Apr_2016

Faith & Flowers
The Magazine of the Church of England
Flower Arrangers’ Association
Issue 10 – April 2016

CHURCH OF ENGLAND FLOWER ARRANGERS ASSOCIATION
Registered Charity No. 514372
Members of Council and National Officers
National President
Rev F. R. N. Michell
National Chairman
Mrs Ada Fawthrop
211 Ashgate Road
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S40 4AP
Tel: 01246 233555
Diocesan Mrs R Thomson York
Council Mrs A Lovatt London
Members Mrs R Dias Derby
Mrs P Batterton Liverpool
Mrs H Brian Southwell & Nottingham
National Secretary
Mr R Brown
25B Church Road
Hale Village
Liverpool
L24 4AY
Tel: 0151 425 2823
Email: cefaa@btinternet.com Website: www.cefaa.org.uk
Treasurer
Mrs N Hadden
Church Lodge Cottage
10A Church Road
Hale Village
Liverpool
L24 4BA

Letter from the Editor
I am delighted to say that Pam is back on her feet, pain
free and “magazining” once more.
All our sympathy goes to the Southwell and
Nottingham Branch on the sudden death of Margaret
Ursell. I know that the Branch has lost a good friend.
We are indebted to Jill Smith, a local flower grower for
her contribution to the magazine, continuing our look
at the subject of British grown flowers. Another subject
that might stimulate thought is the proposal for a fixed
date for Easter.
Please don’t forget to send in your subscriptions – your
Association needs you.
Also if you possibly can, come to the A.G.M. in June –
fill in your applications now. The details in this edition
are slightly different from those published in the
January edition. Please use the information in this
edition for times and travel information.
Remember that your contributions for the magazine are
not only welcome but essential if it is to flourish, so
keep them coming.
Finally a question - what do you eat on Collop Monday?
Ruth.
1

2
Greetings from Chesterfield – March 2016
We have just returned from Northern Ireland, where we had bright
sunshine and a dusting of snow. The Mountains of Mourne looked
wonderful in the sunshine. We were surprised to find a Bronte
trail. Rev. Patrick Bronte, father of the famous Emily, Charlotte
and Anne, the sisters from Howarth in Yorkshire, was born at a
small farm at the foot of the Mountains of Mourne. We visited the
lovely Georgian town of Hillsborough, where the official
residence of the Lord Lieutenant of Northern Ireland is situated.
The town has an 18th century Court house, like the one in Lincoln.
There is a fort and a beautiful church with a very tall spire. At the
altar there was a pedestal of pink and white lilies that matched the
small lampshades in the four rows of the choir stalls.
Our reason for visiting
Ireland was to see our
son’s three daughters in a
Pantomime in the village
of Groomsport. The
village Presbyterian
church hall is turned into
a theatre once a year for a
Pantomime.
At the entrance to the hall
there was a lovely
waterfall pedestal with a
velvet drape. At the base
was a small stand with a
crystal slipper on it. There
are some very talented
Flower Arrangers over
there.

Have you ever heard of the Reverend Macmillan of Northern
Ireland? He was the guest Arranger at the North Midland Coral
Anniversary of NAFAS. He is a delightful man, a wonderful
Speaker and Flower Arranger.
A couple of days before we set off for Northern Ireland, Rosie
Dias, our Derby Branch Council Member, Sheila Stone, our
Derby Branch Committee member, and I, visited Hopton Hall,
South Derbyshire. The snowdrops and aconites were wonderful.
Fifteen years ago this lovely old hall and gardens had been unused
since the war. It was sold and when the woods to one side were
cleared of brambles, rhododendrons and fallen trees, thousands
of snowdrops and aconites popped up. It has developed into a
wonderful woodland walk. On the other side of the Hall was a
derelict terraced rose garden with a wonderful old brick crinkle
crankle wall and dovecote. The walls were built in waves to catch
the sun and lengthen the harvesting of fruit. It has all been restored
and two thousand rose trees planted. The paths and steps have all
been repaired and hundreds of box plants have been used to edge
the rose beds. There is a lake and some lovely intimate walkways.
You can hire a holiday cottage in this garden by clicking onto
www.hoptonhall.co.uk.
How are you getting on with recruitment? I have invited a lady
from the Methodist Church to become an associate member. Do
keep banging the drum. I do hope as many as possible of you will
make it to Liverpool in June for our A.G.M.
We have lost a long-standing hard-working member, Margaret
Ursell, who arranged the beautiful pedestal at Rainhill for our 30th
Anniversary. She was the council member for Notts. & Southwell
for many years and a companion to Hillary Brian. RIP Dear
Margaret.
Ada Fawthrop,
National Chairman.
3

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Southwell & Nottingham Diocese
Saturday 27th February saw our first Diocesan
Meeting/Workshop of 2016 held at St. Timothy’s, Daybrook.
Before the meeting commenced we held a one minute silence to
remember our dear, dear friend, Margaret Ursell.
Peter Turner demonstrated swags for Easter – Hillary Brian
demonstrated a modern style cross design and Janet Webster
showed us how to make stones of various sizes made with
newspaper screwed up into the size you require and explained
how to get the finish you want. She then created a Spring
Landscape design using some of the stones she had made earlier.
They looked super and you could not tell the difference, so I am
certainly going to have a go. It will save carrying the real stones
to demo’s and flower festivals. We had about 25 members in the
morning for the meeting and around 20 for the afternoon – all of
them going home with a swag with a difference.
Southwell & Nottingham Branch 2016 Programme
Hillary
April 16th
April 26th
Sept. 3rd
Branch AGM – St. Mary’s, Bunny, Nottm.
(Tuesday) Coach outing to Spalding &
District Churches Flower Festivals
Demonstration & Workshop “Harvestime”
By Hillary Brian
St. Helen’s, Stapleford, Nottingham.
Christmas Meeting – TBA
7

Obituary
Margaret Ursell
Margaret passed away very
suddenly on the 17th February
after a wonderful day out with her
friends. She joined CEFAA in the
mid eighties and was a very loyal
member, serving as Vice Chair,
Chair, and then Council Member of
the Southwell & Nottingham
branch – a position she held for
nine years. She was a member of
St. Leodegarious, Basford,
Nottingham, for many years where
she was in charge of flowers. When
I became National Chair, Margaret
gave me so much support and then
from 2003 – 2012 she travelled the
length and breadth of the country
with me, enjoying meeting our
fellow members.
If Margaret took on any activity
she gave it 100% plus – her
membership of the Nottingham
Flower Club, Trefoil Guild (for retired Guiders), her calligraphy, her
help at flower festivals and people still remember the beautiful all blue
pedestal she did on behalf of the St. Albans Branch, depicting, of
course, St. Alban at our Rainhill Festival in 2011.Margaret will be sadly
missed by all her friends in the Southwell and Nottingham Diocese and
those of you who remember her nationally.
Hillary Brian,
Council Member.
Margaret’s Funeral was held on 17th March at St. Leodegarious, prior to
cremation at Bramcote Crematorium.
Hillary was asked to do a tribute on behalf of CEFAA.
8

Fixing the Date of Easter
Easter Day is the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs
on or after the Spring equinox. This was decided in the first
Church council in 325. In 664 the Synod of Whitby was held
when the different ways of deciding the date of Easter was
discussed by the Celtic Church of Northern Britain and the
Roman Church of Canterbury.
It was decided that the Roman Church would prevail with the
method of deciding the date of Easter and the Celtic Church
retreated.
In 1928 Parliament passed the Easter Act which was never put
into practice.
In 1990 a Vatican proposal failed when other churches could not
agree. Now Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Anglican and Catholic are
in discussion about fixing the date of Easter to the second or third
Sunday in April.
In the argument for a fixed date, it is a fact that Saints Days and
other Festivals have been moved to weekends and bank holidays
and that people are irritated about school terms and holidays
moving about the calendar.
Against is the argument that this would break the connection
between the Jewish Passover and the events of Good Friday and
Easter. It would also break the last link with the lunar calendar.
In Whitby, the opposition comes from those who are concerned
about the tourists and pilgrims who visit the site of the Synod of
Whitby. Finally it is a break with one thousand years of History.
9

St. Oswald’s Church, Ashbourne
Christmas Tree Festival
The Festival was open from December 12th to January
5th and raised £700 towards Church projects. There
were 8 foot by 6 foot and 20 foot by 4 foot Nordman
Fir trees decorated by different youth and adult
organisations and schools in the town. C.E.F.A.A.
members decorated a tree in green and gold placed next
to the Branch banner. Flower arrangements by the
church flower arrangers were also around the church
together with trees decorated by the Church’s own
organisations. The church looks upon this as a
community project to encourage people to come into
the church.
Please note that when members do an arrangement
which advertises C.E.F.A.A. so clearly, Naomi is
empowered to give a donation towards the cost.
Ed.
10

11

British Cut Flowers – a growing industry
By Jill Smith at Binnington Blooms
I was inspired to start growing flowers for cutting after hearing about
‘Flowers From The Farm’. Flowers From the Farm is an organisation
to encourage and bring together British flower growers to share ideas
on growing, cutting and marketing cut flowers. It was set up by Gill
Hodgson, who grows flowers near York and came from her passion for
bringing back locally grown country garden flowers to the market place.
After five years there are now over 200 members from Cornwall to
Scotland. At a recent Flower weekend in Harrogate for members from
the north, attended by Jonathan Moseley, the international flower
arranger and judge on “The Great Allotment Challenge”, who
commented “I can feel the energy in the room”. The enthusiasm
amongst members for their love of flowers is infectious and our
principle ambition is to share those flowers with everybody by making
them available to purchase in a sustainable and top quality way.
12

As a result you can now buy ‘locally produced flowers’ in just the same
way as we choose to buy ‘local food’. It is possible to buy sustainably
grown flowers with no air
miles attached and probably
very little use of chemicals in
their production. Our flowers
are seasonal which means they
are stronger and healthier,
grown in their natural
environment. It has also
created a much wider choice of
flowers than we have ever had
before, with the added bonus
that so many of them have a
wonderful scent.
I started my business
‘Binnington Blooms’ on our
dairy farm, near Scarborough,
in 2012, having always been a
keen gardener and with my upbringing in the flower industry, it seemed
like a relatively straightforward undertaking. Nearly four years on, I
would say it is by far the most enjoyable job I have ever done but also
the one which has involved the most amount of hard work I have ever
known! I started by using a large well established border in the garden,
out went the groundcover plants and anything that didn’t produce a
flower tall enough to pick. That first summer, flowers were picked and
lined up in jars in the house to see their ‘lasting potential in water’, again
if it didn’t last it would not be grown.
By year two I had persuaded my husband to allow me to have a strip of
field, facing south with a nice thick hedge protecting from the north.
Better still it had been part of the calving paddock, so the soil was fertile
and rich. Very soon I realised I also had to ask him to fence it as the
local rabbit and hare population thought my plants rather tasty.
13

Growing in North Yorkshire
means I can only
realistically grow flowers to
cut from late March to
October. More southerly
parts of the country produce
flowers over the winter
months, most notably the
gloriously scented narcissus
and daffodils from the Scilly
Isles, available throughout
January and February.
The flowers I grow range from bulbs, annuals, biennials to perennials.
The picking year starts with the bulbs, daffodils first, I love to mix the
varieties together so they are not all plain yellow. Anemones, ranunculus
and tulips follow on, wonderful blowsy double tulips open like peonies
and last for ages. The bulbs are soon joined by biennials – hesperis or
sweet rocket has a lovely airy appearance and grows tall, honesty,
wallflower and sweet william, the old fashioned flower that everyone
delights in seeing again. The bulbs are completed with bluebells and the
majestic alliums.
From late May through June the perennials shine – aquilegia,
campanula, peonies, delphiniums, many kinds of daisy, phlox, veronica,
salvia, and the wonderful acid green of alchemilla mollis, but the list is
endless.
As we move into full summer along come the annuals – cornflower,
nigella, cosmos, scabious, antirrhinums etc. etc. Ammi major is a great
alternative to gypsophila, not unlike cow parsley but without the smell,
very popular for weddings. To this heady mix we add the dahlias and
the colour rainbow is full until at least mid October but sparing a frost,
it can be much later.
14

Cutting the flowers has become the most important skill, the one which
ensures the quality of the flower, followed by careful conditioning to
maintain the time the flowers will last in water. Cutting takes place in
the early morning or early evening, cutting the flower just as it opens is
ideal and when you are working amongst your flowers all the time you
get to know that stage. Bad weather only spoils the flowers which are
already open and they are not the ones we are looking for.
The British cut flower industry is blossoming, seek out a grower near
you (find them on the Flowers From The Farm website or at your
nearest Farmers Market), ask for British flowers at your local florist,
try them out in church arrangements, treat yourself to a jug full on the
kitchen table.
Most of all enjoy them, they are grown for your enjoyment.
Further information can be found on the following websites:
www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk
www.britishflowersweek.com
15

British Flower Week
For members in the London Branch and surrounding
areas, we are pleased to promote British Flower Week.
British Flower Week
June 13-19
To be held in Covent Garden
Flower Market
For information contact:
Liz Anderson
info@cgma.co.uk
Also for members in the London area:
Claire Brown at Plant Passion.
More information on the website at
www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk.
16

A Seasonal Look
An early Easter means that it will all be over before you
receive your magazine but as the most important season of
the churches year, it is perhaps with a retrospective look.
In Mediaeval times churches were decorated with box, yew,
hazel, willow and wild daffodils. Flowers were carried in
procession and the floors were strewn with scented herbs
and rushes. All this ended during the Cromwellian era, so
from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century no flowers
were allowed in churches or grave yards. For funerals,
mourners carried sprigs of rosemary or rue. There is,
however, some evidence that people placed flowers inside
coffins where they could not be seen. Queen Victoria made
flowers acceptable once more.
Even though Palm Sunday is now well in the past it could
be interesting to look at the British version of the palms
waved as Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time. In the
eighth century willow leaves were waved during church
processions and by Tudor times the blessing of willow had
been widespread. The fluffy silky flowers of willow were
called pussy willow because they reminded people of kitten
paws. The tassel-like flowers of birch and willow looked
like kittens’ tails and came to be known as catkins – in Tudor
times this was the name for a kitten.
Although May gives us no “red letter” days in the church
calendar it has always been a month for celebration.
17

Even the church in Medieval times supported the practice
of gathering leaves and flowers to decorate homes, “going
a-maying” on May Eve. The Puritans forbade it but maying
returned with Charles 11 and carried on until the 19th
Century in spite of warnings about the moral danger of
being out in the woods at night. Birch, rowan and especially
the flower of the hawthorn are all associated with May
festivals.
Just before dawn on May Day women rushed to wash their
faces in dew, thought to be good for the complexion. It was
supposed to be effected and gathered from leaves of oak,
ivy or hawthorn.
Cheaper than Olay certainly!
Rhubarb and Ginger Fool
The rhubarb season is well advanced
1lb rhubarb
Half a pint of thick custard
2 oz preserved or powdered ginger
Stew the fruit in very little water, sweeten to taste.
Add a pinch of bi-carb. Sieve.
Mix with the custard and add the ginger, save a little for
decoration.
Pour into sundae glasses, decorate with ginger and chill.
18

Last but not Least
A very warm welcome to the Association to the following new
members who have joined since January 1st 2016.
Name Church Diocese Branch
Mrs H.L. Bendall-Jones Holy Trinity Blackburn Liverpool
Mrs R. Ferguson Associate Member, Sussex
Mrs J.A. Sadler St. Oswald, Ashbourne Derby Derby
Miss E.M. Walsh Allerton U.R.C. Liverpool Liverpool
Mrs E. Woodall St. Giles, Ludford Hereford None
A note from Pam who types the Magazine:-
A big thank you from Pam Stanger
After coming home from Bridlington Hospital recently, having had my
second complete hip replacement, I received a lovely arrangement of
flowers from CEFAA. by courtesy of Ruth, our Magazine Editor. I
would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to you all –
the flowers really cheered me up.
Finally a quotation from an old book I found, with apologies to the
London Branch, nothing personal, far from it in fact.
“I am just going to pray for you at St. Paul’s but with no very lively
hope of success.”
Rev. Sydney Smith
On Collop Monday, the day before Shrove Tuesday you would
eat a collop. It is a thick slice of bacon with a fried egg on top.
19

AVAILABLE FROM CEFAA FOR REGISTERED MEMBERS
TABARD in a dark green poly-cotton with embroidered CEFAA emblem.
All sizes from small to XXXL are available ...........................................£10.00 inc p&p
APRON in a dark green poly-cotton with embroidered emblem ..........£10.00 inc p&p
SWEATSHIRTS
Sizes XS and S ....................................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sizes M and L ......................................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sizes XL, XXL and XXXL .....................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sweatshirt 32 XS S M L XL XXL XXXL
size
Chest
measurement 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
POLO SHIRTS
Sizes 34, 36, 38 & 40 ...........................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sizes 42 & 44 .......................................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sizes 46 & 48 .......................................................................................£10.00 inc p&p
Sweatshirts & polo shirts are dark green with embroidered CEFAA emblem
BADGE...................................................................................................£2.50 inc p&p
Dark green enamel with gold lettering with fitted safety catch.
CAR STICKER .......................................................................................£1.10 inc p&p
CHART FOR CEFAA KNEELER ............................................................£1.70 inc p&p
This is for a hanging kneeler bearing the Association emblem and worked in
cross-stitch.
POSTERS are available for your church notice board at no charge.
MEMBERS HANDBOOK, 2004 edition..................................................£4.00 inc p&p
CEFAA – The First Eighteen Years (Booklet).........................................£3.00 inc p&p
All orders to be sent to:
Mrs P Cargill
201 Windmill Lane
Cheshunt
Hertfordshire
EN8 9AW
Please make your cheques payable to CEFAA
and quote your membership number
and telephone number with your order.
20

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be copied in any way without the prior permission of the trustees.