Quiz night on Saturday 8 October!

Burydell Lane Allotment Association (BLAA) are holding a fund raising Quiz and raffle on Saturday October 8th at Park Street Village Hall. 

We would love to see you, please ask your neighbours and friends – everyone welcome.The quiz will start at 7.00pm and doors will open at 6.30pm. Our ever popular quizmaster Chris will run the quiz as usual.

The cost will be £5 per head (please bring the right money and put it in the envelope provided on your table). You are welcome to come as an individual or if you wish to book a table (not to exceed 8 people) please let Jan Castle know.   joannac12@icloud.com. 

Bring your own food and refreshments, and afterwards, please help us and the Village Hall by taking your rubbish and recycling home with you!

Showstoppers!

Well done to our Best Plot winners this year, who are:

• Winston Bothwell – 1st prize

• Vivienne Rodwell-Davies – 2nd prize

• Octavian Popescu – 3rd prize

All of their plots are well worth a look and were highly commended by the judge from Burstons. Yes this competition is decided by an external judge, not by the Committee, so it is even more of an accomplishment.

And on to a different kind of show, that is the St Stephens Annual Gardening Show, which took place on 20 August 2022 in Greenwood Park. Burydell Allotments have always done well and this year was no exception. Trophies were presented by Ginder & Son who sponsor the show. Winners included Mark Taylor, Derrick Davies and Jan Castle (Pat pictured below receiving the prize on her behalf). Other plotholders also put in entries and did well.

Pat (on behalf of Jan)

Mark

Derrick

Gardening shows are an important part of our national culture, and sadly are in decline. St Stephens moved their annual show to take place 3 weeks earlier because of climate change. I’ve been told that garden and horticultural shows nationally are being cancelled. It isn’t just the climate though – there is a perception that you have to be an excellent gardener and “be in the know”. There is no doubt too that the demographic attending and entering the show is ageing. However, you don’t have to be an expert or over a certain age. Anyone can enter their produce, and it is really exciting to have external judges look at your stuff and decide whether it merits a First, Second, Third Class – or Highly Commended. Or, sadly, nothing at all! There are many plotholders who could have easily entered their fruit, flowers or veg but who probably didn’t think it was for them. To enter, you need to be a member of the St Stephens Gardening Club (£3 pa), easily done – ask Derrick (pictured above). And the rest is up to you! Let’s see if we can get more Burydell participation next year in this important and enjoyable annual event.

Annual Plotholders meeting and BBQ 11am Sunday 10 July 2022

All plotholders are warmly invited to the thirteenth Annual Plotholders meeting on Sunday 10 July 2022 on site

PROGRAMME

• Hear about our achievements since September 2021 with updates from Kim (Chair), Pat (Liaision Officer and Chris (Treasurer)
• Choose your committee – if you are interested in joining, please let Kim know
• Appoint the auditor
• Discuss anything else that plotholders want to raise
• DIY BBQ and glass of Pimms! We provide the barbecue equipment (and Pimms), you provide the rest (including crockery and cutlery)!

See here for the minutes of the previous meeting on 12 September 2021 and here for a formal meeting agenda

BLAA Quiz!

Well, what a night we had at the Village Hall last Saturday 12 March at our much-delayed Allotment Quiz. 75 of you turned up, a great mixture of plotholders and their families/friends, as well as new faces. Here are some pics – I took a lot more but these give you the general idea. Many congratulations to The Noshers who won fair and square, and commiserations to the Rat Catchers, two of whom are below holding the coveted Wooden Spoon.

You’ll be pleased to know that our raffle generated £210 for Ukraine, so thanks too for your generosity. We also generated enough funds to be able to repair our Hut roof, recently damaged by Storm Eunice.

Lastly I’d like to thank Chris the Quiz Master who yet again delivered an engaging and entertaining quiz, his assistants Elliot and Gill – and the Committee for their hard work in organising this worthwhile event.

URGENT Broken lock

Unfortunately the site padlock is broken so we have secured the gate with another padlock. The gate will be unlocked at 8.30am tomorrow and locked at the end of the day. We have emailed the Council who will hopefully replace the lock ASAP. Apologies for the inconvenience!

Annual General Meeting on site at 11am on 12 September

Dear all

This is to formally announce the much-postponed Annual General Meeting which will be on Sunday 12 September 2021 at 11am on site. We will keep it short and sweet, and give you refreshments afterwards! Here are the documents you will need – note that no hard copies will be provided. Barbara will also send these out by email.

AGM Agenda

Minutes of last meeting 12 May 2019

Item 7 Accounts statement

Item 7 Accounts 2019-20

Item 7 Accounts 2020-21

Look forward to seeing you then. Also to remind you that we need new committee members, so don’t be shy!

Kim Scrivener, Chair

The River Ver needs you!

An update about the Affinity Water volunteer day to be held at Hedges Farm to assist with vegetation management, which as we know was one of the contributory factors in our flooding last year. Affinity Water are looking to host this on Friday 13^th August, and have asked if any allotment holders would like to get involved. If you are interested, please email melissa.ahmet@affinitywater.co.uk so she can then update you with key information about the day. 

They are planning to focus volunteer work around the water gates to ensure these are clear of vegetation as a priority and then work along the channel to ensure there is a clear route, removing any vegetation causing pinch points. The Ver Valley Society have also been informed.  

Dates for your diary

AGM

The long delayed AGM will be at the allotments on12 September starting at 11.00am. Very short meeting followed by refreshments. We really need new people on the committee to replace some departures – if you want more info just contact Kim.scrivener@gmail.com – or just step up at the AGM. We meet once a month and it is not onerous!

Quiz

Again the postponed annual fund raising quiz will be at the Village Hall on 9 October. Doors open at 7.00pm for 7.30pm start. Tables will hold 8 and we would ask you to let Barbara know if you and friends/family wish to have a table to give us some idea of numbers. Individuals and couples will be seated by the organisers. Cost £6 per head. (Please bring your own refreshments.)

Coffee and cake

Once again we plan to have coffee at the allotments on 31 October at 11.00am. Do join us if you can.

Some reminders

Barbara has sent round some notes recently, and here they are again as a REMINDER

HAVE YOU NUMBERED YOUR PLOT YET??

It is important both for the Council and the Site Liaison Officer that plots are numbered. If you haven’t now done this please put the number on your gate. If you don’t remember your plot number there is  a Plot Plan and tenant list in the newly repaired Community hut.

HAVE A LOOK AT THE HUT

Have a look at the newly refurbished Hut! The ruined floor has been replaced and the walls are now protected from any future flooding. A huge thanks to Chris Feakes and others who have provided their time, help, expertise and materials. We will be looking to replace the roof in the not-too-distant future.

WHITE CHAIR AMNESTY

Unfortunately we have only got one of our white chairs back which used to be in the Hut. Please do give them back, as apart from anything else, you won’t have anything to sit on at the next AGM (date tbc). No questions will be asked if they just magically appear in the Hut!

Best Plot 2021 and an Accolade!

Just in case you didn’t see the email from Barbara, the ‘Best Plots’ were judged by Burston Nurseries last week. The results are below – and I think we can all agree that they are very worthy winners of the donated Burstons vouchers. The Burstons Plant Area Manager, Darren, carried out the judging which was thorough and detailed. He was interested in and impressed by the range of plants grown and the variation between plots, the community spirit and commitment from plot holders. We are grateful to Darran for his participation at short notice. He also took the time to chat with various plotholders who were on site at the time. We should also be grateful to Jan Castle, who organised this year’s event.

The winners are:

First Prize – Rob Flannigan, Plot 8

Second Prize – Octavian Popescu, Plot 40/41

Third Prize – Vivienne Rodwell Davies, Plot 6/7

The Accolade – to all of us!

We were astonished to get this fabulous meal from Darren after the judging. Here it is in full.

Firstly, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for asking me to judge your plots this year.

 I have to say after hearing of the dreadful time you all experienced last year, I was humbled by what I saw when I arrived. The quite apparent desire and resilience to not be beaten by not only a global pandemic but horrendous flooding too. I doff my cap to each and everyone of the plot holders for their hard work and determination to get the whole site back to operational.One of the best things about having an allotment is being part of a like-minded community, sharing not only methods and tips but crops too. I really did feel like the community feel ran throughout the Burydell site and it was obvious that there is huge diversity in the plot owners and their requirements and expectations. Some plots were clearly managed by experienced gardeners with maybe a little more time on their hands these days, others by young families introducing their offspring into the world of nature.
 

The general standard across the whole site was excellent which made picking a first, second and third very difficult. My decision was made taking into account creativity, effort, environmental, housekeeping (to a lesser degree), resourcefulness and of course crop results.
 

The first place was awarded as I felt this encapsulated what we should be doing more of. Not only resourceful but clearly an area where children could get involved with not just the veg, but also planting wildlife friendly plants too. It was not immaculate, but it gave me a ‘happy’ feel.
 

The second and third positions also had many ‘feel good’ qualities, from wildlife planting to complimentary planting, areas to relax and unwind and good selection of crop as well as ornamental plants too.

 I have been around many allotment sites over the years but never been so amazed by the standard that I experienced this morning. So whether you are there every day, a few days a week or just at the weekend, keep up the great work at your lovely site! Darran, Plant Area Manager, Burston Nurseries