Updates

March 2017

Posted | 0 comments

We are looking forward to holding three garden events in the coming period. First up is the Children’s Easter Activity Morning on Saturday 15th April, 10am to 12 noon, with many child-focused activities – Easter Egg hunt, face-painting, biscuit decoration, garden games – plus the ever-popular soup, teas and cakes from the house. Children please remember to bring an adult along!

Greener Sawston are holding a 24-hour Bioblitz event in the garden over the weekend of 13th and 14th May, following the taster event held last October. These events aim to encourage communities to find and record the many different birds, bugs, animals and plants living in their green spaces. Check out the Bioblitz website for more information or see the April-May 2017 Sawston Scene. Do book early to reserve a place for the Saturday evening and Sunday morning sessions.

Our Anniversary Fete is on Sunday 21st May from 2pm. This event commemorates the official opening of the garden on 17th May 2009 by Christopher South of Cambridge News. Come along and enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the garden, entertained by Sawston Steel Band and replenished with teas and home-made cakes served by our excellent MC Teas team.

Work is continuing apace in the house to get the first floor rooms finished to provide extra floor space for our third exhibition, ‘Back to School’. Dates for the exhibition will be publicised when the house is ready. This has taken a long time, but there have been a lot of obstacles, including some unforeseen ones, to overcome. Visitors will also be able to see the restored Edwardian bathroom on the first floor. The Trust office will be up on the top floor of the house – can’t wait! Our thanks as ever to our resourceful builders Ray and Graham and to Tony Fell for the decorating.

We would still appreciate any relevant educational material or artefacts that could be used in the exhibition. If you can contribute anything, please contact us.

At the timing of writing, there are wonderful displays of snowdrops, aconites and crocuses in the garden. Snowdrops seem to be particularly good this year. The earliest daffodils were in flower in late February and should show well into April.

Our honeybees have been very active during mild periods in February and March, which is a good boost for them this early in the season. Looking around, it is striking how much blossom is present on the early-flowering shrubs for the bees to gather nectar and pollen. They clearly enjoy the floral perfumes as much as we do! Our two colonies appear to have come through the winter intact, and should do well this year, provided there are no prolonged cold snaps.

A few more sycamores on the north side of the garden will be removed this spring. We have sourced suitable small trees and low-growing shrubs to replace these, including Euonymus, Cornus, Mahonia, Arbutus, Acer, Malus, Nandina and Amelanchier specimens. These are chosen to give a mixture of deciduous and evergreen plants, with particular attention to early flowering andgood autumn colour. It will be very interesting to watch the development of this section of the garden.

Please note that SUNDAY opening times will revert to the usual ‘summer’ hours of 2pm to 4 pm from 26th March.

Finally, it is very sad to mark the passing of Bryan Howe, who died suddenly on 6th February. Bryan was a trustee for several years and volunteered in the house for the earlier exhibitions. His sound knowledge of local history, and the Challis family in particular, was widely recognised in Sawston. The trust is especially grateful to Bryan for rescuing important documents from 68 High Street, after Mary died, that would otherwise have been thrown out. The trustees offer their sincere condolences to Bryan’s family. Mike Redshaw 

Published in Sawston Scene, April–May 2018 issue. 

January 2017

Posted | 0 comments

Looking back at 2016, we are very pleased with what was accomplished last year. In addition to our regular opening hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, we held six public events – Easter Saturday, Anniversary Fete, NGS Open Gardens, Horticultural Show, a Bioblitz and Spooky Saturday – and hosted fourteen garden bookings (various groups, clubs, schools, Brownies and Beavers). Many thanks, as always, to everyone who attended these events and to our hard-working volunteers for tending the garden, serving teas, and so on. Also to those who stopped by at the house at the Winter Fair event to share some Christmas spirit – it was a great evening!

Renovation work and decorating continue in the house, the main focus being the first floor, to give us much-needed space for displays, storage and an office. We were disappointed not to be able to hold an exhibition in 2016, but happy that this will now go ahead with our third exhibition ‘Back to School’ in late spring (more about this in our previous update). If you have any relevant educational material or artefacts that could be used in the exhibition, then we’d be delighted to hear from you.

There are signs of an early spring in the garden. The first snowdrops and aconites are already in flower, and should put on a good display into February. Crocuses, daffodils and tulips will follow in March and April. Do drop by to have a look at these displays, ideally on a sunny morning.

In the Spring/Winter walk, there is intense perfume from the wintering-flowering shrubs – Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa), shrub honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), Mahonia spp. and Viburnum farreri fragrans. Delicious! The various dogwoods (Cornus spp.) are at their most colourful in spring, ranging from bright yellows, orange, and light green to deep reds – the pick of these being ‘Winter Beauty’.

We intend to remove more sycamores from this part of the garden. This will allow us to plant up this woodland area with suitable ground cover, shrubs, evergreens and small ornamental trees. Elsewhere in the wilder parts of the garden, the onus is on encouraging native flora, which support a host of insects and other fauna. Good numbers of birds are regularly seen in the garden, including a pair of treecreepers, which we hope may nest this year.

The results of the DNA-fingerprinting to identify our apple varieties are now in ! Our apple collection consists of Ashmeads Kernel, Orleans Reinette, Peasgood Nonsuch – I’m not making this up ! – Bramley, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Worcester Pearmain, Discovery, Fiesta and Chivers Delight. The only surprise is what we thought was a Dr Harvey (the large tree near the main entrance to the garden) did not match the national database, so may well just be a seedling tree. We have checked the fruit from this tree against the Dr Harvey apple at Audley End and it looks very similar, so it remains a mystery. Does anyone know anything about the Challis Garden tree?

Please note that Sunday opening times are still on the winter schedule, 1pm to 3 pm, until the clocks change to BST on 26th March.

Finally, we are very sorry to say goodbye to Sheila Blackwell, who served the Mary Challis Trust for many years, as trustee and as treasurer. She resigned at the end of 2016 due to ill health. The trustees express their sincere thanks to Sheila for her long service and dedication, and wish her well. She will be greatly missed.

Mike Redshaw

November 2016

Posted | 0 comments

Our last event for 2016 – ‘Spooky Saturday’ – was very well attended. Thanks, as usual, to all who came and to our veritable army of volunteers. Great to see so many families in the garden, enjoying the mild late October weather and the many activities on offer: face-painting, a scavenger hunt, pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and biscuit decorating. Mary Challis would have been delighted to see so many people enjoying the garden – this is precisely what she wanted to provide for the village.

We offer our thanks to Greener Sawston for arranging the Bioblitz event in October. This was a taster session to demonstrate the type of methods used for assessing biodiversity – pond-dipping, bat detection, moth-traps and spotting birds. We soon learnt that trapping and catching wildlife is the easy part, but identification can be very challenging! Highlights were the impressive great diving beetles in the pond and a treecreeper, incredibly well camouflaged on the sycamore trunks. It is planned to do a more extensive survey in the spring. We hope more people come along to assist and to discover what lurks in the garden!

The main herbaceous beds were surprisingly colourful into early November – a testament to the careful choice of plants and good husbandry, but also due to the mild weather up to the end of October. Winter work is well underway, the main focus on collecting leaves, cutting back, dividing perennials and mulching bare soil. We give special attention to removing and composting the horse chestnut leaves to help reduce the infestation of the leaf-miner pest that has blighted these trees in recent years. This policy appears to be working; the trees have looked much healthier this year.

Work on refurbishing the derelict garden buildings is nearing completion. We are extremely pleased with the quality of the work. Our thanks to our builders Ray and Graham. Apart from smartening up this part of the garden, the buildings look great and will provide much-needed storage space and a dedicated potting shed. Happy potting, Judy! There are no more formal events this year, but the Mary Challis house will be open for the Winter Fair on Friday 16th December between 5pm and 7pm. Our garden produce – jams, chutneys, honey, apples – will be available. Do drop in to say hello and share a glass or two. We look forward to seeing many of you there. Please note that Sunday opening times are now on the winter schedule: 1pm to 3 pm. Mike Redshaw

Challis Trust Chair Rosie Philips adds: The Winter Fair will see the Challis House dressed for Christmas with many different craftspeople displaying their handmade goods for sale for various charities. We’re hosting Mary Wilson’s famous Sawston pickles, chutneys and conserves as well as our own Challis Garden honey, jams and relishes. Festive music plus mince pies and mulled wine available for a donation to the Challis Trust to enable ongoing restoration work in the house and on the garden buildings.

In the wake of recent extensive building work, the Challis Museum will be presenting its third exhibition, ‘Back to School’, in late Spring 2017. We’re seeking any photos, artefacts, books, equipment or other material suitable for display to do with the widest meaning of Education in Sawston including nursery, primary, secondary, adult, church and chapel, music and sports, outside school and so on. School reports (however bad) would be particularly welcome and can be displayed anonymously on request!

The Challis Trust is looking for a new Trustee – someone with Sawston connections who would be interested in helping to further develop the Mary Challis Museum and Garden, two outstanding assets left to the people of Sawston and the surrounding area some ten years ago by the late Mary Challis.

Helping to organise events, fundraising for the charity and a keen interest in the further development of the house and garden are important aspects of this role. Trustees meet once a month and now that the structure of the house is sound, the ground floor houses a large display area which has already hosted two well-attended exhibitions. This area also acts as a meeting room and is the centre of catering for the several increasingly popular public events we hold each year. Work is now well-advanced on the refurbishment of the first floor which when completed, will provide even more exhibition, library and public meeting space. If you are interested and would like an application form please contact our Chair, Rosie Phillips, at chair@challistrust.org.uk or 01223 560816, or leave a note with your contact details in the letterbox on the wall outside the Challis House at 68 High Street.

This update was printed in the December 2016–January 2017 issue of Sawston Scene. 

September 2016

Posted | 0 comments

The Horticultural Show on 3rd September was very successful, with a turnout of more than two hundred visitors, despite some rain and a real deluge at the end. The live jazz and Pimm’s clearly helped! Our thanks to Sawston Scouts for putting up the large marquee and to SYD for loan of trestles for the displays, and of course to our faithful band of volunteers.

Entries for the show were down a bit on last year, with very few entries in some classes and none at all in the children’s section. It would be good to have more exhibits next year. The show is not exclusively for Sawston residents, so we welcome entries from our neighbouring villages as well. We will endeavour to spread the word widely in 2017. Hallowe’en will soon be upon us, and we will be celebrating this in the garden, as usual, on Saturday 29th October from 10am to noon. Lots of activities for the children. Soup, scones and teas for the adults! Entrance free. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

As summer draws to an end, the garden team are busy preparing for autumn and winter. Lots of mulching, clearing, pruning, dead-heading and leaf-raking to be done. We could still use a little more help in the garden, so if you are interested in volunteering, do please contact us. The main herbaceous beds at the rear of the house continue to look good, with plenty of colour and secondary flushes. We expect good displays well into October.

Apples will be available from the garden through October, and perhaps some late veggies, as well as the usual stock of honey, jams and chutneys. Do drop in to check what’s on offer. Greener Sawston will be doing a ‘Bioblitz’ of the garden on Saturday 1st October from 6pm to 10pm and Sunday 2nd October 8am to 10am, to assess the diversity of our fauna and flora. This first event will concentrate on the fauna – mammals, birds, amphibians and insects. It is hoped to do a broader 24-hour survey in 2017, to include plants as well as animals. It will be fascinating to see what shows up – do come along and help search! This a public event open to all – calm accompanied children welcome. (Find Greener Sawston on Facebook.)

The Trust arranged a very successful day’s outing for volunteers in August, as a thank you for the time they put into the garden, house and events. We hope to make this an annual event. Transport was provided by Tim Phillips in the shape of his classic coach ‘Lady Sarah’, complete with kitchen and galley – a trip down memory lane for all of us. (See more photos of this lovely coach, which you can hire.)  First stop was Docwra’s Manor Garden in Shepreth. This is well worth a visit if you haven’t been: check www.docwrasmanorgarden.co.uk for details. We then went on to RSPB Fowlmere for a picnic lunch and a walk around the reserve. A very hot but enjoyable day! Mike Redshaw

This update was printed in the October–November 2016 issue of Sawston Scene. 

July 2016

Posted | 0 comments

Our open garden event on 12th June was again very well supported, raising £425 for the National Gardens Scheme. The well-stocked plant stall proved very popular, not to mention the teas and home-made cakes. Many thanks to all our volunteers for helping out on the day, and to the many visitors that came.

The next major event in our garden calendar is the Challis Horticultural Show on Saturday 3rd September. Tea and cakes, Pimm’s tent, plant sales, live jazz and a silent auction – what’s not to like! The show itself is open to residents of Sawston and its neighbourhood, so we would welcome entries from other villages, as well as Sawstonians. Exhibits are judged in the morning, then open to view in the afternoon. Entry forms are available from the Challis Garden summerhouse or from 54 High Street, or from our website at www.challistrust.org.uk/show. Good luck to all entrants! Please note that the date for the show was given as 4th September on the Challis printed calendar, but it IS on the 3rd: this is always a Saturday event. Our apologies for this.

The herbaceous beds are very colourful at present, partly due to the cooler, wetter conditions this ‘summer’, and should show well into September. Bedding plants raised in the garden – cosmos, begonias, zinnias – are planted to extend colour into late summer and autumn. The wildflower meadow and bee border are beginning to peak now. Good for the bees and other pollinators. Vegetables are growing very well this year without any watering. We expect good crops of potatoes, beans, beetroot and courgettes. As well as this fresh produce, jams, chutneys, relishes and honey are available from the garden. Do drop in to see what’s on offer.

The wilder parts of the garden are alive with birds at present. Family groups of blackcaps, goldcrests, goldfinches, great tits, blue tits and coal tits can be seen foraging in the trees. A local sparrowhawk uses a regular ‘plucking post’ in the garden, no doubt attracted by the many small birds. And swifts are nesting in the buildings on the High Street.
Our builders Ray and Graham are making good progress on refurbishment of the old pigsties, with concrete floors laid and repairs made to the flint and brick boundary wall. We hope this work will be completed by September.
In addition to a standard ‘National’ beehive, the new Flow Hive (from Australia) is now up and running, with a colony donated by our local beekeeper Richard Steel. It is rather late in the season, but with a good nectar flow, there may be surplus honey to extract at the end of summer. For any further information about the Challis Trust, See page 26 for details of how to contact us.

Mike Redshaw 

Published in Sawston Scene, August–September 2016 

May 2016

Posted | 0 comments

The Challis house and garden are becoming increasingly popular for visiting groups. We have welcomed several groups already this year, with more bookings for the summer period. It is very heartening to see the house and garden used for their intended purpose.

Our next event – for your diaries – is a garden opening for the NGS (National Gardens Scheme) on Sunday 12th June from 2pm to 5pm. The NGS raises about £2.5 million annually to support several major charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and Carers Trust among others. We are very proud to participate for this cause. Entry is £3 per adult; children are free. Plants for sale. Homemade cakes and teas served, as usual, by our excellent catering team MC Teas. Do come along and support us. For more information, contact events@challistrust.org.uk.

Spring is now behind us and the garden team are busy keeping up with weeding and mowing, planting up the vegetable beds and raising bedding plants. There is plenty of colour as the early summer perennials and shrubs come into flower. The herbaceous beds, bee border and wildlife meadow will be at their best from June to August.

Plums and damsons are showing good fruit-set so appear to have escaped the sharp late frosts at the end of April. Most of our apples are flowering well; we anticipate good crops again this year. Several of our apple trees, however, are of unknown origin. We hope to identify the varieties by sending tissue samples for DNA fingerprinting to the East Malling Research Centre in Kent. Leaf samples will be collected in June. Nice to know what you are eating!

Horse chestnut trees are in full bloom at the time of writing – what a wonderful sight! In the coming months, some of our specimen trees come into bloom, often spectacularly. In June look out for frothy white and cream flowers on the black locust trees Robinia pseudoacacia and Kentucky yellowwood Cladrastis kentukea – both leguminous species from North America. In July, the yellow panicles of golden rain tree Koelreuteria paniculata (from eastern Asia) are equally impressive. Lots to look forward to.

There is always plenty of wildlife to see in the garden. Newts in the pond, butterflies and bees in the borders, many birds, including nesting wrens, collared dove, goldcrest and blackcap. Hedgehogs are present, though rarely seen. In mid-May, a fox and two cubs were spotted in the far corner, most likely the same vixen that appears every year to produce a litter. Luckily no moles, rabbits or badgers, which would not be welcome.

Work has started to refurbish the old pigsties in the garden to create a potting shed and additional storage space [pictured left]. This will hopefully be completed in the summer months.

We are very pleased to report that we have been given two new beehives for the garden, by a generous benefactor. These are not conventional hives, but novel Flow-Hives, invented in Australia. Honey is extracted directly by turning a tap rather than having to centrifuge the honey from the combs. They clearly work well in the hotter climate down under but there is little experience of them yet in this country: we are delighted to be one of the first to try them. We plan to set them up in June once the oilseed rape has finished flowering, to avoid potential problems with honey crystallising in the combs. Interested readers can learn more by searching for ‘flow hive full reveal’ on YouTube. 

For more information, see www.challistrust.org.uk or check our challisgarden Facebook page. 

Mike Redshaw 

Published in Sawston Scene, June–July 2016 issue