A big thank you

Weren’t we lucky! The rain we all needed, particularly for our gardens and fields, decided to start last Sunday morning just as we were preparing the plant tables. However, our very own weather man, George Godar, advised from his app that by 10am it should be sunshine, and that is exactly what happened. We got a bit wet setting up and struggled to get signs on the tables but all came good. We had a variety of donations for which we thank you very much, along with thanks to the merry band of helpers, (setting up, serving, and clearing away again). We raised around four hundred and fifty pounds. Janet Stupples kindly took all the leftovers and she is brilliant at nurturing, repotting etc and finding good homes for everything. A fine example of sharing and working together around village life. Look out for the pop up plant sales in the courtyard at Ashridge.

Last week we had a successful Wisley day trip in conjunction with and mainly organised by the LG WI, using our Affiliated Membership. (Entitling 55 people to visit once per year for free). Perhaps another trip could be organised to visit an alternative garden next year? One of our VPA members recently used the RHS discount ticket and visited Rosemoor in Devon which was very much enjoyed. If you are planning an RHS garden visit do ask to borrow the RHS card to take advantage of the entry discounts.

Whilst mentioning the WI, do make a date to have an afternoon cream tea in the VH on Saturday 21 June, from 2pm. Lots of sandwiches, cakes and scones to eat, plus a raffle, tombola, plants with Wendy for sale, along with the opportunity to buy a cake to take home for Sunday tea.

With our limited “person power” we now need to plan ahead for the summer show (23 August) followed by the Harvest Supper and Quiz (27 September). If there is anything you would particularly like to see included in the show schedule please get in touch.

Finally, another plea for Secretarial assistance (to help us up until next April) and help in managing the gardens around the Store and the planters in the village, just giving an hour would make a big difference please.

Do call into the Store for garden requirements, open every Sunday from 10am to 12am (next to the Village Hall).

Don’t forget the Plant Sale on Sunday, 25th May 10am at the Village Hall

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday morning. If you have plants that you would like to donate on the day please bring them between 8am and 9am so that the team have a chance to price them up ahead of the opening time of 10am. If you can identify the plants with a label that will help us too.

If you need to drop them off prior to Sunday then Kate at Christmas House (on the left on the road out towards Ringshall) has offered to take them. Please ring Kate on 07973 830081.

Other news
Rennie Grove Peace Hospice is having an Open Garden at Grove House, Waverley Road, St Albans, AL3 5QX on Saturday 7 June, 2pm – 5pm.
Regularly used by patients attending clinics or therapeutic gardening groups for those living with life-limiting illnesses, the garden serves as both a sanctuary and a source of healing. Each summer, it is opened to the wider public, offering everyone a chance to enjoy the results of the volunteers’ hard work. Visitors can expect to see a vibrant display of roses, peonies, alliums, and other early summer blooms.
As well as enjoying the gardens, visitors will be able to buy plants that have been grown by our volunteer gardeners, to take a little of the garden home with them.

Some of the volunteer gardeners will be on hand to answer any questions, and tea and cakes will be available to purchase throughout the afternoon. All proceeds raised by the event will be used to fund vital care for local people with a life-limiting illness.

VPA AGM Wednesday night, 30th April, at the Church Hall

The VPA Committee are delighted to welcome you to the Church Hall at 6.30pm Wednesday coming (30th April) for wine and nice nibbles and a presentation from Elizabeth Hamilton (Council for the Protection of Rural England – CPRE) on Chalk Streams.

We look forward to seeing you. Please see last years AGM minutes and the draft accounts for 2024 below. All other papers will be available on the night.

The Spring is here!

Spring really is getting under way, this last week we have crossed over into having more daylight hours than dark hours, and the clocks go forward next weekend gradually giving us longer evenings to be organising our gardens.  The Spring colours are very welcome as we have seen the snowdrops, crocuses, and then the lovely daffodils and tulips pop up in many places.

Screenshot

In case word hasn’t reached you, the Ashridge House Gardens are now an RHS Partner Garden which is great to know and enables visits to be made at a very local venue (and to enjoy a cuppa in the Bakehouse).  Our Affiliated RHS member card is available in the Store to be used.   The Wisley trip on 20 May 2025 is almost fully booked but if you wish to try and reserve the last remaining seats, please get in touch wisley-trip@lgvpa.org / 07760 144057 immediately.

We would really appreciate help in maintaining the garden areas referred to in our end of year newsletter and now is the time to be clearing up and pruning after the long Winter days so if you can spare an hour or so to help we would be pleased to hear from you. 

The AGM will be starting 6.30pm on Wednesday 30 April 2025 in the Church’s TFH where a welcome glass of fizz and nibbles will be available.  Our end of year financial/membership/store summary will be distributed during April for your information.  We are pleased to be welcoming Liz Hamilton to speak to us (a busy volunteer supporter with the CPRE to help protect our beautiful countryside) about Chalk Streams which should be very interesting.

The customary Plant Sale is on Sunday 25 May 2025 at 10:30am on the VH car park; we are hopeful that you can sow some extra seed trays for the VPA in the run up to the sale to help fill the tables.  If you can spare an hour to help set up we would be pleased to hear from you. Please see below an extract from the Grow your own guide, full document on the web site.

The remaining two scheduled events are the Summer Show on Saturday 23 August 2025 followed by the Harvest Supper and Quiz on Saturday 27 September 2025.

Let’s hope we can all have a successful planning, sowing and growing season during the coming months, and we are looking forward to seeing you at the AGM.

Cancellation of the Winter Show

Hi Everyone

Many apologies to those already thinking about the Winter Show, unfortunately the Committee have had to make the difficult decision not to proceed. We are a very small team and with a few of us away we simply cannot pull it all together this time.

The good news though is everything else planned this year, including the Summer Show, remains in the diary and is fully supported. Next up the AGM in April then in May the Plant Sale, so don’t forget when you are raising your seedlings to plant a tray for the VPA.

Latest news from the VPA

As we reach the shortest day of the year we are looking ahead to 2025 and putting the finishing touches around the Winter Show Schedule (Saturday 8 February 2025) which will be available in early January, so look out for printed copies in the Village Shop and details which will be announced on our web site. 

With the year end approaching we undertook a review of our activities and were able to make some donations to our local charities: Gaddesden Place Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Westcroft House (ROAR), Horatio’s Garden and St Frances Hospice.  Each of these charities received £400 and we have received some lovely letters of thanks which will be displayed in the Store.  There was a ‘Big Give’ week in early December where, for participating charities, donations were doubled so we made sure St Frances Hospice received our donation during that period giving them double the benefit. 

Our Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Affiliated membership will automatically renew early in 2025 so do remember the benefits this provides to all VPA members. We love it when members use the ticket to get the discount.

Once a year Affiliated RHS members like the VPA can organise a group visit to one of the RHS gardens.  In conjunction with the Little Gaddesden Women’s Institute (WI, Ashridge Group) there are plans in place to go to Wisley on Tuesday 20 May 2025.  A coach has been booked for the journey, consequently seats need to be filled to enable the travel cost to be divided equally.   To reserve your seat(s), do bring a friend, send an email to wisley-trip@lgvpa.org or telephone 07760 144057 advising your contact details (it will be helpful to know if you are also a personal RHS member).

Some years ago, the VPA undertook to manage the garden at the front of the Store along with the planters throughout the village (They are at Cromer Close, Ringshall junction, in front of the School entrance and the VPA Store) together with the two planted gardens at the front of the village shop.  If you can spare any time to help cut back, plant up and generally manage the growth at any time during the year, your help would be very much appreciated, as there are very few of us to manage all the tasks.

As another year comes to an end we wish all our members an enjoyable festive time with their family and friends. Remember, the Store generally remains open every Sunday, bird food being a hotly contested purchase.  Do call by and say hello, we would like to see you.

The Week Ahead and Beyond

For the week ahead and beyond, we are highlighting some events we think you will be interested to participate in.

Meeting with Sheila Das from RHS Wisley

The Little Gaddesden WI has its Ashridge Group open meeting on Thursday 19 September 2024 in the Great Gaddesden village hall starting at 7:30pm. This hall is diagonally opposite the garden centre on the Leighton Buzzard Road.

LG WI Meeting 2024-09 Poster

They are delighted to have Sheila Das from Wisley giving a talk. This will cover the history of the RHS and how Wisley has evolved over the years together with reference to biodiversity and sustainability. Sheila is a very interesting lady as we met her when she came to a VPA AGM. Please see the various things she gets up to by following this link to her Instagram.

So, if a circus is not your cuppa, please come along for a traditional cuppa with lots of cake to meet Sheila as it is an “open” WI evening where everyone is very welcome.

Entry is £4 to include refreshments, a raffle, the competition is a single bloom if you have a spectacular one in your garden and wish to take part. We look forward to seeing you.

Harvest Supper Quiz

Harvest Supper Quiz: (28 September 2024), currently there are a few seats available so do get in touch to have your name included. £25 per head. Doors open at 6pm: harvest-supper@lgvpa.org.

Planned RHS Wisley Visit

As you will know we are affiliated members of the RHS. Part of that membership entitles us to organise a group visit to one of their gardens. There are plans taking shape to organise a trip to Wisley, in conjunction with the LG (Ashridge Group) WIs, possibly in May 2025. The idea being a coach would be organised to pick up from predetermined stops and drive to Wisley for the day. If you would like to record your interest in joining this day out please let us know at hello@lgvpa.org giving your contact details and you will be added to the list for when further details are available.

Another Successful Summer Show

A week has gone by already but another successful Summer Show was enjoyed last Saturday.

We all had a good time notwithstanding the very wet day that developed. It was really good to welcome some new exhibitors who had a successful experience, including winning some cups in support of their entries.

The hall was bright and cheerful and a real buzz with, exhibitors bringing their entries, the judges chit chat and expertise, then when you all came to take a look, enjoy the refreshments and see all the winners collect their cups. A real big thank you to everyone, as without your support there would be no show. To see a selection of photographs – and a snappy video! – follow this link to the show page on our website.

Looking forward to the Winter Show on Saturday 8 February 2025 – mark your new diary as soon as you have one.

The annual harvest supper and quiz is on Saturday 28 September 2024. Please get in touch – harvest-supper@lgvpa.org – if you wish to join in and purchase a seat or two or indeed a table of 8 (five tables purchased so far). We have been able to retain the price at £25 per head. We are looking forward to hopefully seeing the hall full to capacity and enjoying a good evening altogether.

Thank you again

Coming soon, Harvest Supper and Quiz night

Your Committee would like to invite you to the supper and quiz on:-
Saturday 28th Sept.    At the Village Hall.   

Doors open at 6.00pm, quiz starts at 6.30pm

Three course meal, quiz, raffle and a welcoming glass of Prosecco/soft drink, all for £25 per head. (Same price as last year)

By huge popular demand Quiz host Shaun McCarthy will run the quiz, Janet the raffle and Julia Maddox the catering. This year it is bring your own drink, we’ll supply the glasses.

It is tables of eight but if you haven’t got an eight we will be able to create a team for you to join, so whether you are singles, couples or full teams let us know.
Tables are now available, so buy your tickets now to avoid missing out

Tickets can be purchased from June Abraham (07760 144057);
hello@lgvpa.org; or at the VPA Store, payment by cash, cheque or bank transfer to Sort code: 09-01-51: Account number: 48549306; Account name: Gaddesden District Village Produce. (Please give your surname as the reference and the word ‘Quiz’).
Any special dietary requirements please advise when purchasing tickets; where possible send details to: hello@lgvpa.org.