ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL ALLOTMENT SOCIETY
This year the meeting was held in Bath and I was asked to represent C&DAHA. There were representatives from societies and associations across the country. There were the usual formal reports from officers including the Treasurer who reported an £80,000 surplus for the year following a £29,000 deficit in 2016. The President for the next three years is Phil Gomersall from the Yorkshire Region – A very active and colourful character – especially his braces! The annual report included and outline of the strategic plan which I report in full below. “Through our agreed Strategic Plan the National Allotment Society will: 1. Create a flexible and responsive management system that is more effective 2. Assess the needs of our staff (including volunteers) to ensure their needs are met. 3. Bring Regions into a consistent framework, following good practice from these areas. 4. Develop effective lines of communication to the grass roots level. 5. Have an image by the start of 2018 that is current, attractive and relevant. 6. Talk and engage with more Local authority members. 7. Increase the overall membership figures. 8. Engage with key decision makers i.e. Government, Local Authorities, Policy Makers to ensure the rights of the allotment holders and people on waiting lists and the general public are upheld. 9. Be seen as an organisation with a set of values which people can get behind. 10. Offer a first class service to everyone interested in allotment gardening”. Currently, NAS is urging the authorities to make adequate allotment provision in the proposed garden cities and towns. There is already Section 106 Grant Funding money which can be used for allotment development in new housing developments in existing towns and cities. We were urged to get to know the status of our allotments, particularly whether they were temporary or statutory. After lunch there were three presentations. The first was given by the seed buyer from Kings Seeds on sowing seeds. I hope to report his useful advice in our spring newsletter in time for the 2018 growing season. This was followed by a presentation on bees on the allotment and a final one on modern, heirloom and heritage seed varieties. Dennis Sutton 11:06:2017
Wellchild Charity Event
Presents ‘Spring into Gardening’. Royal Agricultural University Cirencester GL7 6JS Chaired by Camilla Bassett- Smith, learn the tricks of the trade with live demonstrations from green-fingered garden designers, Tatham and Durr. Go behind the scenes at Chelsea with an illustrated talk from Chelsea gold-medallist Olivia Kirk and get tips on how to design an award-winning garden. Discover this season’s must have plants and learn how to create eye-catching floral displays to transform your own garden at home. The evening will also feature an auction in aid of WellChild, with some fantastic prizes to be won, including two tickets to RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Early bird tickets are available until February 6th 2017 and cost £8, there after tickets will cost £10 per person, a complimentary glass of wine and nibbles are included. If you have any questions about the event please get in touch with the events team on 01242 530007 or by emailing View or download a poster at Click to access 2017springintogardeningposter.pdf
March Meeting: Growing Vegetables
Monday, March 6th at 7pm in the Municipal Offices A talk will be given by Richard Baldwin titled “Vegetables: choosing the correct cultivar – Hybrids – Seed storage etc.” Richard Baldwin, RHS Masters, comes from the West Riding of Yorkshire and has been involved in horticulture all his life. His career started in a general nursery with a florist shop, progressing to the parks department glasshouses and nursery. He later worked on the south coast growing indoor flowers, pot plants and containerised nursery stock and then at the research station at Luddington, Warwickshire on commercial fruit crop production. Richard then moved to Pershore College of Horticulture, Worcestershire, specialising in commercial horticulture. He ran a 50 acre intensive vegetable unit along with a separate organic unit, eventually becoming Senior Horticultural Lecturer. Now retired, Richard practices wildlife gardening in his own garden in Worcestershire. Raffle tickets will be on sale at the meeting. Please come along and bring interested friends who will be most welcome.
Members and Friends Open Meetings
Members are reminded that our open meetings this year are in March and September at 7.00pm in the Municipal Offices, Cheltenham. On Monday March 7th Julia Scott will speak on “Growing and Enjoying Herbs” Julia is from the Walled Garden in Worcester and is an expert on herbs. On Monday September 5th Mr Bob Smith, an expert on Moths, will give a talk. Bob has recorded more than 500 species in his garden and will bring a net cage containing a selection caught the night before. He will show the range of shapes, colours and sizes, their caterpillars and life cycles. He will also explain how some of them got their names. All are welcome so do bring friends and family.
Visit to Usk Open Gardens
The Association is organising a visit to the Usk Open Gardens Event. Date: Saturday, June 25th 2016 Return coach travel and entry ticket cost £18 per person. Depart from Cheltenham race course at 9.00am Depart Usk at 3.00pm arriving in Cheltenham at approx. 4.30pm To get your name on the list contact Claire Plowright on 07761584390 or 01242 530762. Email: . 18, Albemarle Gate Cheltenham, GL50 4PJ Usk is an historic town on the banks of the river Usk. The gardens range from small cottage gardens the grand sweep of the medieval Usk castle. Additional attractions are the Victorian Courthouse, the Rural Life Museum, a gardener’s market and antique and craft outlets. In all, a great day out.