Picnic tables and benches installed

Picnic tables and benches are being installed on the Meadow by Tony Hardy, a local builder.

First refreshment Tony Hardy

Mayday 2011 and Carnival Crowning

It was a wonderful day for some dancing around the Maypole!

The 2011 edition of this annual event was quite popular, with many people coming down not only for the traditional dance around the Maypole, but also to partake in some games, raffles, buy delicious food and buy some plants!

Oh yes, and to witness the crowning of this year’s Carnival Queen and Princess, all of whom were wearing lovely dresses made by Cindy Dunlop and Pauline Williams. Our mayor, Cllr. John Clark and mayoress Rosemary Crumplin did the honours. This year’s Queen is Claire Miller who is 12, and Princess is Abigail Davis, who is 9.  Their attendants are Chloe Roberts (13), Alicia Holt (11) and Summer Coughtrey (8).

There was also belly dancing by Yallah, horseshoe throwing overseen by Robin Allum, a dinosaur hunt and a wand (tree) hunt sponsored by the White Hart.  Several businesses also set up shop on the Meadow. There was tasty food served up by the Festival Committee and drinks plus desserts available from the Testbourne Mityana Project stall.

Report to Town Assembly 2011

Click this image to download a pdf version of the report.

Dr. John Wall, treasurer of the Whitchurch Millennium Greet Trust, the charity that oversees the Meadow, presented a report on behalf of the chairman, Graham Burgess, at the Annual Town Assembly.

The gathering was called by the Town Council and held in the Gill Nethercott Centre on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

The Meadow’s full report is HERE.

A summary of the evening’s presentations, from all the community groups, is on the town website HERE.

Vic and Claire: our wild flower experts

Claire Wilson and Vic Johnstone are local residents and are known nationally for their work on Verbascum a plant that grows wild in Hampshire but over hundreds of years has been admired by gardeners. Vic and Claire have resurrected lost varieties and produced new ones that now sell in the horticultural trade.

Verbascum

Claire and Vic raise locally provenanced seed  and plant them out on the meadow.

With best scientific tradition they list plants using the Latin names and provide photographic records. Users of the meadow whether they be people or bees may not know who is providing the end results but all caring users will be grateful.

Our natural habitat on the meadow naturally attracts creatures that sometimes erode the efforts of human beings. Our aim is not to exterminate them but some control can help. We try to eliminate moles from the Ogham Circle as that is where people gather and need not to trip over. Elsewhere we aim to plug into another of Nature’s devices and that is to encourage wildflowers on the molehills.

Rabbits are very numerous all around town so we do protect some of our new plantings. Again our aim is not to exterminate them. Many country traditions like catching and eating rabbits and making coats out of moleskins have gone so we have to resort to netting.

We cannot do some things without funding so a key part of the Trustees responsibility is trying to get support.

Children Find Easter Eggs

Many children came with their families to the Meadow on Easter Sunday 2011. To their delight, many of them found chocolate Easter eggs hidden in the trees and shrubs!

Thanks go to the White Hart for donating the eggs; and to the visitors who donated some spare change to the Meadow, to help with its day-to-day maintenance.

Royal Wedding Nettles Party

Click picture to see larger version.

In celebration of the Royal Wedding, the Meadow cordially invites you to a real weeding on Friday 29th April 2011 at 3pm!

Bring a garden fork, gloves and a drink to toast the happy couple!

If you cannot make it, or if you cannot manage weeding a square metre, then please consider donating £5 and we’ll find a volunteer to do it for you!

Click our new DONATE button to learn how you can use PayPal to donate immediately.

POWER TO OUR ELBOWS

POWER TO OUR ELBOWS. 7^TH APRIL 2011.

Local electrician John Downes is busy installing the 5 double plug points in the secure cabinet ready for our forthcoming Maytime celebrations and the SSE Electric Company’s visit to lay power on next week. A combination lock will secure the plug points.

Financial Support of the Meadow

Following upon the successes of recent grants for improvements to the Meadow, the trustees recently decided to launch a scheme to involve our supporters more. We want them to help us build a regular income to help cover regular costs, such as insurance and mowing, for which there are normally no grants to be had.

The treasurer has developed a simple appeal letter and standing order form that will be given to known regular Meadow friends. We will also be approaching local businesses in a similar vein. We, of course, will welcome anyone who gets in touch with us to help in this way.

Success in this venture will underpin the Meadow’s finances into the future for the benefit of all local residents and visitors to Whitchurch.

Update: You can now donate from this website using PayPal – click DONATE.

Unusual archaeological discovery at the Meadow

Local firm T and M Hardy have been carrying out excavations in the Millennium Green and they have exposed yet more of the rich archaeological heritage of Whitchurch.

Flint is a part of our heritage and much remains hidden in the earth below us.

Ancient water bottle

They have exposed another example of the early Stoneage Bicycle. One was discovered on the same site in 2008 but the recent discovery is more modern. The first discovery had a square wheel at the rear but this one has evolved closer to the one we are familiar which has two round wheels. Local volunteer archaeologist Gareth Evans was present when the detail was exposed after the contractors had left the site.

There is a clue that cyclists did get hot and take an early form of water bottle with them. Near to the bicycle we believe an old farming cyclist left a branded bottle designed to appeal to ploughmen as it has the word OXO on its side.

Stoneage Bicycle and a cat flap

Local Cycle Training expert John Buckley noticed the absence of brakes , pedals and lights and said how much safer cycling had become since these later innovations had been invented .

Another discovery is made from porcelain with a beautiful wooden door on the front and is thought to be perhaps some form of cat worship and the origin of the design of later but simpler cat flaps.

They will remain in position for the weekend as archaeologists may insist on them being removed to a local or national museum.

Lottery work update

The first stage of the Lottery Funded works has been completed. The Dog Proof fence is in place and the area around the Ogham Circle, where the ground has been consolidated by plastic mesh and hard stuff, has been surfaced with fertile soil and sown with grass seed.

Seeded!

In the second week of April the Electricity Board will erect a pole and bring power to the Millennium Green and the access points installed ready to take the boxes with their plugs.

Access plinth

With the contractors departed from the area near the Fish Gate a new line of screening shrubs has been planted and Child Minder children planted wildflowers.

Children planting flowers

Jeff Geary whose dog tested our dog-proof fence and found it could get through the far gate volunteered to raise the level of the path inside it so his dog must stay with his owner all the time he is in the meadow.

New shrubs

All the work has been done to a very high standard and it is a credit to local workers.
It will soon go but the temporary pipe stuck out of the ground ready for the electric supply is a wonderful thing for children to shout down as an echo returns.

Temporary pipe ready for the electric supply