January 2023
New Year is always the right time to look ahead to future seasons but also to look back on the year past. 2022 was a rollercoaster of a year weather-wise: a mild spring, exceptionally dry summer, and much higher than average temperatures in autumn followed by an Arctic blast in mid-December. That caused a lot of damage to tender herbaceous perennials and shrubs; it’s still too early to assess just how bad the damage is, so we are delaying cutting back to allow these plants to – hopefully – recover. The worst of the damage was to geraniums and succulents in the glasshouses, even though they were heated: -10°C was just too severe and difficult to protect against. We anticipate replacing a lot of plants in the spring.
It was interesting to examine the many animal tracks in the December snow. Our resident fox was very active, with trails all over the garden. Cats, squirrels and a few large birds accounted for the rest. We even spotted a snowy owl (see photo)!
On a happier note, the worst of the pandemic is behind us and we are seeing many visitors to the garden and museum. Our Platinum Exhibition celebrating the late Queen’s seventy years as monarch was very well attended, with a total of 684 visitors, including 108 children. The exhibition is still in place and can be viewed on Tuesday mornings, if there are stewards available. It won’t be dismantled until the next Exhibition opens in April (dates to be confirmed). This will be about street names in Sawston that are named after important local residents and other dignitaries. More about this in the next issue.
We are pleased to present a full programme of events in 2023, which is set out on the inside front cover. In addition to our well-established annual events – Easter Saturday, Open Gardens, Horticultural Show & Fete and Spooky Saturday – we hope to have Half Cut Theatre back and some more musical performances. If there are any local musical groups that would like to meet in the garden on Sunday afternoons to practise or perform, you are more than welcome to come. Just get in touch to arrange a date.
The main gate is open again now that scaffolding has been removed from the new building. We may have to close this entrance when building work resumes, but the side gate will be open. Sharp-eyed visitors will have spotted a few bricks with initials engraved into them on the new building. These were rescued from the old ‘pink shed’ and carefully incorporated into the new build. No records exist about these engravings but we can make some informed guesses at to whom they might belong to. There are three sets of initials:
- A.J.C. This almost certainly relates to Mary Challis’ grandfather Arthur James Challis (1832–1903). A grocer and draper originally, he expanded his interests to become an auctioneer and built a property empire in Portobello Lane,
Shingay Lane and next to the Fox pub, as well as the Challis House and Monk’s Orchard. He was clerk to the parish council when it was set up in 1895 and had been assistant overseer since 1880. He was also a member of the school board. A prominent figure in Sawston, well-versed in village affairs. - E.C. We know there was an Elizabeth Challis who was left £50 in AJC’s will, but it is not clear why she had been included in his estate. The jury’s still out on this one.
- W.F. 1880 This could have been William Freestone, who appears in Kelly’s Directory for the late 1880’s. He was a currier and carrier in the leather industry in Sawston but we don’t know if he was linked to the Challis family.
If anyone has any knowledge or thoughts on these engravings, please do share them with us.
Garden work is now focusing on the main winter tasks to prepare the herbaceous beds for the coming season – mulching, pruning autumn-flowering shrubs and fruit trees, and collecting the last of the fallen leaves. Some corrective pruning is also necessary now to remove over-extended branches, dead wood, and misshapen or unbalanced growth on mature trees. This will be carried out by our regular tree surgeons while the trees are still dormant.
Spring bulbs are emerging everywhere, with extensive drifts of snowdrops, aconites, crocuses and daffodils to look forward to. Some sections may be roped off to avoid trampling these delicate flowers. Now is also the best time to enjoy winter-flowering shrubs, such as Christmas box (Sarcococca), shrub honeysuckles, Viburnum fragrans and Mahonia. Take a stroll along the Winter/Spring walk to appreciate these, interspersed with colourful dogwoods and underplanted hellebores.
We look forward to welcoming visitors to the house and garden. There is always something new to see and you can check what’s on offer from our plants, produce and gift stands. We still have a good stock of seasoned logs, honey, apple juice and preserves to choose from. Cash only, so come prepared! Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, February–March 2023 issue.
Read MoreNovember 2022
Our new garden building is really starting to take shape now the roof is finished and scaffolding taken down. The external finish of Cambridge brick, flint panels and plaster reflects the building styles in the vicinity. There is still much to do, with window-frames and glazing, flooring, electrics, insulation and heating to install. We hope you like the look of the new building. We do! The main gate will be open again (hoorah!), provided there is no structural work going on, so please enter the garden there rather than the side gate.
We were very pleased with the turnout for our Spooky Saturday Hallowe’en event at the end of October. It was great to see so many happy – and scary! – faces and indeed many new ones. Thank you to everyone who attended and for joining in the spirit of the event, and to the many helpers and volunteers. All the activities proved very popular, especially the Spooky trail, face-painting and pumpkin-carving. Special thanks are due to Gita, Suresh and Ann for setting up the Spooky trail, to Audrey and Renate for supervising the face-painting, to Andy for his inventive soups and to Chris Baker and her team for scooping out fifty pumpkins – not the nicest of tasks on a cool damp morning! Looking forward to next year’s event already.
At the time of writing – on Armistice Day – the poppy display in the front garden of the Challis House looks stunning. We are very pleased to support the Royal British Legion on this important occasion in the nation’s annual calendar. Well done to everyone involved in creating this beautiful exposition. This annual remembrance is a poignant reminder of the horrors of war, given what’s going on elsewhere in the world right now. Lest we forget….
This unseasonably mild weather – up to ten degrees warmer than average in November! – has meant prolonged autumn flowering. Asters, dahlias, penstemons and even begonias and geraniums are still blooming well, adding lots of colour to the herbaceous borders and window boxes. We normally plant out winter and spring bedding now but we are reluctant to uproot such colourful plants. The flush of annuals weeds is keeping us very busy, as we aim to clean up the beds prior to applying leaf mould and garden compost. If the dry summers and moist, mild winters continue, we will have to radically review what and where to plant in the garden. These are indeed strange times we live in.
It is very difficult to predict how the garden will progress in the coming months. If the mild weather continues, we may be in for a very early spring, with carpets of snowdrops, aconites, crocuses and daffodils to look forward to. Whatever the weather, it is well worth taking a stroll along the winter/spring border to enjoy the colours and fragrances of winter-flowering shrubs, especially Mahonia spp., shrub honeysuckles, Viburnums, Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa) and witch hazels (Hamamelis spp.). Multi-coloured dogwoods (Cornus spp.) are at their best in the new year, showing their red, green and yellow stems to best effect, and set off the underplanted hellebores and spring bulbs. Lots to admire.
All the wooden garden furniture and donated benches have been put into storage for the winter, including the stunning circular bench that Pearl Mann recently gifted in memory of her husband Paul. Both have given a lot of time and expert local knowledge to the Challis Trust from its inception, both in the garden and museum. We are immensely grateful for their contribution to establishing this wonderful asset for the village.
As ever, there are plenty of gifts and goodies to view in the garden. Our bees have been busy this year, making lots of lovely mixed floral summer honey. We processed some of the bumper apple crop to make 150 bottles of apple juice; thanks again to one and all for donating their surplus apples. Our log stores are full if you need to top up for the winter. All this plus our own Challis tea towels, cards and plants are available for a donation. You need look no further for some interesting local gifts for the Christmas season.
A reminder that the garden remains open throughout the winter on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons. Please refer to the opening times in the Directory. We look forward to seeing you there.
Please note also that the Challis House is open every Tuesday morning from 10am to noon to view the Queen’s Jubilee Exhibition and the museum itself. The next exhibition will be about Sawston streets named after local people. If you have any information, records or photos about these people and the streets, please get in touch with us.
Finally, the Mary Challis Trust would like to express sincere condolences to the family and friends of Judy Saunders on her untimely and sudden passing. Judy was a long-term friend and supporter of the trust, along with the Wool’n’Tea craft group, which she ran for many years, holding regular meetings here. She always entered the Horticultural Show with a range of wonderful creations, and surpassed herself in recent years by winning ‘Best in Show’ for the last three years in succession – a remarkable achievement from a remarkable lady. She will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her.
Mike Redshaw
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