CLUB NEWS

Chetnole and Leigh Garden Club

For our first gardening talk in a long time, Ben Candlin and his Adventurous Plants was a plunge into the unusual. Amorphophallus Titanum with its rotten odour and enormous inflorescence is one of the Aroide family that Ben specialises in! Happily, they are a wide range of intriguing plants suitable for the garden or house, without any foul smell.

He took us through the range: Arisaema, Arum, Amorphophallus, Colocasia and Zantedeschia, telling us how to use them in our gardens, which ones were hardy, which were good houseplants.

Among his many excellent photographs, the purple black foliage of Colocasia Black Magic stood out, a real temperamental ‘wow’ plant. The delicate Zantedeschia Picasso was very tempting with Arisaema Cobra Lily being another wow plant.

Ben has a nursery near Exmouth, where he grows and experiments with new varieties. He publishes articles, has a very busy show season, and is an excellent speaker. I think everyone learned something and enjoyed the evening.

The next meeting is at 7.30pm on 6 December, in Chetnole Village Hall. A seasonal demonstration from the Black Shed with Christmas atmosphere.

Anna Awdry

Yetminster & Ryme Garden, Arts and Crafts Society

It’s not that often that a Society describes the outcome of their AGM as the highlight of the year. Perhaps it was down to the enthusiastic support from our members, or the influx of lovely newcomers to the

village. Or very possibly the generous helpings of mulled wine, courtesy of Robin Debell, that helped to raise the mood. Whichever way, it was a terrific evening – never has our AGM been so well attended.

The chairman, Carol Debell, announced significant changes to the Committee, most notably the departure of Pam Burt who, after many years as a member of the Society, took on the role of Treasurer in 1996. An admirable achievement which was gratefully applauded by everyone. Having held the seat for ten years, Carol confirmed that she herself was standing down as Chairman and is being replaced by Jane Hartwell. Jackie Tinney takes over Pam’s role as Treasurer. Celia Brayfield and Kate Oram also joined the Committee. So new faces to bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to carry the Society forward.

With the business of the evening swiftly over, we were given a practical demonstration on how to make beautiful Christmas floral decorations by Philippa Louden. Philippa comes with many medals to her name, most recently from Chelsea 2019 when she was awarded a Gold Medal for her stunning floral entry. Gold was very much the theme of her demonstration with an array of dramatic leaves, all growing in our gardens, which had been dried and sprayed with gold.

Philippa was full of practical advice with tips about what equipment to use, a good source being Oasis which supplies a useful range of products for floral arrangements. We all went home inspired to try a little harder, and perhaps more important, to be a little more ambitious.

We expect our Christmas Party in December to live up to expectations! The new year kicks off with our afternoon meeting in January and the annual Tea Party with a complimentary array of delicious homemade cakes and sandwiches to feed up our hungry members after the Christmas break!

We were delighted to welcome 15 new members to the Society at our AGM. If you have not yet joined us, do come along to one of our meetings to find out what we are about. Whilst we are a gardening, arts and crafts club, the emphasis is really on having fun.

Carol Debell

Chetnole Chuckers

As the year draws to a close, the intrepid members of The Chetnole Chuckers continue to play on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, whenever weather permits. We can look back on a good Boules year, Covid-19 restrictions notwithstanding. With a healthy membership, fiercely fought club competitions yielding new champions, (not forgetting winning the annual Chetnole v. Leigh match) we count ourselves fortunate to play and socialise in such lovely, bucolic surroundings.

Although the pandemic caused some disruption and temporary suspensions, members have retained their sense of humour – the glue that binds us together.

We owe a big thank you to Andy Lovell and Rob Bamford for joining forces to provide the transport of new surface material for the playing area (‘the terrain’) and also to the Parish Council for supplying another new bench for spectators. You are good people!

Almost two years have gone by since the club held an AGM, for obvious reasons, and the next one has been scheduled for some time in March 2022. It goes without saying, new members are always welcome.

We look forward to our annual Christmas dinner at the Chetnole Inn on 17 December, when dear departed old friends will be remembered, trophies will be presented to the new club champions and, this being Chetnole, there will be a raffle!

Gordon Ratcliffe

Chairperson, Chetnole Chuckers