12 EDITIONS READ BY OVER 162,000 RESIDENTS
24TH AUGUST 1875
Matthew Webb (Captain Webb) started his attempt from Dover in Kent, to become the first person to swim the English Channel. He reached Calais, France after swimming the 40 miles in less than 22 hours.
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So now I’m just starting to think I’m a little bit psychic about the weather (or I’m Storm from X-Men) as last month I said, and I quote; “I just pray for rain”. If ever there was a lesson in being careful regarding what you wish for!! At the time of writing, we are a week away from the Y Not festival and as such, I am whole heartedly, categorically NOT praying for rain. I am a fair weathered camper/ festival go-er and as such, some nice warming sunshine has been requested.
Although one thing I am grateful for regarding the copious amounts of rain – the blasted midgies have gone to ground again! I had a bit of a nasty bite from one of them – obvs left it for a while (like 10days or so, probs shouldn’t have) until needing a killer dose of antibiotics. I wasn’t too worried until the Nurse Practitioner looked at it and went “Oooh, yep, antibiotics and if you don’t see significant improvement in the next 48hrs, get yourself down to A&E”. I said – “OK, what for?” (somewhat naively) and she said, “because you will need antibiotics intravenously by then if the tablets aren’t working”. No panic then #eyeroll. Anyway, a bit of googling and several panic attacks later, it’s all good thankfully.
Another month, another World Cup – Nope not the Football, this time it’s Netballs turn and it is showing on the Beeb! As an avid fan
and (fairweather) player, that’s me sorted for entertainment!
Speaking of entertainment, whilst most people were choosing between Barbie and Oppenheimer this month #Barbenheimer, we ended up at Elemental courtesy of our eldest Niece’s birthday. I can’t say I identified with the story of a fiery tempered young woman but I am now tempted to change my purple hair to red!
Workwise, we’ve created a lovely high street feature in the Matlock & Darley Dale magazines. Honestly, it is such a glorious place to go to and the high street is so beautiful with lots of varied shops – they deserve lots of support to keep them thriving. Our next features are scheduled for Christmas……sorry to mention it but it is coming around quickly!! That is assuming we can get some people to fill our Sales Vacancies – why wouldn’t you want to work here if you have experience in business-tobusiness sales?!
Happy Reading
August is traditionally holiday time here in the UK, schools are closed, the weather is (hopefully) behaving itself, and Autumn still seems a while away, but what else is the month known for?
Here are a few fun (and not so fun) facts I discovered:
➤ August 1st is Lammas Day; this marked the start of the harvest season during the Anglo Saxon period. The name derives from an Anglo Saxon word - hlāfmæsse - meaning “loaf mass”. Bread was made from the first wheat harvest and blessed before being broken (not cut) into four pieces and buried in each corner of a barn that would be used to store the full harvest. Another loaf would be shared amongst loved ones. Both rituals were thought to protect the upcoming harvest.
➤ In the Roman calendar, August was first known as “Sextilis” - the Latin word for six - as until around 700 BC only ten months were counted. When an extra two months were added, Sextilis was bumped to the eighth month. The name August was not adopted until 8 BC, when it was renamed in honour of Emperor Augustus.
➤ In a non-leap year, August will not share its starting day with any other month. Of course I had to check! This year August 1st will fall on a Tuesday; of the other eleven months of the year, three start on a Wednesday, two on a Sunday, two on a Saturday, two on a Friday, one on a Thursday and one on a Monday. So it appears to be true - but as two other months this year also fall into this solo category, I’m not sure it is such a startling fact.
➤ The Earl of Sandwich “invented” the first sarnie in August 1762 and picnics have never been the same since. To be honest, I’ve always found this “fact” hard to believe - I mean, he couldn’t have been the first person in history to stick a bit of meat between two slices of bread.
➤ August is also the month of…Weeds! In the days of the Anglo-Saxons, August was known as “Weod Monath” or Weed Month, because it was when weeds and plants grew the fastest.
➤ August 26th, 1936, saw the BBC transmit its first high-definition television pictures.
➤ Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I have a dream speech”, August 28th, 1963.
➤ On August 24th, 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. One thousand eight hundred and sixty six years later, on August 6th, 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
➤ August 13th, 1964, Britain carried out the last two executions before capital punishment was abolished.
➤ August 16th, 1977, Elvis Presley packed up his blue suede shoes and left the world behind.
➤ Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris on August 31st, 1997.
Whatever you do this August have fun and remember that we could have been stuck with a month named Sextilis - imagine the innuendos!
Fabrick Day Centre provides day care for older people and people living with dementia each Monday and Wednesday.
Many people aren’t aware that there is such a great resource in the middle of Clay Cross! We are located on the site of Smithybrook View, Market Street, Clay Cross S45 9PA.
Our services fall under Adult Social Centre & Health Derbyshire County Council, and we accept referrals from the immediate area and outlying villages.
To find out if people are eligible for this service, families or carers
must request a Social Care Assessment. Call Derbyshire on 01629 533 190.
Our clients are welcomed into the Centre from 9.30AM – 3PM. They settle into the bright lounge with a drink and snack. The day then starts with some light exercise and planned activities; a 2-course lunch is served which can cater for all diets.
We have a garden area and include potting/planting-based activities. In the afternoon we wind down with music and singing or chatting; reminiscing is always enjoyed and well themed.
We offer support to carers; the Centre is fully accessible and wheelchair friendly.
We invite carers and clients to look around. We also offer a ‘taster session’ so clients can spend some time with us to ensure the Centre is for them.
If you would like to arrange a visit or for further information, Call 01629 537 302 or 01629 537 305.
Plans are now well underway for this year’s Clay Cross Gala which will be held on Saturday, 2 September 2023 from 12NOON – 4PM at Kenning Park, Holmgate Road, Clay Cross S45 9PH. Come along and join us for an afternoon of fun filled activities for ALL the family.
Treat yourself to a luxury break at the 4* Gold Award winning Little Red Hen House. An elegant and cosy holiday home just a 7 minute drive from award-winning and dog-friendly Warkworth beach.
✽ 2 spacious en-suite bedrooms
✽ A fully enclosed garden
✽ 2 small to medium dogs welcome (3 upon request)
✽ Fully equipped kitchen, including an American style fridge freezer
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✽ Close to a range of dog friendly pubs, cafes and restaurants in stunning Warworth
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Search ‘The Little Red Hen House’ at:
CHESTERFIELD
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TRACKS AND TRAILS TASTER DAYS - Further dates coming soon!
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 10.00am – 4.30pm Saturday: 10.30am – 3.00pm
Year 1560. Italy. 15-year-old Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici leaves the safety of her family home in Florence to begin arranged married life with Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. Within a year, she was dead. The rumour was that her husband killed her.
The Italian Renaissance was a time of treachery, plot, power and sumptuous luxury. It was a dangerous time to be alive, but it was especially precarious for women, effectively held captive by their families and by outside society with little hope of release or rebellion. Their lives were largely lived in the shadow of the men at their side.
Maggie O’Farrell’s novel The Marriage Portrait is based in history. She uses historical fact and real characters from the period so finely that you feel totally enveloped and transported to the time and place.
The book is a delight, detailed and compelling – and such a page turner. Lucrezia may be trapped in this world, but she leaps out into your head through this book. A real treat if you like to be captivated by your reading matter.
Method:
1. Spray a large non-stick pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat. Add the chicken, peppers and onion and stir-fry for 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned.
2. Add the diet cola, stock, passata, tomato purée, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and herbs and stir well. Bring to
This is a true Slimming World Classic and for good reason. Packed full of flavour that will have you going back for more!
the boil, cover, reduce the heat to mediumlow and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
3. Add the sugar snap peas, stir and increase the heat to mediumhigh. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the veg is tender.
Ingredients:
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 330ml can diet cola
• 200ml hot chicken stock
• 8 tbsp passata with onions and garlic
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce/tamari
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 200g sugar snap peas
CHRISTENINGS, WEDDINGS, FUNERALS & MORE CALL TODAY TO FIND OUT MORE!
Welcome to YOUR community noticeboard. A dedicated space for you to post notices, events and for not-for-profit community groups advertise in.
To place a notice, from a super-low rate of £6.30 +VAT per square
Contact Danielle on 01773 549035 or community@voicemagazines.co.uk
At North Wingfield Miners Welfare.
8-15PM TO 10.40PM • £4.50 ON THE DOOR
Dance or listen
following Country artiste’s in
•2nd Daniel Beard•9th Darren Busby Duo •16th Jim Tracy •23rd George McIntosh•30th Dave Anderson
LARGE SPRUNG DANCE FLOOR. PARTNER DANCING AROUND THE OUTSIDE, EVERYONE ELSE IN THE MIDDLE. BINGO, CARD BINGO AND RAFFLE. HOT AND COLD FOOD AVAILABLE.
1 Williamthorpe Rd., North Wingfield. S42 5PD. (to the left of the Coop supermarket, where you can park)
Charity Number: 700058
We aim to help amputees, their families and friends to adjust to the loss of limbs. We aim to help our members to meet up and support each other and also to provide social and educational activities.
THE SERVICES WE OFFER:
• We work in partnership to promote independence
• Support service – supporting people
• Promoting independence, confidentiality, rights, equal opportunities
• Review services
• Liaise with family, other agencies, older people, young people, people with a disability
• Improve quality of life
• Provide opportunities for involvement and access to activities
• newsletters
•
We have been saving this walk for a nice summers day and luckily for us we chanced upon one, not least because the heavens opened not long after we got back to the car!
Rafa has now fully retired from the rambles. At 14 years (98 in dog years!) it is just proving too much for him. So Flake has taken on full responsibilities. Rafa has been teaching him all the important stuff, like how to pose for a nice picture, which way up to hold the map and which pockets Mum keeps the treats in. So, we will need a new name for the walks... any suggestions gratefully received!
A medium length walk which should take you and your dog around 3 hours to complete. There are a few short sections of road so please take care. Most of the walk is on paths and trails but please wear appropriate footwear and please follow the countryside code.
START: CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL, CHURCH LA. PLEASLEY , MANSFIELD, NOTTS. NG19 7TD.
1. Standing on the road with your back to the church, turn right along the road to the very end. Then take the footpath on the right hand side of the road and follow it uphill and round to the left. Where the path splits take the right fork and pass beneath a pedestrian flyover.
2. Continue along the path beside a dual carriageway. After a short distance turn left onto a signposted footpath down some
steps. At the bottom of the steps turn right and then after a very short distance at a T junction of paths turn left.
3. Continue to pass through a metal width restrictor and then continue for some distance until reaching a path on your right. Turn right along the path going uphill with a stone wall on your right.
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4. At the top of the hill the path joins with another path. Continue straight to pass over a bridge, past a sign for ‘Mansfield’ on your left and after some distance past a footpath sign on your right. Continue straight and eventually pass underneath a stone arch bridge and then further on pass by a metal gate. After a short distance you will reach a road. Turn left along the road.
5. Continue along the road until reaching some houses on your left. At this point turn right along a single track road signposted for ‘St. Chad’s Church’. When you reach the church on your right continue straight ahead to cross over a metal stile onto a signposted footpath. Continue straight keeping a river over to your left.
6. After some distance you will reach a T junction with a lane. Turn right along the lane and after a short distance pass underneath a railway bridge. After this follow the lane around to the right and continue along the lane for some distance until passing through a metal gate onto a road.
7. Turn right along the road and after a short distance the road turns into a lane. Continue straight passing a ‘public bridleway’ signpost on your right and then further on pass a ‘public footpath’ signpost on your right.
8. Continue along the footpath and cross over a railway bridge. After cross over a stile and continue with a fence on your left. After crossing a 2nd stile continue until reaching a tarmac lane.
9. Continue straight along the tarmac lane until reaching a road. Cross straight over the road and continue along a single track road. Continue straight to the very end of the road and pass through a metal width restrictor onto a footpath.
10. Continue uphill with a hedge on both sides and then upon reaching a T junction of paths,
turn right to pass through a metal gate and cross an open field. At the far side of the field pass through a gap in the hedge to cross another open field. At the far side of this field upon reaching a lane, turn right along the lane and then immediately left to skirt along the edge of a field with a hedge on your left.
11. Continue to a large opening in the hedge on your left. At this point turn left to continue uphill along the edge of a field with a hedge on your right. At the top of the hill pass a yellow marker post on your left and continue to cross another field.
12. At the far side of this field pass a yellow marker post on your right, cross straight over a lane and continue downhill to cross another field.
13. At the far side of the field head into some trees and then down some steps onto a road. Turn right along the road to eventually pass back underneath the pedestrian flyover and follow the path around to the right back to the church.
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 New Tupton Ivanhoe F.C. Summer Festival of Football has had its most successful season on and off the pitch. One of the largest grassroots football tournaments in the region. This year it attracted over 220 teams taking part in age groups from under U7s to U17s. Clubs travelled from as far as Norfolk with winners of the various tournaments coming from Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Wheatley Wanderers became the first team to come and win back-to-back titles and many others vowed to return to try and achieve the same in 2024.
The winners of each age group at the Summer Festival of Football were as follows:
• U7s – Eastwood CFC
• U8s – Dronfield Town
• U9s – Spire Rangers
• U10s – Shirebrook
• U11s – G3A Rangers
• U12s – Chesterfield Town
• U12s Plate – AFC Dronfield
• U13s – Brampton Rovers
• U13Girls -Scawthorpe Scorpions
• U14s – Bromsgrove Rovers
• U15s – Worksop Boys
• U16s – Aylestone Park Youth
• U17s - Wheatley Wanderers
Dave Hoult, Secretary said “The Summer Festival of Football is the biggest event in the club’s calendar. We aim to provide the best experience for the teams taking
part and it has been lovely to receive positive feedback. We start planning for 2024 now and I am sure we will have a few new surprises for those taking part.”
“The festival allows us to continue to invest in the facilities for the club and we have ambitious plans to improve the football facilities available in Tupton.”
Antony Maidens, Chair, added: “The tournament could not happen without the many volunteers from the club and the local community who give up three weekends of their summer to ensure the event runs smoothly.”
“From supporting the teams taking part to setting up and taking down the pitches and from helping with parking and road management and running stalls, all play an integral part in the success of the festival. We thank you all.”
“We also are grateful to all the sponsors. Their support ensures the tournament happens but means that the money raised from the festival can be invested back into improving the footballing facilities for the community of Tupton.
If you would like to find out more about playing football for New Tupton Ivanhoe F.C. discover more at www.newtuptonivanhoefc.co.uk
This year the tournament was sponsored by:
WILKINS VARDY, FOCUS FOODS, TOR ELECTRICAL, RELATIVE POWER, CHESTERFIELD ROOFING & CLADDING, and TUPTON VILLAGE HALL.
The New Tupton Ivanhoe F.C. Summer Festival of Football will return in summer 2024 and how to take part will be available at newtuptonivanhoefc.co.uk/summer-festival-of-football early in 2024.
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
8 Link ID to URL in a glaringly vivid way (5)
9 Roast boar in five to make sure it’s well done! (5)
10 Secretory organ is the last in England (5)
12 Composer of velar form (5)
Down
2 The 30cm monarch? (5)
3 Dance the tango in Polynesia (5)
11 Bid farewell to aide, in turnaround (5)
13 Sweater pattern found in Ken’s CV (1-4)
Across
1 Sip merchant’s brew to keep time, squaddy! (5,2,4)
5 Lion is a bit put out by attachment (7)
14 Ignore a difficult time? (4,3)
15 Kit destroyed after rum place for ‘apples and pears’ (5,6)
15 PVC.
Down
1 Was dismissive about hog, filmed at odd angle (4,5,2)
4 Polly to fight with a difficult bit of sparkling (4,2,5)
6 Increased, and put on a pair, so to speak (5,2)
7 Brie is a dish for cold place (7)
ANSWERS FOR LAST MONTHS PITHERWITS Across:
This puzzles has been devised by the brilliant Professor Rebus. For more of his puzzles visit www.pitcherwits.co.uk
Some of the recent items we have acquired for our reminiscence sessions are a box of Carmen heated rollers with pins and a vanity set for a dressing table (a long-handled mirror and brush set). This has started me thinking about what my own mum held dear.
Although she had no time to sit and preen at the dressing table, my mother always found a small space where she could lay out some special items. Her vanity set had been a gift to her on her 21st birthday, it included a hand-held mirror with a matching brush and comb.
She owned a wooden, shell-encrusted jewellery box containing her earrings: clip-ons or screw-back type were the fashion then. Her beads, necklaces and paste pearls were laid out on a tray, with the longer strings hooked onto the side of the mirror. The tray also held a variety of trinkumtranks like odd buttons, curtain hooks, pins, coins, dry-cleaning tickets, hairpins and hairnets.
A lidded glass pot contained scented talcum powder and a soft puff for dusting after a bath. She also always had a pot of
Pond’s vanishing cream at hand and was never seen without lipstick.
A bottle of Tweed perfume and Avon “Sweet Honesty” stood together with a small flask of 4711.
At the back of the table was a spray bottle of hair lacquer and, later, a set of Carmen heated rollers and a bonnet hairdryer.
Some items came and went as the years passed but the object she treasured most on her dressing table, was an aged photograph of her own mum and dad.
I do hope you have memories of a dressing table that belonged to someone special in your life.
Janet and Paul Barrass are All Around the Shire. Find us on or email: oldfield512@btinternet.com for more information. Janet
Enid Blyton stories were a huge part of my childhood, and I would guess the same could be said for many people my age.
Who can forget The Famous Five, Noddy, The Faraway Tree, Malory Towers, and The Naughtiest Girl?
But did you know that she wrote more than 800 books in her lifetime, making her one of the most prolific authors of all time?
Born in London in 1897, she trained as a teacher and in 1918 went to work in a boys’ prep school in Kent before becoming a private governess. In the 1920s she began to write for Teacher’s World magazine and also authored educational books. Her first foray into fiction was a very slim volume of poetry published in 1922, but it was 1938 before her first full length novel for children was published.
During the 40s and 50s Enid wrote prolifically, it wasn’t uncommon for her to write and publish 20+ books in a single year - as an author myself I stand in awe of anyone that can be so creative, so consistently.
Tragically, by the late 1950s, it became apparent that Enid was suffering from dementia. She passed away in a nursing home in 1968 at the relatively young age of 71. I can only speculate, but I expect that without dementia, she may well have continued to write and create her stories well into her 80s and beyond.
Enid’s stories were very much a product of the times in which she lived, they are very white, very middle class, and she expressed attitudes towards race that cannot be condoned in the 21st century. But at their heart, they are cracking good stories that appeal to children even today.
I’m pleased to read that many of her books are being reissued with minor modifications. The original language, which is so appealing to young readers, is being retained whilst words and themes that are not in keeping with today are being subtly changed.
Many of the books have been adapted into TV series and films around the world, and apparently, an Enid Blyton book is sold at the rate of one every minute! In total, over 500 million copies of her books have been sold globally…I bet she didn’t see that coming when she released her first volume of poetry.
Books and reading were a huge part of my childhood and I’m so pleased that my 2 year old grandson seems to be equally as enamoured with the written word. Sadly, not all children are so captivated by books, preferring TV, mobile phones, and online games instead.
They miss so much by not reading. They never get to feel the excitement, the delayed gratification of turning the pages to the next scene. Their imaginations are not fired. They miss out on the joy of sitting peacefully with a book, seeing the story unfold in their head.
If you have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, do them a favour - buy them a book…please!
Fill in all the numbers!
This is a sudoku
1 square grid
81 cells
9 3x3 blocks
1 simple rule: Use all the numbers 1-9, with no duplicates allowed, in any row, column, or block.
This puzzles has been devised by the brilliant Professor Rebus. For more of his puzzles visit www.pitcherwits.co.uk
The MPC Services team are here to help make sure that your sewage system is working well, properly maintained, up to date with the latest compliance regulations, working quietly and energy efficient. *Energy saving based on simply changing your traditional 85W air blower for a modern efficient FujiMAC 47W Japanese one, with electricity at 55p/kWh, for no loss of performance. Additional efficiency savings are typically possible.
The word ‘bog’ doesn’t necessarily conjure up a positive image; in fact, it is downright negative. And yet the peatlands of the Peak are proving vital for our battle against changing climate and in holding back floodwaters through ‘slowing the flow’ when rivers are swollen after storm events. At the head of each main river catchment, the peat-bogs hold back vast quantities of water which are then released over time and alleviate potential droughts downstream. The bog moss alone holds about twenty times its own weight in water. What is more, the peatlands are wonderfully rich biodiversity sites too with unique species of plants, animals, and fungi. However, there is bad news because for over two hundred years people have drained and burned the peatlands, and our atmospheric pollution has killed off the vital sphagnum mosses which when healthy hold the water, provide habitat for rare species, and remarkably too, capture carbon that is laid down as peat. Two centuries of over-grazing by sheep has also done for the peat bogs and this reached its nadir in the late twentieth century. All in all, this is bad news, and a major cause of a collapse of what we now call ‘ecosystem services’ like floodwater control and carbon capture.
But there is good news today because with reduced sheep numbers, lowered air pollution, and some tender loving care, our bogs are bouncing back to life. Some of this is due to major investment in projects to block drains, alleviate soil acidity, and even to
re-seed sphagnum mosses back into the degraded peat landscapes. However, for me even more exciting, is the ability of nature to heal itself. My colleagues and I have been monitoring sphagnum mosses and rare flowers on Ringinglow Bog near Sheffield. It is doing what I call ‘self-rewilding’ as the peat-building bog mosses are returning with ten or more species now recorded in what was described as a ‘sphagnum desert’ back in the 1980s. This is in an area where there has been no artificial introduction of sphagnum, but nature has been left to repair itself.
Furthermore, the flowering plants of moorland and peat bog are also returning. The bog mosses are now joined by the elusive bog rosemary or ‘Andromeda’ which has returned in abundance. Last recorded in the 1960s and 1970s before the North Sea Gas pipeline cut a deep trench though both moor and bog, this plant has made a remarkable and unexpected recovery. Sundew is reappearing in its old haunts, along with one of my favourites, the diminutive upland lily, bog asphodel, and the archetypical flowers of wet bogs, the cranberry, and the cross-leaved heath. Not far away, the once extinct royal fern has reappeared and joins several other upland wet bog ferns such as hard fern, lemon-scented fern, and narrow buckler-fern.
As the bogs recover then so do associated wildlife species such as the upland dragonflies, goldenringed and black darter, and of course that often unnoticed denizen of upland bogs, the water vole. Golden plover, dunlin, and curlew are birds that also depend on these wetlands for their survival. Each visit holds the hope of the re-discovery of a precious species once thought lost forever.
The warm humid conditions of summer are good for many parts of the garden but may not be so healthy for ponds
They can encourage blanket and pond weed and blue green algae which can be dangerous for dogs and cause rashes to humans. You’ll know it’s blue green algae if you swirl a stick in the water and it comes out like blue green paint. However bubble fountains such as the little solar ones available in most garden centres help keep a pond healthy. Removing weed with a stick or net will improve its overall health, but leave the weed on the side of the pond overnight to allow any critters to crawl out.
Keeping a decent shape to your lavender for next year needs action once the flowers have gone over – usually around August. Lavenders tend to look straggly if left to their own devices. When trimming don’t cut back into old wood as this may inhibit growth. Cut back to green stem and this will allow an inch or two of growth before winter putting it in a good condition for spring.
Prune your blackcurrant and summer fruiting raspberries once they’ve finished fruiting. Cut back this year’s fruited canes and stems and leave the green canes for next year. If you’ve got a glut – what a wonderful thought, having a glut of rasps ! – freeze them on trays and bag for winter glee.
Top tip: Take cuttings of fuchsia, geraniums and pelargoniums for more plants net year. They’ll root easily now. Cut a healthy stem below a leaf node, make the cutting about 3 inches long, take leaves off apart from a few at the top. You can use rooting powder but they’ll probably be okay without. Plant round the edge of a plant pot in a perlite/compost mix and they should be away in no time. Take indoors or keep in a frost free space over winter.
