AROUND THE SOCIETIES

Wells Tuesday Wi

THE start to August has certainly been soggy! At Tuesday WI we have made a valiant attempt to overcome the weather…

The charity boules was fun, but wet. Walking netball became cocktail central (well, what else can you do when the court is in danger of becoming a swimming pool?). The short and easy walking group had a great walk in Burnham regardless of a downpour (and despite the presence of ‘Shirley our sunshine girl’), and our attempt to meet up with our sister WI (and dreams of a balmy evening chatter) were somewhat damp. Several brave souls managed a quick game of boules, I consoled myself with cake.

Luckily for the outdoor afternoon tea to celebrate my 60th it was beautiful sunshine. In addition, Treetop Ceramics hosted a group for glass fusion in a lovely workshop (whilst of course outside it poured), and the pottery wheel session was also indoors.

The county quiz was another awful downpour but we squeezed into the hall and our top team came second. The Hinkley Point tour was well attended and everyone learnt a great deal of information.

Blooming Fun have been out and about, and as always cottage garden flowers was excellent at Horton Cross. Lunch was also delicious. I can’t claim personally to have completed any knitting, but I can confirm lots of nattering has been going on. I’ve been reading in anticipation of the book club event at the literature festival. Lots of events to look forward to whatever the weather, and at least I don’t have to water the garden.

Anne Wilson (President)

Coxley And District Wi

WE invited some ladies from Walton WI to show us how to play ‘Kurling’. This appears to be becoming an annual event as everyone enjoys themselves so much. It ultimately became a knockout competition with Pat S and Carol winning on getting 55 points. Also we played host to Fiona from Wells Monday WI. She joined in too with the activities.

Hilary suggested a time and date (going to Wookey on August

25) for our next WI walk, last month’s having been cancelled. We meet at the Memorial Hall at 10am.

Peggy showed us the twiddle muff that she had completed since our last craft meeting, with another meeting scheduled for August 9 to continue with our efforts.

The next book club meeting was also taking place at Peggy’s on August 17 where we were going to discuss The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

Val reported on our efforts in the county WI quiz held recently, we came third.

Our upcoming nearly new sale was discussed, it will take place at the Memorial Hall on October 7 from 11am until 2pm.

We next meet for a full meeting at the Memorial Hall on September 5 at 7pm. Visitors are most welcome to join us.

Ursula Dann

Wells And District Wildlife Group

IT has been a challenging time for wildlife recently with prolonged periods of dry hot weather and an equally long periods of cool wet weather in July and August. The rain and periods of sunshine seems to produce some interesting responses in our wildlife. From the number of young wrens, blue tits and long tailed tits I have seen it appears many have produced second broods after unsuccessful breeding earlier in the year. It also seems a good year for butterflies. This has been confirmed by Butterfly Conservation’s ‘Big Butterfly Count’ last month. My small garden in Wells has been visited by a variety of species including red admiral, small tortoiseshell, large white, peacock, gatekeeper, comma and common blue. I put my success down to having several plants of Verbena Bonariensis to attract a range of pollinating insects. Another plant popular with insects is the ice plant (Sedum spectabile) which produces a dense pad of pink flowers during September and October.

After experiencing the natural world over the spring and summer in a series of field trips, our programme of indoor meetings begins on September 26 at 7.30pm at the Museum on the Cathedral Green. The first talk in the programme, The Countryside Detective, is by retired vet Stephen Powles. Stephen will cover various methods of animal tracking including the use of trail cameras and will show how to identify certain species by their footprints and other tracks that they leave. Details of this and other events can be seen on our website www.wdwg.org.uk or you can phone Jean on 01749 677600.

We ask for a donation of £5 per adult – under 16s are free.

Graham Allen

Wells Rotary

WELLS

Rotary has turned a page and is looking for people interested in helping in the community and/or internationally. Rotary Clubs used to be for local businesspeople who became members by invite only and one person of each profession was allowed into its club.

Times have changed and our doors are now (and have been for some time) open to anyone who has a passion to do good in the world. If you have a desire to help but don’t know how – Rotary is the place for you. In our club it takes one person to have an idea and if other members of the club are interested in your idea you have a team to help you achieve your goal.

Some of you will already know that Wells Rotary have put on many events for the local residents of Wells including the Reindeer Parade, Boules Tournament, Youth Competitions, Meet the Sikhs and more.

Among examples of international support, Wells Rotary raises money for Water Survival Boxes, a means of purifying water for the benefit of families that survive natural or man-made disasters; some qualified Rotarians have helped on Mercy Ships that deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need; and Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years.

The club has two meetings a month which are on the first and third Monday. The first meeting is a social meeting at Anton’s in Wells when we have a sit-down meal and a guest speaker. On the third Monday we meet at Wells Museum for a business meeting which is where we talk about our projects. We also have other social events which takes us to theatres, skittles matches or a barbecue in someone’s garden.

Members are not expected to attend all meetings as we are aware that it is not always possible for people who work and have young families to give up too much time. If you are interested in learning more about Wells Rotary, contact Angela Cussell (Rotary President) at AC.WellsRotary@ gmail.com

Mendip Fibromyalgia Support Group

AN enjoyable outing at Montacute was the highlight of the summer. We were entertained with a talk about filming at the house. We look forward to the next series of Wolf Hall that will be based there. We will return in the spring to enjoy the gardens.

For our August meeting we brought in an object that was special to us. We were really poor at guessing whose was whose. These objects opened up chatting about life before Fibro, and all were fascinated with the secrets unfolding. From a swim with a whale, making aeroplane models, home-made teddy, biblical lamp from Bethlehem, crochet blanket, a puffin, and a horse comb. We were reminded that we are more than just people with fibromyalgia – all had exciting memories of challenging lives – a new dimension to our understanding of each other.

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We meet again at Binegar and Gurney Slade Memorial Hall on September 6 with a return of Andy and Kate Bluffield who will be bringing their dogs for us to cuddle – including a new puppy. The talk will be A life with dogs, horses and chickens.

October 4 will be a talk by Paul Denegri about music in care homes.

For more information about our group (that also covers long Covid and anyone with constant pain) do contact Tanya Flagg: tanya@mendipfmsg.org

Wells U3a

WELLS u3a are always doing dynamic things and the Geology group is no exception. Back in May they explored the geology of Beacon Hill adjacent to the Fosse Way. We did have volcanoes in Somerset and the evidence is here amongst the bluebells. Andesite and rhyodacite lavas volcanic ash or tuffs are found with limestone fossiliferous siltstone and mudstone. Their walk covered three geological periods, Silurian which is the oldest in Somerset, Devonian and Jurassic.

Their next field trip was to the geology trail at Ham Hill guided by the knowledgeable Geoff, one of the Countryside Rangers. As is so often the case, our geology trips cover other aspects of the landscape, in this case from vegetation to dry stone walling via prehistoric settlements.

The most recent outing was a fascinating visit to Gully Cave in Ebbor Gorge. It is the site of an ongoing dig led by Professor Danielle Shreve from Royal Holloway University of London. Danielle spoke about the amazing finds from this dig as part of the Mendip Rocks Festival last year. To be able to visit and hear more about all the bones found here which shows we had hyenas, aurochs, Arctic fox and reindeer living in Ebbor Gorge at the end of the last Ice Age, made for a very special field trip.

Science Centre and are hoping he is going to extend the course in the autumn.

So what is next? They have already done the recce for a visit to St Audries Bay in September. There are also many opportunities for things geological during the Mendip Rocks Festival in October. We will be going back to the classroom at Wells Cathedral School where David Rowley will be helping them to think in four dimensions. If you would like to join us, please get in touch. No knowledge, just an enthusiasm to explore is required.

Susan Knight and Peter Shepherd

on offer is Cards for Pleasure. They are a friendly group who meet on a Thursday evening at the Conservative Club to play “anything but Bridge”. Canasta, Cribbage, Euchre, Kalooki, Besique and ready for new ideas. We would welcome some more players, so get in touch.

Margaret Robinson

At the beginning of September, a group of nearly 30 members enjoyed a day out to Whitchurch Silk Mill followed by a visit to Bombay Sapphire distillery only down the road from the silk mill. At the mill the group were able to watch a demonstration of the fine silk threads being woven into delicate silk fabric. They had a guided tour of the whole mill along with the history of the mill and process of the production. On then to Bombay Sapphire Distillery where the visit started with a drink of gin and tonic from a choice of various flavours followed by a conducted tour of the distillery.

All groups can be contacted via Wells u3a website if any take your fancy – https://u3asites. org.uk/wells/home

Ann Brown

Henton And District Gardening Club

AFTER a very enjoyable summer of outings and a strawberry tea, Henton and District Gardening Club are looking forward to the first speaker in our varied autumn programme.

It begins with Micky Little and his intriguingly titled talk Smoke that Thunders – a Peripatetic Journey linking the life of plant hunter Ernest Wilson with Micky’s wide and interesting career in horticulture, from National Trust gardens including Killerton, Castle Drogo and Hestercombe to Achiemore in the Hebrides. Coffee is served from 7pm and the talk begins in Henton Hall at 7.30pm. Raffle, plant sales and the chance to renew membership and learn more of our wide and varied

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Alongside this they listened to talks on the Cornish China Clay industry, Metamorphism, lessons from the devastating 7.8 magnitude Turkish earthquake in February this year and modern geological dating methods. They have now had four sessions on the background to geology from Doctor Peter Hardy at the Earth

If you prefer a more sedentary occupation, you might be tempted to join our Poetry Appreciation group and enjoy reading poetry, ancient or modern. They are a small friendly group who meet in St Thomas Street every other Monday to read and discuss poetry. Over the years they’ve covered a variety of poets, such as Wordsworth, John Donne, W H Auden and Ted Hughes, as well as some who are still very much alive and writing. Each poet is chosen by a member who then tells us a bit about them before we all read the poems. For alternative meetings they read poems linked to a subject.

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During the summer they enjoy a poetry-themed day out, past visits have included Coleridge’s house and Thomas Hardy’s cottage; this year we are visiting the Salisbury area. If you would like to join us we have vacancies.

Norman Hodghton

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From page 43 programme of talks and visits this coming season. Visitors most welcome (£5). Further details at hentongardenclub.weebly.com

Wells Floral Art Club

IT has been a year in the planning and raising funds. However on August 10, Wells Floral Art Club celebrated their 70th Platinum Anniversary with a Flower Festival in The Bishop’s Palace.

We were very pleased that the Mayor of Wells Tanys Pullin was able to spare the time to open the festival for us. Wells club is a member of the National Association of Flower Arrangers and we were delighted to have the support of the South West Area’s most talented national and area demonstrators.

National demonstrator

Pam Lewis, NAFAS National Associate of Honour, began our trip down memory lane by depicting the 1950s. Using garden flowers in vintage containers and baskets Pam and her colleagues from Devizes filled the entrance with delicate pink and cream garden flowers. Wells club’s own arrangers Pat Ardron and Debbie Coburn together with Wells club members took us through the Sixties reminding us of Mary Quant, a trip to the moon, Woodstock and of course England winning the World Cup.

On into the Seventies and designer Catherine Brown filled the conference room with rays of sunshine by filling it with glass containers of sunflowers, vintage sewing patterns and macramé, depicting the resurgence of crafting and self-expression. South West area chairman and prize-winning flower arranger Coral Gardiner designed the Eighties room. As a child of the Eighties she took ten of the best songs of the time and depicted them in flowers and then set the visitors the task of naming them. Chew Valley club members ably helped Coral set up her fun idea.

The 1990s saw the rise of the Spice Girls and each girl was depicted in a pedestal arranged by members of Farmborough Flower Club led by their chairman, Ann Bevan. They also included some of the floral fashions and styles of the day. Nick Heal is an area demonstrator, florist, flower grower and willow weaver. His sunflowers were used in the Seventies room. Nick used the Eden Project and The Kew Garden Millennium Seed Bank as his inspiration. Many of his arrangements used dried flowers and plants that will continue to be used well after the festival is over. Nick teaches at Bicton College two days a week showing his students the art of willow weaving and he agreed to teach some of our members and those from mid-Somerset to make some of the poppy seeds on display in the garden.

Finally, Lucy Ellis, member of Devizes club, another of our talented national demonstrators, based her arrangement on the effects of climate change, arranging her flowers in an ever decreasing size to illustrate how flower crops will change over time. We were delighted that The Bishop’s Palace’s own gardeners were able to arrange flowers at the entrance all of which had been grown in the Palace gardens with the help of their volunteers.

Our next demonstration will be held in St Thomas’ Church Hall on Tuesday, September 12, at 2.15pm. National Demonstrator Michael Bowyer MBE will entertain us with As Autumn Approaches.

Jenny Jones

WELLS & DISTRICT GARDENING CLUB

ACCORDING to an ancient Arab legend, when Adam was booted out of the Garden of Eden along with Eve, he was permitted to choose one piece of all the many plants in Paradise to take with him. He took a sprig of myrtle. Now, it’s not recorded what Eve thought about this but she doubtless gave him quite an earful. We don’t know, either, what he had in mind to make the planet flourish.

In his defence he possibly argued that, with the help of a bit of double-digging and plenty of elbow grease, Nature would take its course. Which it did and is still doing with a vengeance. Those reliable periods of consistent weather patterns are a thing of the past. We say to each other how early everything is. Rose hips, pyracantha and cotoneaster berries started ripening at the end of July.

One garden which revelled in autumn abundance was Stourton House Garden adjacent to Stourhead. Here the late Elizabeth Bullivant with her husband created a garden which was a match to Stourhead.

Anthonty Bullivant looked after the structure of the yew walks and pathways while Elizabeth did the planting. Her philosophy was simple and unorthodox; she let plants grow where they wanted.

At its peak it was a garden full of charm and unusual plants all year round. But in autumn, the hydrangeas and berries came into their own. For many years she would bundle huge bunches of rose hips and hydrangeas of all colours into her van and trundle off to Vincent Square in London where she would scoop first prize at the RHS Autumn Show. It was always properly autumn with darkening afternoons full of mist and a whiff of winter in the air. A spectacular bonus at the garden was the sumptuous display of cakes produced by her daughter Caroline. Nowadays, autumn shows seem to be in September. Things are changing and it’s time to do our bit.

In the Wells Town Hall on September 14 at 7.30pm, the Gardening Club will be welcoming Sally Nex as guest speaker. The talk entitled Gardening the Low Carbon Way will deal with the problems which face us all. What we can do in the garden is taking on a huge importance. We can make a difference. Sally, writer, gardener, designer and lecturer, is not only knowledgeable but speaks with immense authority based on experience. There will be refreshments and everyone is welcome to come along, whether gardeners or not, visitors, residents or those new to the area. Members £1, Visitors £3, Free admission to under 16s.

For more details tel: 01749 679182 or visit: wellsgarden.club Pip Harwood