Privett plants Privet in Ogham Circle

The Millennium Green’s Ogham Circle embraces an ancient appreciation of Nature.

Every plant had a name, a time of the year and a special attribute. This concept was woven in many ways and sometimes something was applied that was applied to other woven works like Persian Carpets. One date in the year was missed out in a deliberate mistake.

A local resident noticed his birthday was absent – December 23 – so Graham Burgess, the chairman of the Millennium Green Trust, suggested that his name Privett be celebrated in a separate special way by the planting of plants called Privet (Ligustrum). This was done on Sunday, 26 February 2012.

In the same way that the Ogham Circle celebrates the year of the meadow’s inauguration in 1999 using a metric measure of 19.99 metres, Noel has applied another measure – one that is special to his family and father – for spacing between the new trees. This spacing is not metric; imperial or the remen as used in Stonehenge but a unique measure formed by the three members of the Privett family joining hands.

The word also is played up by the formation of an entrance to the picnic area and the jambs are privets.

---

Other volunteers helped out on the same morning to plant more bushes and trees in various places around the Meadow. You are always welcome to get involved with the Meadow – whether it be doing plantings, tidying up, or managing the charity Trust – it is YOUR meadow. Click the ‘contact us’ link to get in touch.

Your Meadow Needs YOU! Join the Board of Trustees

The Trustees endeavour to create and maintain a more useable public open space.  Volunteers of the trust work all year to maintain various aspects of the meadow and in particular the indigenous wildlife and fauna.  The aim of the trustees is to provide a safe, comfortable and learning environment in which all members of the community can enjoy.

The Trustees are looking to recruit new Trustees to join their Board which currently consists of 4 independent trustees and 2 nominated trustees. We are interested in acquiring a range of skills to assist in the governance of the Millennium Green and would encourage people with skills in one or more of the following areas to apply: financial, grant raising, educational, marketing and horticultural; however, we would still like to hear from you if you simply have a desire and enthusiasm to help maintain and develop the Meadow

The time commitment will vary depending on how much you wish to contribute but the minimum is attending a monthly Trustee meeting, all meetings are held in the evening from 7.30pm – 9.00pm.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity in confidence, please call the Secretary, Phillippa Walther-Caine on 01256 896522 or email her at Phillippacaine@yahoo.co.uk; otherwise please submit your CV and covering letter to phillippacaine@yahoo.co.uk by 23 March 2012 which is the closing date of applications.  It is envisaged that interviews will be held during April 2012.

We look forward to hearing from you!

‘Stargazing Live’ at the Meadow

UPDATE: Cloud cover causes cancellation of the star gazing on the Meadow; but the talk goes ahead as planned.

As part of the BBC’s ‘Stargazing Live’ programme, Andover Astronomical Society is holding a public viewing (weather permitting) on the Millenium Meadow on Sunday, January 29th 2012, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Society members will bring telescopes, through which members of the public can observe Venus, Jupiter, craters and mountains on the Moon, etc.  Afterwards, there will be a short illustrated talk in the Longmeadow Sports & Social Club.  The club has a licensed bar, and will serve hot cottage pie (£5).  If you want pie, you are advised to phone 0796 315 9273 beforehand.

In the event of bad weather, the public viewing will be cancelled, but the talk in the Sports and Social Club will still take place at 8 p.m.

The ground in the Meadow may be muddy, so wear wellies or stout shoes, and warm clothes.  If you are driving, please park in the Sports and Social Club car park opposite the Meadow.

The viewing is FREE, and is suitable for all ages.  BBC Stickers and Activity Cards will be available for children

Mavis and David Cheek planted four Alder trees

Mavis and David Cheek, who celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in February in India with members of their family and friends, planted four Alder trees in the meadow on Wednesday 28^th December 2011 in the company of there son-in law and granddaughters.

The trees were a gift from their daughter Annette to represent her parents, herself and her brother Mark.

Mavis was born in Whitchurch and with David has spent all their married life here. Their hope is that the trees will flourish and grow as have their family with eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Town Descends upon Meadow for Bonfire and Fireworks

A huge number of people – some say well over a thousand – came to the Meadow this evening to enjoy the bonfire and fireworks show put on by the Whitchurch Festival Committee with assistance from the Whitchurch Meadow.

Earlier in the day, Whitchurch Arts was at the White Hart for a pumpkin carving event – the results were on display around the Meadow. And for the past week, Guys have been seen around town, and they came down to the Meadow for the prize giving ceremony. Not all got tossed onto the bonfire!

A story with pictures from the event is on the town’s official website HERE. See the Whitchurch Arts website for a story and photos from the pumpkin carving HERE. Last year’s event is remembered HERE.

.

Meadow appeals for volunteer effort

If you have an hour or so, want to help the community, and maybe contribute to the bonfire spectacle, Meadow awaits your help!

We have two major jobs we cannot cope with without the help from the wider community: tree crown uplifting and clearing sensitive areas of the stinging nettles. Both jobs are quite straightforward, you don’t need to consult anyone, or be supervised, just come and help, any day, any time! If you came and done something, please drop us a line!

Crown uplifting

Branches of the trees start obstructing the foot paths (see pictures). Bring a saw and cut any branch you can reach from the footpath down to the trunk or the bigger (main) branch.  Don’t be afraid to overdo it: it is nice to open beautiful tree trunks and let light to penetrate into the woodlands.  Put the branches into neat piles next to the footpaths on the woodland side. They will be used for the great bonfire at the Fireworks night.

 

 

 

Nettles

We are doing our best to fight the nettles on the Meadow by  spraying, however there are some sensitive areas where other valuable plants are growing and spraying is not possible. In such areas nettles must be removed by hand or they will outcompete the wild flowers and native ferns.  This can be done any time during the autumn/winter. Our main concern is areas where the ferns grow (see pictures). Please come for an hour or so with your gloves and maybe a garden fork and pull out some of the nettles.  You can pile them next to the footpaths on the woodland side.

 

Benches

If cutting branches or pulling nettles doesn’t quite appeal to you, there is another job: cleaning fish benches. After 11 year of use they are getting dusty and are covered by moss and lichens. A bucket of water and a cloth will do it! There is plenty of water on the Meadow, you don’t need to bring your own!

 

 

Annual General Meeting 2011

October 6, 2011
8:00 pm	to	9:30 pm

Notice is hereby given that the

2011 Annual General Meeting

of the

Whitchurch Millennium Green Trust

will be held at

8.00pm on Thursday 6th October 2011

in the

Town Hall, Whitchurch, Hampshire

** PUBLIC MEETING – The meeting is open to all! **

AGENDA

1.0	To approve the Minutes of the last meeting
2.0	To receive the Trust’s accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011
3.0	Chairman’s Update
4.0	Any other Business

Punch and Judy plus Pond Dipping

August 13, 2011
11:00 am	to	3:00 pm

Come and celebrate with us again the Lottery Work completion!

Our magical High-Tech Trailer is back again for a day of pond-dipping discoveries starting at 11am.

Then, Punch and Judy will be on the Meadow from 11.30am.

Bring your picnic, try our new benches, see if you can find some new species in the ponds and the stream and enjoy The Punch and Judy show!

Lotto Launch Party Success

Sunday, 3 July 2011, was a day filled with fun activities on the Meadow: many families beat out a new rhythm at the drum workshop hosted by Basingstoke-based Drum Runners; and then got wet while netting bugs and other critters from the Meadow’s streams and ponds to look at under high magnification on the Hi-Tech Wild-Trek‘s large scientific display screen.

The activities were all to celebrate the completion of the major works that were funded by a grant from the Lottery.

The chairman of the trustees of the Millennium Green, Graham Burgess, said, “This is our celebration in the form of a launch for the funding we received from the lottery. This was £50,000 to reinforce some of the things we have in place.”

Several town councillors joined the Mayor, Cllr Barry Jackman in a drumming parade around the Meadow’s maze before watching him cut the ribbon which officially opened the new equipment.

Cllr Jackman said, “It is good to see that a little of the hard-earned cash earned from playing the lottery has been returned to this local community…Thanks must be given to the contractor, A&M Hardy, who with his men, have put into being some of the creative thinking of some of the improvements made here.”

He concluded, “Thanks to the successful lottery bid, much has been achieved to enhance the Millennium Green for now and into the future.”

The mayor then talked with many of the families on the Meadow, and even took part in some of the pond-dipping and scientific exploration himself.

Among other things, the grant paid for:

• a new dog-proof fence along the eastern and southern boundary,
• electrical supply to two points,
• hard-standing around the maze area and driveway from the entrance,
• bridge work,
• picnic tables, and,
• the installation of the Tryst Seat.

3rd July: Celebration of lottery funded works

July 3, 2011
10:00 am	to	4:00 pm

Whitchurch Millennium Meadow celebrates completion of the lottery funded works on Sunday 3rd July at the Meadow.

A day full of fun family activities includes:

10am-1pm: Drumming and Drum Making Workshop with Drum Runners;

11am-3pm: Pond and stream life discoveries with Hi-Tech Wild-Trek Trailer;

1pm: Meet the Mayor and Mayoress;

3-4pm: Volunteer call to clean up the stream and other fun maintenance works.

Bring your own picnic and try our new benches!