Surbiton school offers Art History course for the local community

Surbiton High School is offering a short seven-week Art History course as part of their Community Outreach Programme for a £65 donation.

Community Classrooms is an exciting and dynamic way to extend learning opportunities for young people, parents and local residents. They can take the form of adult evening courses, longer courses with qualification outcomes or weekend workshops for students of all ages. Community Classrooms is a notfor-profit initiative and any proceeds go towards local community projects.

The next Art History course, led by Lissie Matts, MA University of Edinburgh starts on Wednesday 26 April. The seven-week course is every Wednesday from 6.45 pm - 8.15 pm at Surbiton High School in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London. The Art History course is a whistle- stop whizz through one recurring theme of art history, Nature.

Designed for both novices and the slightly more experienced, the course explores the dramatic landscapes of Turner, the politically fraught 'Sunflower Seeds' by Ai Weiwei and the twisting form of the infamous 'Whistlejacket', hanging in London's National Gallery.

Choosing the 'juiciest' of artworks and buildings, this course provides a little insight into other worlds and cultures, including elements of the Art History

A-level (thankfully, without the essays). Surbiton High School invite anyone interested in the local community and the course is open to everyone aged 15 and over.

Lissie Matts achieved her MA at the University of Edinburgh and has now been teaching History of Art A-level for nine years, at three different schools.

She fell in love with the subject on a trip to Florence, aged 16, where having seen Michelangelo's David, she promptly decided she wanted to spend her life immersed in the art historical world and all things it involved. She has a rather niche fascination with the Northern Renaissance and loves nothing more than convincing someone to change their opinion on how they feel about a work of art.

This course is a not-for-profit initiative and all proceeds go towards local community projects. Our next course is focused on Art History - Nature in Art and Architecture and is running over a seven-week period. The course is open to anyone aged 15 and over.

For more information and to register for the course please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/ landing?eid=32720&

Saturday 3 June 3 - 5pm

Tea and cake served at 4pm

EVERYONE IS WELCOME, whether you play already, you’ve played before but are a bit rusty, or whether you’d just like to have a go! Rackets and balls will be provided and all we ask is that you wear appropriate footwear for the tennis courts.

We are situated in Berrylands, and the entrance is between nos. 11 and 13 Manor Drive. Membership is open to all, and our subs are very reasonable. More information at www.surbitonmethodisttennis.org

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Karen: 020 8274 0096 email: karen@berrylands-companion.co.uk

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In the 1600s, tulip bulbs were considered a luxury item and, in Holland, were more valuable than gold.

Count up the petals on each of the flowers below, and then add them all together. How many petals are there in total?

What do you get if you cross a bike and a flower? Bicycle petals

What did the lady that dislikes flowers and children say? I don’t like orchids or kids

I accidentally planted the wrong flowers in my garden Oopsie daisies

LILY ROSE DAISY PANSY POPPY VIOLA FUSCHIA HEATHER PETUNIA BLUEBELL SWEETPEA CARNATION

CORNFLOWER SNAPDRAGON

It’s a challenging time trying to keep the family bills under control, but your pet’s food is also seeing the effects of inflation. Drop the brand

We often believe our pets are fussy about the brands they will and won’t eat. But when times are tight, you are likely to have to persist with ownbrand versions and anything you can pick up from cheaper supermarkets. Any food labelled as ‘complete’ gives a nutritionally balanced diet for the species it is made for. ‘Complementary’ food will only provide part of the nutrients your pet needs to be healthy. One option could be to mix a cheaper food with the usual product you buy, to ease the transition.

Nelly is

Bags of dry food are typically more expensive at the point of purchase, because you are buying in bulk, but the overall cost will be lower so it’s worth investigating.

There are a number of companies offering subscription services. These are great for no waste and it’s worth noting they’ll often have sign-up offers. That way you can see if your pet likes what’s delivered to you and save on the cost for a few weeks too.

more information, please contact: adoption@epsom.cats.org.uk

banks

Ninety miles or so south of Bangkok, Thailand’s oldest resort is an elegant getaway loved by the Thais and discerning visitors. Once a humble fishing village, it became a royal residence in the 1920s when Rama VII built his summer palace on a quiet corner of the Sunrise Coast. He called it ‘far from worries’ and as you relax on the soft tingling sands, that’s exactly how it feels. It’s only a two-hour drive from the capital but if ‘slow travel’ is your choice, hop aboard the train snaking its way through rolling countryside, peeping at scenes of daily life and finally alighting by the Royal Waiting Room, which stands pagoda-like, plum-red and cream, in Hua Hin station.

New hotels, fine cuisine, golf, spa and all the pleasures of the beach, it is boom time in Hua Hin, but if you venture out of town you could sail to the Marine National Park or head for Kaeng Krachan, also a National Park home to tropical birds and other wildlife. Equally enticing is Monsoon Valley where you can ride elephants through the vineyards, taste awardwinning wines and enjoy a delicious lunch in a cool winery, looking across the vines to the lush green hills rising all around. Yet a leisurely pace still lingers in the coastal resort, punctuated by tinkling bells and rattling tuk-tuks. Spirit houses shelter under the trees, draped in orchid garlands, auspicious offerings are laid on the doorsteps and now and then fragrant incense drifts through the air. There are myriad temples glistening with colour and exquisite carvings under lofty pagoda roofs. You may have to share the hilltop Khao Takiab with chattering monkeys, but at the end of the beach the giant Buddha looking out to sea radiates peace. Then look out for the wooden cottages in the lanes and the little dens offering lacquerware and painted china, visit the tailors, marvel at endless rolls of shimmering silk or hand-printed cotton and wander through tropical gardens filled with bird song and the sweet scents of jasmine and frangipani.

Sunsets are magical in Hua Hin, a fiery orb dipping behind the swaying palms, sending ripples of golden light across the sea – then it’s time for the evening stroll followed by dinner al fresco. Seafood is top of the list, tiger prawns, crab, crayfish, succulent catch of the day and cosmopolitan or traditional Thai – you will be spoilt for choice. Meanwhile, on Dechanuchit Road, the night market offers fast food local-style as white-hatted chefs chop and stir and clouds of smoke rise from the woks. Lights twinkle under the trees and crowds browse around the stalls brimming with sarongs and scarves, T-shirts, ethnic jewellery, seashell mobiles and flower garlands, exotic fruit and luminous sweets. Meanwhile, folded parasols stand silhouetted in the moonlight and, on the deserted beach lapped by the waves, the royal resort drifts into a peaceful night ‘far from worries’. By Solange Hando

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The average garden has changed significantly over the last 50 years. In a physical sense, it has become smaller but, in more general terms, expectations have grown. In a small garden every square metre matters. Today’s contemporary garden might have an outside kitchen and possibly a retractable roof to serve as sunshade or umbrella and a moving water feature provides a soundscape to accompany the outdoor dining experience.

Alongside the shrinking space, our need for privacy has expanded. The addition of pleached trees – often called a ‘hedge on stilts’ – has become commonplace. They allow taller boundaries that blur the fence line, thus bringing seclusion without harsh enclosure.

Gardens follow fashion and plant selection tells you a huge amount about the history and evolution of a garden. Before the 1980s, a garden border would be filled with perennial planting that might include asters, campanula, delphiniums, hardy geraniums, helianthus, geums, lupins, peonies, pulmonaria, salvias and veronica. These provided spring and summer colour but would die down for winter. Newer or updated borders might incorporate a number of

By Caroline Knight

shrubs to give year-round shape. There could be some structural forms in terms of sculpture or topiary. There might be evergreen giant cones and maybe some roses, rather than an entire bed dedicated to perennials. The palette of plants available to us has extended dramatically over the decades. Ornamental grasses and ‘new perennial’ planting, including naturalistic swathes of perennials in subdued colours, are now likely to replace some of the more traditional herbaceous plants. This style of planting has ecology at its heart and the layers of plants tend to be interwoven to form patterns that might be found in the natural world.

A contemporary border will place even more emphasis on forms, shapes and colour that last for longer. Some borders now feature a restricted palette of plant varieties, perhaps chosen for the foliage colour or shape. For example, an entire bed filled with ‘strappy’ shaped leaves in plain green, a shady bed filled with just one variety of fern, or foliage that contrasts such as burgundy and yellow. The gardener will be ruthless when interlopers try to seed themselves amongst such a carefully designed setting.

Island beds filled with small conifers and perhaps a few rocks were a feature of the 1970s. Over the years we have tended to shun the idea of including these within a planting scheme, perhaps because some of the dwarf conifers grow larger than anticipated. They are beginning to make a comeback, however as we learn to embrace their charm. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show tends to set the trend and over the last few years these old favourite plants have been featured and applauded, along with hydrangeas, rhododendrons, dahlias and chrysanthemums.

As the warmth of summer arrives, a few dry days can drop the soil moisture levels affecting our shallow rooted and newly planted trees that have yet to develop a stable deep root system. If you have access to organic matter such as garden compost and well rotted manure then a good mulch around the base of your trees reduces water loss by evaporation by as much as 70%!. Do not mulch around the trunk base directly and extend out at least 2m if possible. If you decide to water the trees and shrubs do this in the evening when a greater proportion of the water can be absorbed by the roots.

Summer can be problematic for certain diseases such as rust, mildew and blackspot on trees and shrubs. The best advice is to rake up and burn the infected leaves. Do not put them on your compost heap as this allows the spores to spread later in the year when you do a compost mulch. Trees are more prone to pests and diseases if they lack enough water and nutrients, so generally it is best to keep all your trees and shrubs well composted and watered to minimise impacts.

All surgeons must be qualified and fully insured as well as working to agreed BS standards.

We often advise tree surgery to be done in phases as a cycle, by this I mean that if tree works are spread over a number of years your garden trees are always evolving in a succession. Remember that if one tree undergoes surgery it will create opportunities for other trees to develop and flourish.

In terms of tree surgery in the summer different trees can be pruned and shaped at different times of the year. Apple trees for example can be pruned back in the summer to encourage robust growth and controls canopy development in the future whereas winter pruning generates new potential growth points. It is always best to prune within the tolerance levels of the species involved. Surgery should be done carefully to avoid creating problems of dieback or disease exploiting the pruning cuts. Arborists should give you the appropriate professional advice.

A variety of surgery options are available for your trees; it is never appropriate to just “lop” a tree. Proper treeworks range from maintaining the spread of the tree but thinning the canopy (crown thin); removing the lower limbs to improve garden light conditions (crown lift) to reducing the overall crown size done as percentages from 5 to 30% (crown reduction) or a hard prune called pollarding.

You have two minutes to find all the words of three or more letters that can be made from the letters above. Plurals are allowed, proper nouns are not. The 6-letter word will always be just a normal everyday word.

3 letters: 9 4 letters: 8 5 letters: 4 6 letters: 1

I can pick up your bike from your home or place of work then return to you at your convenience.

From a safety check, new build to a full service, all work and repairs will be quoted prior to commencing.

Will contact you immediately if any other • defects are spotted so there will be no unpleasant surprises.

Free pick up and drop off within a five mile • radius of Surbiton. Contact: