CLUB NEWS

Leigh WI

Our first meeting of the new year! We gathered to hear a presentation by Andrew Wiley on behalf of the Yeovil Free Wheelers Emergency Medical Couriers for South Somerset and Dorset, or the YFW Blood Bikes as they are more commonly called.

We had all heard of them and seen them on their distinctive yellow and black motorbikes around the countryside but had never truly appreciated the incredible work that they do.

They’re not part of the NHS but are a free, voluntary service which saves the NHS around £400,000 per annum.

The first service of its kind was started by a Margaret Ryerson in 1962; she ran it from her home and coordinated 850 bike riders by telephone. The concept was carried forward by others in different parts of the UK until, in 2008, they all got together under the banner NABB (National Blood Bikes) and formed a coordinated service for the whole of the UK. There are now 40 groups across UK and Ireland.

The YFW have nine Triumph bikes which operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by volunteer drivers aged from 24 to 83. They must hold an advanced riding qualification and most of them go on to gain further qualifications.

The work they carry out is truly lifesaving. They have established a nationwide human donor milk collection and delivery service which is a vital component in the treatment and recovery of sick, premature babies. They transport blood and tissue samples from hospitals to laboratories as they can weave in and out of traffic more easily than the NHS vehicles.

They were certainly tested during the pandemic; their workload massively increased but they were unable to raise funds to run the service. BP offered all UK blood bike charities 10 weeks free petrol which helped, but they need £70,000 a year to keep the service running and it was touch and go for a while.

We were impressed by the scale and the importance of the work they do and can highly recommend the talk to any other WI groups who are looking for a speaker with something different and worthwhile to say.

Why do they do it? “A desire to give something back to the community and a love of bikes!”

The next WI meeting will be on 22 February and the talk will be The Mayflower Marriages by Arminal DareBrown.

Leigh WI is holding its Special Spring Sale on Saturday 2 April, from 2.00–4.00pm, at Leigh Village Hall.

There will be plants, tea, coffee, cakes, tombola gifts, books etc.

Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club

With Covid restrictions lifting, now is the time to take up a new hobby or pick up the threads of an old one … and what could be better than photography?

Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club (SBACC) meets at 7.30pm at Bradford Abbas Village Hall on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, between September and May. We offer a varied programme and by using Wi-Fi we also enjoy listening to international speakers.

We offer a warm and friendly atmosphere to beginners and more experienced photographers of all ages and particularly focus on the social side of the club. New members always welcome. So come along and meet us, or e-mail the membership secretary at: enquiries@sbacameraclub.co.uk Website: www.sbacameraclub.co.uk or follow us on Facebook

■ Talks ■ Competitions ■ Photo shoots ■ Workshops Hope that you are all well and able to get out and about a little more. Looking forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday 15 March. Our topic will be, “Crafting by Steph”. See you all then.

Ruth Sanford

Chetnole & Leigh Garden Club

Restoration of Hestercombe

The Garden Club learnt a great deal of the history of this beautiful place. The house dates to the 12th century, but the gardens were started by the wonderfully named Coplestone Warre Bamfylde in 1750, with advice from Henry Hoare of Stourhead.

In 1873 the estate was purchased by Viscount Portman who remodelled the house and put on the Front Terrace, bedding plants being very fashionable with the Victorians.

His son Edward and his wife became fascinated with Italian gardens on their honeymoon in 1903 and, on their return, commissioned Sir Edward Lutyens with Gertrude Jekyll to lay out the formal gardens that are known today.

Death duties eventually saw the house and gardens sold to Somerset County Council and in 1950, the Fire brigade made the house their headquarters.

2003 saw the Hestercombe Garden Trust take control for £1.00 and reunite the house and the historic landscape for the first time in 60 years.

Our speaker David Usher was head gardener from 1983; he had looked after the formal gardens, but nothing had been touched in the 35 acre wood until he and a liaison officer of the Wildlife Trust began walking and crawling through the mass of sycamore that had invaded the wood, Pear Pond and Great Cascade. Money was found and contractors brought in to dredge the lake of 17,000 tons of silt; the sycamores were used for firewood and a charcoal burner used the brash.

Paintings of the original garden by Coplestone Bamfylde helped guide the planting and an original Jekyll plan was found with a retired gardener. Skilled masons helped make the many stone steps and balustrades safe.

The sheer scale of the restoration has been enormous, But David’s enthusiasm, energy and attention to historical detail must have made a big difference.

Anna Awdry

Yetminster & Ryme Garden, Art & Crafts Society

An appetising array of home-baked cakes, bright tablecloths and beautiful spring flowers awaited our members in Yetminster Jubilee Hall on an overcast February afternoon. But there was more to come with an enormously enjoyable and entertaining presentation from Mike Burks, MD of the Gardens Group. But despite the levity, he came bearing a serious message. How do gardeners meet the challenges presented by climate change?

Over the last ten years we have faced increasingly erratic weather conditions. Rain, when it comes, comes in a deluge. Then it is unseasonably dry. Temperatures fluctuate violently, often over relatively short periods of time. This is very challenging for our garden plants. So what, as gardeners, can we do to mitigate these conditions? The answer turned out to be quite simple; it lies in the soil.

Good quality soil is rich in organic matter with plenty of underground animal and plant activity. It is well aerated and gives space for the roots of plants to spread and a healthy root system helps plants survive in less favourable conditions. The challenge for gardeners is to encourage this activity by regular mulching. Of course, you can buy any number of suitable products from the garden centre, but Mike encouraged us all to make our own compost. The secret, he said, was ensuring plenty of variety in the plant matter (a pile of soggy grass clippings is not going to produce good compost) and good aeration; to that end, he suggested generous use of the Sunday papers.

The good news is that ‘no dig’ gardening is currently in vogue so the best solution appears to be to apply as much mulch as you can make or afford and then let nature take its course.

Water is the other essential ingredient and although here in the south-west we are unlikely to face serious rationing, it is up to all of us, he said, to collect as much rainwater as we can and to use it sensibly. Raised beds get the thumbs up because they help with drainage and reduce footfall and soil compaction.

Good practice is to water in the morning or evening when most of the water will reach the plants. Watering at midday means that most of it is lost to evaporation.

Given the very long periods of dry weather that we are now experiencing, Mike’s advice was to be pragmatic. Take that perfect lawn as an example. If you are happy for it to look brown for long periods, fine. It will green up in time when the rain arrives. Better, said Mike, was to relax and allow a wider variety of plants to grow, to allow the clover and the daisies to come in and perhaps leave areas of the grass to grow wild. Carefully mown paths will demonstrate to neighbours that this is a planned design and not neglect, and the results can be stunning. In Mike’s own garden, he said that he had practised as he advised over the last five years and last year discovered the first orchid growing. What a delight.

This was all practical, sensible advice and a reminder that being aware and pro-active will help destress our precious plants and help our gardens to grow. It was an excellent afternoon.