Normanton Market Place
2nd Friday of each month 9am - 1pm | Ripley Market Place
3rd Thursday of each month 9am - 1pm | Alfreton Severn Square Car Park (Outside B&M)
3rd Friday of each month 9am - 1pm | Sutton-in-Ashfield, Portland Square
UNRULY - DAVID MITCHELL
If you’re looking for something funny and clever to wake your brain up after a diet of Christmas telly, turkey leftovers and too much mulled wine and chocolate, you could try a dose of Unruly by comedian David Mitchell.
This book, subtitled A History of England’s King and Queens, is for anyone who sat, bored out of their mind in school history lessons through turgid recitals of battles, civil wars, princes, beheadings and revolting peasants.
Mitchell studied proper history at Cambridge, but as he says, the past is largely unknowable, - an
infinity of former “nows,” And so if you think of how little we today really understand about what’s going on now… Plus we always have to look at who related the stories – and what purpose they were serving.
Described as Horrible Histories for grown-ups, it’s funny and sweary, full of narcissists and crazies and interesting and amusing analogies to the present day – from their now to our now. It will be interesting to see what the history books will say about us in 400 years’ time, but we can only hope they have a sense of humour.
CARPET & BED STORE
Discover Quality and Comfort at BM Carpet & Bed STORE
Since its opening on August 1, 2023, BM Carpet & Bed Store has quickly become a go-to destination for flooring, beds and mattresses in South Normanton.
Owned by Billy and Maria, proud Hilcote residents, this local gem offers a diverse selection of high-quality carpets, laminate flooring, and beds to suit every taste and need. Whether you’re after luxurious wool carpets, durable hardwearing options, or the sleek appeal of laminate, LVT, or vinyl cushion flooring, BM Carpet & Bed Store has you covered. And now, with their new free home selection service, you can browse their extensive range from the comfort of your living
room—a perfect blend of convenience and personalised service.
Don’t forget about your mattress! Experts recommend replacing yours every eight years. Why? Over time, it can accumulate the equivalent of a bathtub of sweat and a dachshund’s weight in dead skin cells— yikes! At BM Carpet & Bed Store, they’ll help you find the perfect replacement, offering a 5-year warranty on all beds, including electric options.
Support local and visit BM Carpet & Bed Store today for quality Fooring and a better night’s sleep.
CARPET & BED STORE
If you can’t make it into the store, we can offer a FREE home selection service, where we bring the store to you.
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday - Saturday: 9am - 5pm
Sunday: 11am - 3pm
CARPETS
Wool, Hardwearing, Soft Touch, laminate flooring, LVT Flooring and Vinyl cushion flooring. Free measuring and home selection service, free estimates, free planning, free delivering and fitting arranged.
BEDS
Our beds are the only approved trading standards manufactory in the UK. All beds carry a 5yrs Warranty. Lots of choice of mattresses, Storage Bases & Head Board also Electric beds.
A dogs Day out
This walk is a true Classic! We first featured the walk in 2016 but since then they have built a new Visitors Centre at Sherwood Forest. Well behaved dogs (what’s one of those?!) are permitted in the cafe.
The walk takes you past the Major Oak, a true beauty itself but there are many other beautiful old, gnarled and majestic oaks to see. A real treat for dendrophiles!
6-MILE CIRCULAR FROM EDWINSTOWE VIA THE MAJOR OAK
A moderate walk for you and your dog! This walk is fairly flat and should take around 2½ hours to complete. There is a range of terrain, with some possibly muddy and uneven sections. There are a few sections of road, so take plenty of care. And, as always, follow the countryside code.
Starting Point: Jubilee Park, Trinity Road, Edwinstowe. Notts. NG21 9RW.
To find the car park take the first right-hand turn off Trinity Road, just before some flats. Pass through the flat’s car park into the ‘Jubilee Park’ car park.
1. From the car park take the tarmac path heading towards a recreation ground and passing by a sign board on your left reading ‘Jubilee Park’. Follow the tarmac path until reaching a circular children’s play area directly in front of you. Follow the tarmac path around to the left of the play area and at the far side bear right along a path until reaching a gap in the hedge.
2. Pass through the gap and onto a lane. Turn left along the lane and continue until the lane bears sharp right. Continue around to the right and now continue straight ahead with a hedge on your right.
3. Continue until you reach some trees and then pass by a yellow marker post on your right. Continue straight ahead with trees on your left and open fields on your right.
4. After some time you will reach a T junction with a lane. Turn right and go gently uphill along the lane. At the top of the hill pass some stables on your left and then ‘The Archway House’ on your right. After, continue straight along the lane for some distance until reaching a main road.
5. Cross the road diagonal left, pass through a gap and then turn immediately right along a trail signposted for ‘Sherwood Forest’. For a short distance the trail runs parallel with the road and then a very short distance after passing over a crossroads of paths the trail bends sharp to the left.
6. Follow the trail around to the left and then continue for some distance and pass over a crossroads of paths signposted for ‘bridleway’ and ‘Sherwood Forest’.
‘Visitor Centre’. Ignoring all other footpaths to the left and right continue for a long distance following the signs for ‘Major Oak’. Upon reaching a T junction of paths turn right and pass by The Major Oak on your left.
8. Follow this path staying close to a wooden fence on your left. Continue ahead along the path, following signs for the ‘Major Oak Trail’. Continue straight ahead and eventually pass the cricket ground on the left and the Visitor Centre on your right. Continue straight to pass through a small car park and onto a road.
9. Turn left along the road until reaching a T junction with a main road. Turn right along the main road and continue straight ahead to pass through a set of traffic lights onto Edwinstowe High Street.
10. Continue straight along the road for some distance until crossing over a river bridge. A short distance after the bridge turn right along ‘Mill Road’. Continue along Mill Road for some distance and then just prior to a ‘national speed limits’ sign and railway bridge turn right along a signposted ‘Bridleway’.
11. Continue along the bridleway with a river on your right. After some distance cross over a wooden river bridge and then continue straight ahead until reaching a hedgerow directly in front of you. At this point turn right along a lane and continue with the hedge on your left.
12. After a very short distance the lane bends sharp to the left. Follow the lane around to the left and continue straight ahead until reaching a gap in the hedge on your right. Pass through the gap and back into Jubilee Park. Retrace your steps back to the carpark.
7. Continue straight to the top of a hill and then at a crossroads of footpaths turn right signposted for
This walk is for illustrative purposes only. Voice Magazines Ltd takes no responsibility for anyone who chooses to follow this route and encourages all walkers to obey all byelaws and signs and to respect the area they are walking in, ensuring they pick up all dog mess and obey the countryside code at all times.
•
•
•
The Memorial Garden
Following articles on the ill-fated flight of Short Stirling EH988, readers have asked about the Memorial Garden honouring the aircrew.
The idea began in May 1996, when Brian Walker published an article in The Ashfield Historian about the Annesley Forest crash, concluding with a challenge: “Perhaps one day, local people will provide a suitable memorial.” Inspired, Malcolm and Rose Bryan of the Sutton, Skegby, and Kirkby RAFA proposed the idea, which gained strong support from the branch and Ashfield District Council.
Led by Captain Roy Peters of the Sutton Heritage Forum, “The Stirling Memorial Group” was formed. Nottinghamshire County Council provided a peaceful site near the Derby Road roundabout. A memorial stone from Ibstock Quarries was selected, and funds were raised with help from RAFA branches, local organisations, and donations from figures like Sir Richard Branson and Sir David Attenborough.
The memorial was unveiled on September 16, 1998, in a ceremony led by Reverend Jeremy Fletcher with a Guard of Honour by Air Cadets and a Lancaster flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The event drew a large crowd, including relatives of the crew, fulfilling Brian Walker’s vision and honouring the ultimate sacrifice.
Friday 8th November 2024 - The Reverend Charlotte Turner, Curate of Annesley with Newstead and Kirkby Woodhouse, conducted a short service at The Memorial Garden Annesley, remembering the five young airmen of the ill-fated Short Stirling Bomber EH988 flight that crashed into Annesley Forest in January 1945.
18 people attended the service including Cllr Arnie Hankin Chairman of Ashfield District Council, County Councillor and Annesley Parish Councillor David Martin, Reverend Eric Ashby, Edwina Morris Chairman of The Royal British Legion Kirkby-in-Ashfield Branch, and Mr Len Dooley Royal Green Jackets Flag Bearer.
A Memorial Service will be held at the site on January 14th to commemorate the tragedy’s 80th anniversary.
HIGH FLIGHT
(read by The Reverend Charlotte Turner)
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings, Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of, wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ ring there.
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Photographs taken and supplied by Dora-Leigh Chadwick Executive Officer Ashfield District Council
Written by Roger West
Written by Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot Officer John Gillespe Magee Jnr
All Around the Shire
In the days before central heating, fitted carpets and double glazing, it was a hard job heating the house in the cold months. Bedrooms were chilly and ice often built up on the inside of windows during the night to greet us on winter mornings.
Continental quilts were a distant invention and we made do with sheets, blankets, eiderdowns and sometimes coats over the bed. Children often slept in the same bed for warmth. Topping and tailing was not unknown. We would sometimes snuggle in with mum and dad in the middle of the night when the hot water bottle had lost its heat.
Only the living room was heated. The front room only at Christmas. My memories involve early mornings when we children were brought downstairs and bundled up on the settee under a blanket watching mum light the fire. She would roll sheets of newspaper into either log shapes or doughnut rings around her hand and place them in the grate with a firelighter to kindle a flame. She would then gradually add sticks and bits of coal to build up the fire.
The spectacular part was when she held up a sheet of newspaper to draw the fire and create a blaze. Sometimes, she wasn’t quick enough to pull away the paper and it caught alight.
Funnily enough, I don’t remember ever feeling cold even when trudging through snow to school. We must have had a lot of love to keep us warm.
WINTER ROBINS BRING SEASONAL CHEER TO THE GARDEN
The humble robin is perhaps the most quintessentially ‘Christmas’ bird in the garden. Both male and female hold territories throughout the winter and therefore both sing, and the song is subtly different from that of spring and summer. Associated with Christian Christmas celebrations, the red breast is supposedly symbolic of Christ’s blood on the cross. In a more mundane, day-today connection, the robin soon learns to follow the gardener around the garden in case a possible prey item is disturbed and easy pickings become available. From such behaviour, the garden robin easily adapts to taking food if offered, and quickly will come to bird-food such as dried mealworms or calci worms for example. Given such treats as bait, they learn to come when called and if you make a twittering noise with pursed lips, it works a treat. In recent years, I have also noticed how robins are adapting to different types of feeders, including hanging dispensers of sunflower hearts or peanuts, and especially fat-balls and suet dumplings. Whilst not yet accomplished feeders like say blue tits and great tits, they are nevertheless becoming more daring. Another adaptation to modern living is their habit of nipping indoors during cold weather, and favoured places seem to be garden centres and other glasshouses. I have seen this in both the more commercial big store style garden centres and in the more focused horticultural premises. Do let me know if you have observed this too.
However, when I go in the garden and ‘talk’ to my favourite robin whilst offering mealworms, there is an evolutionary background to the behaviour. So, whilst I like to think the bird understands me, and the neighbours probably think I am barking, the real reason is that the robin reacts to me as a large animal blundering through the bird’s natural forest habitat. A grazing herbivore disturbs vegetation and soil which makes insects and other min-beasts available to the sharp-eyed robin. In other words, when a robin follows you around the garden it is adapting its long-evolved behaviour to the modern world and the opportunities afforded by our twenty-first century lifestyles. At this time of
year, the availability of food can be a vital matter for insectivorous birds such as robins, and a prologued cold snap means two things. Firstly, if weather is frosty then available food is in short supply, and secondly, particularly overnight, the smaller birds lose body heat and therefore stored body-fat. Then, if they cannot replenish the lost energy source, they can easily die. The food put out in our gardens across the region then makes a huge difference to survival rates of these and of other garden birds. As I mentioned earlier, mealworms, calci worms, and either suet dumplings or fat-balls, are ideal. A lowcost food can be made with vegetable suet, lard, and birdseed. Also, during cold weather a frequent cause of death in smaller birds is a lack of water when the usual source are frozen solid, and so provision of available water is important.
Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer, broadcaster on wildlife and environmental issues in the Peak District and elsewhere, is contactable on ianonthewildside@ukeconet.org. Follow his website www.ukeconet.org, blog www.ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/
GARDEN ROBIN
ROBIN
Gardener’s Calendar
If your de-decorated Xmas tree is still standing forlornly down the bottom of the garden, it is possible to do something useful with it.
Local authorities will usually collect for their garden composting schemes, but you can also chop it into bits and stack it. It will rot down and disintegrate in a couple of years but in the meantime provide a good habitat for wildlife. Compost the decomposing stems of perennials and cut the leaves of hellebores back so you can see the drooping flowers more clearly. Upright hellebores are on the market if you’re looking to replace established ones, but a judicial trim can have a similar effect. If any of the hellebore leaves have black spots, bin them, otherwise the disease will spread.
Hardy dwarf fruit trees such as apples can be planted now. The advantage of dwarf fruit trees is that you can get a good crop in a couple of years –and that you can plant them in a good-sized pot and they don’t take up so much garden space. But make sure they are genuine dwarfs. Always plant where they can stand in full sun.
Prune apple and pear trees while they are still dormant. Top Tip:
