Friends of Calverley Grounds Newsletter Autumn 2012

FRIENDS OF CALVERLEY GROUNDS AUTUMN 2012

FRIENDS OF CALVERLEY GROUNDS Autumn 2012 FABULOUS AUTUMN COLOURS SHOW OFF THE NEW FRIENDS NOTICEBOARD

Friends get started

by Jim Kedge, chairman FoCG

Welcome to the Friends of Calverley Grounds. And welcome to our first newsletter, designed to keep you up to date with what is planned by the Friends, together with news items of interest affecting the Grounds. As a ‘founder member’ of the Friends of Calverley Grounds – that’s FoCG for short – you can take part from the start in a better future for Calverley Grounds.

From the end of this month Calverley Grounds is the Festive focus for Tunbridge Wells with the arrival once again of the ice rink. We welcome the ice skating as a fun event for all the family. Trenching work has been completed to install a better water and electricity supply for the event. The Friends have been consulted on this and other plans for the ice rink including the location of the necessary power generators and chillers that make the ice which this year have been placed near to the café. We argued that this move justified reconsideration of the maximum sound limits– now reduced from 10dB to 5dB above ambient levels.

The ice rink, marquees and Christmas Market cabins have been erected in the last few days. The FoCG will be occupying a Christmas Market cabin on Saturday 15th December in order to encourage more local people to become Friends.

Bring your friends and neighbours to skate and encourage them to join the Friends. We will also be launching our inaugural photo competition on the theme of Winter Wonderland in Tunbridge Wells.

We are also looking to solve the problem of what to do with the old pavilion and bowling green area. The building, the oldest surviving structure in the Grounds, has been a temporary home for the gardener but soon it will be empty and looking for a new use. If you have a good idea for its future use – a sustainable use that can be fully selffunding – then please let me know.

The FoCG thanks you for your support.

This is just the beginning for the Friends and the start of a new era for Calverley

ISSUE NUMBER 1

Grounds. We need you to encourage your friends and neighbours to join and take part.

Come to the FoCG cabin on 15th December and join in!

AGM makes a splash?

The first Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Calverley Grounds was held at King Charles the Martyr Hall in October and attended by about 40 people. Professor Michael Holman described the ‘Water in the Wells’ project which aims to revive the ‘spa’ brand of Tunbridge Wells by promoting new water features in the town - including in Calverley Grounds. Is this a good idea?

Would Friends and regular users of the Grounds welcome a water feature perhaps like the one below? Tell us on Facebook.

FRIENDS OF CALVERLEY GROUNDS AUTUMN 2012

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GET SNAPPING! Winter in Tunbridge Wells can look beautiful and exciting. With ice skating in Calverley Grounds, festive lights and displays throughout the town and maybe a deep blanket of snow later, there will be plenty of scenes to be snapped for the FoCG free photo competition.

The theme is ‘A Winter Wonderland in Tunbridge Wells’ and anyone who lives in Tunbridge Wells or is visiting the town can enter. There will be two categories – children (aged under 16) and adults (aged over 16).

Just load your photos of the ‘Winter Wonderland of Tunbridge Wells’ onto the FoCG Facebook competition page www.facebook.com/FriendsOfCalverleyGrounds before the end of January 2013. If our judges think your photo is a winner they will contact you via Facebook. There will be prizes for the winner of each category. Good luck and happy snapping.

Thorny problems tackled with prickly plants!

incremental defensive planting inside the park.

from anyone prepared to help grow seeds and be involved in planting.

The Council were quick to respond positively. The Friends were delighted to provide the labour, ably marshalled by Debbie Harding, to plant the new shrubs provided by the Council with input from their contractor, Sodexo.

SKATING 24-HOUR HOTLINE

We expect this to be but the first in a series of joint projects within Calverley Grounds. If you want to help with future projects then please let Jim Kedge or Jane Fenwick know.

Despite this being our first half year, we have already had some successes: relocating seats; generating new litter bins, and established good working relationships with Councillors and officers.

A group of Friends supported by Sharon Carter of TWBC chose one of the rare dry days in October to plant some prickly shrubs along the Mountfield Gardens boundary. Initial discussions between the newly formed Friends Group and Council Parks Team had highlighted some issues of trespass and anti-social behaviour which residents believed could be reduced by installing some

Next year we hope to offer volunteer gardeners – young and old – the opportunity to beautify the Grounds as part of the Tunbridge Wells in Bloom competition. Plans are underway to grow seed, and plant annuals and perennials in the existing beds, as well as in tubs and hanging baskets. Help is needed now from keen gardeners with plant knowledge to plan the work, and

The FoCG and the Events Department of TWBC have been working to ensure that the residents closest to Calverley Grounds do no suffer undue inconvenience from the ice rink. A 24 hotline to the Events Manager is open throughout the season for your concerns about noise, light and security issues..

Call 01892 554022

FoCG - Who We Are Chairman – Jim Kedge (521787) jimkedge@blueyonder.co.uk Vice Chairman – Nick Pope nicholas.pope@yahoo.com Secretary – Jane Fenwick fenwick.jane@yahoo.com Treasurer – Lisa Grant chavassier28@yahoo.co.uk

www.facebook.com/ friendsofcalverleygrounds Twitter : @FoCGTunWells