Apple Day: Sunday 21st October 10.30am to 3pm
July 2018
June proved to be a very busy month for the garden team, with a number of weekend events held and several evening visits by a variety of groups. It’s always a pleasure to see the garden used in this way; that’s what it’s for! The Challis Garden also opened twice during June and July to raise funds for the National Garden Scheme. Our open day raised over £400 and the Open Gardens opening raised nearly £1,300. All these donations go to support several important nursing and caring charities in the UK.
The weather has proved challenging during the long hot spell in late June and early July. The lawns are brown and many shrubs and annual plants are suffering – less mowing and more watering is the order now. Even the mature trees are affected, with a number of branches breaking off due to the extreme dryness. We are endeavouring to keep tender plants alive by frequent watering but there is a limit to what can be achieved. We anticipate many losses later in the year and the coming winter.
On the brighter side, trees and shrubs have blossomed profusely this year. Our specimen trees – false acacia, golden rain tree and Kentucky yellowwood – flowered far better than they have for many seasons. Laburnums, mock orange and flowering currants also gave good displays. Fruit-set on the apples and plums looks good, so we are hoping for good crops this autumn. Blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and tayberries are giving good crops, but the summer raspberries are disappointing.
The local wildlife seems to be flourishing. There are numerous bumblebees, butterflies and moths in the flower beds, with dragonflies and damselflies around the pond. Blue tits, great tits, coal tits, wrens, robins, blackcaps, goldcrests and mistle thrushes, among others, have all nested successfully. One keen photographer took some excellent photos of the three mistle thrush chicks in the nest before they fledged (see above).
The museum and archive team are working hard sorting and cataloguing the collection of material in the house. A history research group are also at work; one of their first projects is to collect and disseminate histories of some buildings in Sawston High Street, in collaboration with Sawston Scene. The museum is experimenting with opening on the first Saturday of the month in addition to the current Tuesday mornings. Volunteers to help with the openings and the research are always welcome at these times. Without volunteers we cannot open.
Our next major event is the Challis Horticultural Show on Saturday 1st September. We are keen to attract more entries from Sawston and our neighbouring villages. There is something for everyone – fruit and vegetables, cookery, flower arrangements, handicrafts and children’s classes. Do give it a try if you haven’t entered before. It’s good fun and a great afternoon’s entertainment. There is a beekeeping stand again and various stalls, not to mention our popular Pimm’s tent and homemade cakes. Entry forms for the Show will be available from the garden nearer the time or can be downloaded from our website. Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, August–September 2018
Richard Maunder 1937–2018
It was very sad indeed to hear that one of our most dedicated supporters and former trustee Richard Maunder passed away in early June. Richard and Marilyn Maunder were among a group of volunteers who came together to start clearing the garden and outbuildings, which had been neglected for far too long. Over the years, they have given countless hours to help bring the garden to what it is today. Marilyn became a trustee in the early days, and in 2008 Richard took on the role of treasurer and gave several valuable years managing the trust’s finances in a very professional way. They both stood down as trustees in 2008 and continued as volunteers in the garden. Richard and Marilyn were also instrumental in reviving the village horticultural show in the Challis Garden, running it until 2016.
Richard was a very generous donor to the Challis Museum. In particular, he presented a delightful parlour piano, circa 1820, which he had restored and re-strung himself. He was a very talented man. The piano has pride of place in the Victorian Parlour.
It was very fitting to accommodate Richard’s wake in the Challis Garden. He would have liked that. The trustees acknowledge Richard’s commitment and support over the years and wish to express their sincere condolences to Marilyn and the family. Richard will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, August–September 2018
May 2018
The Mary Challis Museum and Archive was formally opened on 27th April by Dr Tim Wreghitt OBE. This is a significant milestone for the Challis Trust and the culmination of ten years’ work renovating 68 High Street to accommodate the Sawston history archives and to house museum displays and exhibitions. To mark the occasion, two rooms on the first floor were formally named after two key people who dedicated their time to this cause. The main meeting room is now the Brian Butler Meeting Room, after our former Chair and Patron, who directed the work of the trust and started renovation work on the house. The library/archive room is now called the David Dockerill Library. David was an enthusiastic and energetic believer in the importance of local history and was instrumental in the founding of the Sawston Village History Society in January 1991, serving as its Chair until September 1995.
It was very pleasing and fitting that Dorothy Butler and Liz Dockerill were present to witness the naming ceremony. In her introductory talk, Rosemary Phillips, our Chair, also paid tribute to others who had made significant contributions to the Challis Trust, most notably Sheila Blackwell, Sue Reeve, Paul Mann, Bruce Milner and Bryan Howe.
The current collection includes the archive assembled by SVHS and housed for some years in the Parish Council offices. Most of the material has been donated by Sawston residents. The collection includes a set of Sawston Scenes, the Sawston Crier and a number of local and national newspapers as well as photographs taken of the village in 2000 and other photographs from the less recent past. Cataloguing is still in progress but a list of the various files is available. There is also a small range of books on the history of Sawston and the surrounding area. Books of which the trust has multiple copies may be borrowed.
During the course of the renovation work and initiated by Tony Fell, a time capsule has been concealed in the house, containing items and documents that are topical and pertinent to the Challis Trust and to Sawston in general. We hope this will create a lot of excitement and interest to whoever discovers it, whenever that may be! Who knows when?
The Mary Challis Museum and Archive will be open regularly to the public on Tuesdays from 10am to 12 noon. It is hoped that additional opening days will be held, provided there are stewards and archivists available to welcome visitors.
The garden will be open on Sunday 10th June specifically for the National Gardens Scheme from 2pm to 6pm. Money raised from the gate entry fee goes to a number of nursing charities supported by the NGS. Last year, over £3 million was raised. We are proud to support this excellent cause. Teas and homemade cakes will be available from the house. Plants, garden produce, preserves and honey will be on sale.
The Challis garden will be opening again for the NGS, on 1st July, as part of the Sawston Group, along with four other Sawston gardens. Sweet Tea café (across the road from the garden) will provide refreshments on that occasion.
On Sunday 17th June, we will again be honouring the memory of Jo Cox MP, who was killed in 2016, by taking part in the the Great Get Together event. The garden will be open from 12 noon to 5pm for visitors to bring a picnic and share a meal together, in a spirit of friendship and compassion. For more information, see greatgettogether.org. Do let us know if you intend to bring a group, so we can set out enough tables and chairs. Or bring your own chairs and rugs.
In the garden, volunteers have put in a lot of time weeding and manuring the herbaceous beds, planting up the vegetable plots, raising bedding plants and keeping on top of the grass. All this effort should ensure a very colourful display through the summer and into autumn. Do come along to see the wildflower meadow, bee border and main herbaceous beds, which are at their best in the coming period. Some of our specimen trees will also be in flower for a few weeks during this period – false acacia in June and golden rain tree in July. Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, June– July 2018
Read MoreMarch 2018
Writing this at the beginning of March, it seems we are still in the grips of winter, feeling the effects of the ‘Beast from the East’ (or was it hysteria from Siberia?) sweeping across the country causing widespread travel chaos. Although we didn’t fare too badly here, it was bitterly cold. The early onset of spring in February has been put on hold and it remains to be seen how the garden plants recover in the coming weeks. Snowdrops were at their peak in late February but the very cold spell brought that to an early close.
With normal weather resuming, we can now look forward to displays of crocuses, followed by daffodils into April, tulips and then bluebells. Our winter/spring border is still very colourful and should show well into April. Fruit trees and ornamental cherries will also be in flower in the coming weeks – a welcome sight and a real sign that summer is on the way. Do visit us during our normal opening times. And remember there’s always fresh produce, preserves, logs and plants available from the garden throughout the year.
We plan to remove a few more sycamore trees from the ‘woodland’ area, which hopefully will have been done by the time this issue comes out. Visitors can see changes in this part of the garden, with recently planted shrubs, small trees and evergreens establishing, under-planted with bluebells and other shade-tolerant plants. More hellebores, bluebells, winter box (Sarcococca) and Hypericum will be planted as infills where appropriate.
In the far south-west corner of the garden, we have planted a number of hazel seedlings to develop a small copse. This will provide a regular supply of poles and plant supports for the main herbaceous borders and raised vegetable beds. We are also encouraging brambles, foxgloves and nettles to establish in this corner, to provide nesting sites for warblers and finches, and food for butterflies and bumblebees. Our honeybees will also benefit from an early source of pollen from the hazels and some late summer foraging on the brambles.
The Easter Saturday Children’s Event will be early this year, on the last day of March, so it is not covered in this issue. I trust the weather will be kind and all goes well! Our Anniversary Fete, to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the official opening of the garden, is on Sunday 20th May from 2pm. Do come along and enjoy live music from Sawston Steel Band while sampling teas, home-made cakes and soup from our kitchen. There will be a range of activities including craft stalls, giant garden games, bottle stall, tombola and more to entertain you.
The last phase of internal building work and decorating in the Mary Challis House should be finished in he coming period. When complete, there will be static displays and exhibitions on the ground floor, a library, meeting room and period bathroom on the first floor, and an office and archive storage on the top floor. We have now transferred nearly all the village history archives and artefacts from the parish council offices to the house. A team of archivists and helpers, led by Mary Dicken, have been busy sorting, cataloguing and storing these items. It is intended to have a formal opening of the library and archive storage at the end of April. Quite an achievement and a huge milestone for the Challis Trust! We will need more help in the house to complete the archiving and to assist visitors during regular opening hours once the museum and archives are ready to view. If you are interested in helping, please do get in touch.
Please note that our Sunday opening times revert to the usual summer hours of 2pm to 4pm from Sunday 25th March. Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, April–May 2018
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