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Village Voice October/November 2020
VILLAGE CARE
OPEN GARDENS
‘Postponed, but not cancelled’! That
was the decision taken by the Village Care
Committee at the height of the pandemic
in the Spring of 2020...
The proposed annual Open Gardens date in
June was deferred for one in September with the
hope that late summer would yet see a viable
village event in this year of cancellations. A date
to which the whole village could look forward,
in the midst of Covid anxiety and so much
hopelessness as to the prospect of communal
participation and enjoyment of so much beauty
and atmosphere within our stunningly pretty
and characterful English locality.
Sunday afternoon, 13th September 2020:
Hope realised!
What a glorious day. The clouds of doubt
banished, as a miraculous village occasion
materialised. Had it been scheduled just a day
later, all hope would have been dashed! Was this
just a coincidence, along with the weather and
unusual proceedings… or maybe something
more?
The sky itself matched the
flight of doubt, as a cloudless
morning gave way to perfect post
meridian temperatures. What a
dream: to spend an idyllic couple
of hours wending one’s way
around a quintessential English
village, viewing beautiful gardens
amongst privileged settings on a
late Summer Sunday afternoon.
The very recent untimely tragic
death of Jan Lance, one of Open
Gardens’ co-ordinators and a
talented gardener, somehow
added to the poignancy of the
occasion as her garden, into
which she had artistically given so much time,
attention and love, was kindly made available
by the family for us all to view. And what a
garden it was! No doubt she was looking down
with immense pride and satisfaction at the joy it
was giving to so many. Open Gardens 2021 will
be dedicated to Jan.
And finally… the stats are part of the miracle:
313 paying customers arrived steadily
throughout the afternoon. There was never a
queue and the maximum designated Covid safe
number for each garden was not exceeded. In
this most unusual of years, Village Care ended
up in receipt of a normal intake of resources.
Just a little short of two thousand pounds. So,
our community will be able to go on benefitting
from its local charity’s donations.
All in all, an amazingly blessed day! Thank
you to you all for being a part of it. Paul Breeze
26 www.pennandtylersgreen.org.uk