March 2016
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who came to the garden on Saturday 26th March for our Easter Activity morning. And an equally big thank you also to our volunteers for getting the garden ready, providing teas and helping with activities. Our events would not run without such great support. I am writing this in advance of the event, so I trust that everything went smoothly as planned!
Our next garden event is the Anniversary Fete on Sunday 15th May from 2pm. We will be providing teas, home-made cakes, soups and more from the kitchen. There will be live music from Sawston Steel Band and a host of different activities to suit all ages. Do come along and enjoy the event and the garden. Entry free; donations welcomed. For more information, contact us.
THE GARDEN
The garden team has been busy cutting back and tidying up and preparing for the spring and summer seasons. Visitors will notice that several more sycamore trees have been removed along the north side of the garden, letting much more light in. Suitable ground cover and shade-tolerant shrubs will be planted in these areas to augment the current plantings.
We now have a large stock of split sycamore logs for sale, suitable for storing for next winter. If you need any, please come to the garden during regular opening hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 10am to noon, or Sunday: our Sunday opening times changed to 2pm to 4pm, from the second Sunday in March.
Our Spring/Winter Walk is becoming well established now, with good shows of early spring bulbs (crocuses, snowdrops and iris reticulata) contrasting with the bright red, green and orange stems of the dogwoods, Cornus spp. The winter-flowering shrubs have produced wonderful fragrance through February and March, the best of these being sweet box (Sarcococca confusa) and the shrub honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima – still well worth a visit. Snowdrops and crocuses are largely over, but daffodils should show well into April.
Our beekeeper Richard hopes to move his hives from their current location in the far corner of the garden to the permanent apiary site, as soon as building work on the adjacent industrial site has been completed and the boundary fences re-instated. Honey from our hives is available for sale (£5 for a 1lb jar) in the garden year-round. Have you tried some?
THE HOUSE
External work on the house has now been completed with the refurbishment of the windows at the front. This is a huge improvement to the front aspect of the house and the ‘street view’. Inside there is still much to do, with ongoing work concentrating on installing services to the first and second floors. Until the building work has been finished, all house and museum activities are on hold for the time being. But watch this space…
For more information check our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/challisgarden, or website www.challistrust.org.uk, or contact Rosie Phillips: chair@challistrust.org.uk or 560816.
Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, April–May 2016 issue
Read MoreJanuary 2016
It was great to see so many visitors to the Challis House during the village Winter Fair event on 11th December. Mulled wine and fruit punch were flowing and the mince pies sold like – well – hot cakes! Craft group and home-made produce stalls were also very popular. Thanks to everyone for making the evening such a resounding success.
We are pleased to announce our garden events for 2016 (see page 2 of this issue). There are six scheduled events spread over the year, including an afternoon garden opening on 12th June for the National Garden Scheme. Our next event is the Children’s Easter Activity Morning on Saturday 26th March, which has proved very popular in past years. All the usual activities: treasure hunts, face painting, pond dipping, and Easter-themed crafts and decorations. Plus soup, teas and coffees for the grown-ups. For any more details about events, contact Sheila Blackwell on 01440 707322 or events@challistrust.org.uk, or check our Facebook page or website www.challistrust.org.uk.
THE GARDENWinter work continues in the garden in preparation for the coming season, under the guidance of our head gardener Ray. We are busy cleaning up and mulching the herbaceous beds, removing leaves and pruning fruit trees and shrubs. We plan to accelerate the removal of the remaining sycamore trees that are shading out parts of the garden. These areas will then be planted up with suitable shrubs and evergreens to add interest and diversity to the garden.
There are already good displays of aconites and snowdrops (it looks like being a very early Spring!). This will be followed by crocuses, daffodils and tulips in February and March, so do come along and enjoy them. Garden opening times are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 10am to noon; the Sunday winter opening time is 1pm to 3pm until 6th March. If you would like to help in the garden, please come and talk to us or contact Ray Reeve on 01223 834986. We’ll be pleased to see you.
CHALLIS MUSEUM
The Trust is very keen to put together the next exhibition, ‘Back to School’ pending completion of interior repairs and decorating, which is taking much longer than anticipated. If you have any local educational artefacts you could loan to the Challis Trust to display in this exhibition, we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact our Chair Rosie Phillips on 560816 or chair@challistrust.org.uk for more details.
Mike Redshaw
Published in Sawston Scene, February–March 2016 issue
Read MoreNovember 2015
Our Children’s Halloween Activity morning on 31st October was an outstanding success. We thank everyone who came to carve pumpkins (we had to send out for more). There was a long queue for the beautiful face painting and the Crafty Barn was a hum of children trying something spookily new. Apple bobbing went down well, mostly down the children’s jumpers, and the scavenger hunt was very popular. The children who decorated biscuits in the house were very inventive. Most were eaten (not the children) before they left the garden.
Grown-ups and children alike enjoyed Andy’s pumpkin soup, homemade cheese scones, teas, coffees and squashes and all those spookily iced cakes. In fact we ran out of everything except teas and coffees! We have never seen such an excited crowd at one of our children’s events – the best yet.
We would like to thank all the volunteers who were serving, on kitchen duties, demonstrating, overseeing and helping in general with all the activities. You are all so valued and the directors are very appreciative of all the work you put into these events.
The Challis Garden is being cultivated and planted up for winter and spring blossoming. Please contact Ray Reeve, Head Gardener, on 01223 834986 if you would like to help. We have been lucky to have the help of Sawston Village College students who have learning and helping for their Duke of Edinburgh awards. The garden opening times are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 10am to noon, and Sunday winter opening is 1pm to 3pm.
The Craft Group is still going from strength to strength. You will have your chance to buy the beautiful crafted gifts they have produced along with pickles, chutneys and preserves when the Challis House opens for the Winter Fair on Friday 11th December. Mulled wine, fruit punch and mince pies will also be available.
Our beautiful 2016 Challis Trust calendar is now for sale from the summerhouse on opening days. Priced at £6, it will also be on sale at the Winter Fair.
The next exhibition at the Challis Museum will be called ‘Back to School’ – dates to come. The exhibition cannot yet be put in hand as work is still being carried out on the first floor. We would like to request local educational artefacts of all sorts for display to be on loan for this exhibition. Please contact our Chair Rosie Phillips on 560816 or chair@challistrust.org.uk for more details. Keep up with us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/challisgarden or go to www.challistrust.org.uk to see our new website.
Sheila Blackwell
Published in Sawston Scene, December 2015–January 2016 issue
Read MoreSeptember 2015
Our next exhibition in the Challis Museum will be entitled ‘Back to School’ – dates to come. We would like to request local educational artefacts of all sorts for this exhibition. If you have anything to loan, please contact our Chair Rosie Phillips on 560816 or chair@challistrust.org.uk for further details. The exhibition cannot be put in hand just yet due to work being carried out on first floor.
The craft group meet in the house on alternative Wednesdays: see our noticeboard for dates and times.
The Challis Garden continues to develop into a haven of tranquillity. The volunteers who come and work each week are to be commended and of course Ray Reeve, Head Gardener, who oversees all. Thee opening times are: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 10am to noon; Sunday in summer time 2pm to 4pm, then when the clocks have gone forward in winter, 1pm to 3pm. Our beautiful 2016 calendar is now for sale from the summerhouse on open days, price £6.
Our Horticultural Show on 5th September was a tremendous success, with more visitors and entries than previous years. The jazz band, silent auction and teas with homemade cakes contributed greatly to its success, as did our Craft Group and Greener Sawston.
The Challis trustees give our heartfelt thanks to all who took part and to the many visitors who came to enjoy the day. We would also like to mention the Sawston Scouts who put up and took down our marquee and also Sawston Youth Group, who delivered and then collected tables for the displays. [See the back cover for photographs of the event.]
Our next event is the Children’s Halloween Activity morning on 31st October from 10am to noon which we’re sure will be its usual success. Children, please bring an adult with you. Entrance free. Tasty refreshments will be available for all for a donation.
We will also be taking part in the Winter Fair on Friday 11th December. Please come and join us for mulled wine and mince pies in the Challis House, with craft gifts, home-made preserves and pickles on sale. We shall be delighted to see you all.
Sheila Blackwell
Published in Sawston Scene, October–November 2015
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