SNL Sept 23 for web

The National Garden Scheme
September and there is still plenty of colour
in the garden
September is upon us already but there is still plenty
of colour in the garden. The two gardens opening for
the National Garden Scheme this month are a joy and
not to be missed. At High House, Shipdham you will
find a delightful plantsman’s garden, with traditional
shrub borders and orchard. There is an exciting mix of
exotic and tropical at Waldemar Avenue and garden
owner Sonja feels that “To make a garden is to believe
in tomorrow”. Both gardens will have inexpensive
plants for sale.
Sunday 3rd September
• 33 Waldemar Avenue, Hellesdon, Norwich, NR6
6TB. 10-5 adm £5 chd free. Home-made teas.
A surprising and large suburban garden with different
areas which include a mix of exotic and tropical plants
combined with unusual perennials. There is a quirky
palm-thatched Tiki hut, a treehouse draped in plants
and a wildlife pond with rare plants.
Sunday 10th September
• High House Gardens, Blackmoor Row, Shipdham
IP25 7PU. 12-5 adm £5 chd free. Home-made teas.
Opening for twenty years for the National Garden
Scheme. A Well-developed plantsman's garden in
3 acres with colour themed herbaceous borders, an
extensive range of perennials & shrubs. box edged
rose and shrub borders, large vegetable garden.
If you have a garden you wish to share and would like
to open your garden for the National Garden Scheme
please contact fiona.black@ngs.org.uk
Before visiting a garden visitors are advised to check
the website ngs.org.uk for up-to-date information.
Ashill & Holme Hale Garden Club
Website: ashillgardeningclub.wordpress.com/
Email: ashillholmehalegardenclub@gmail.com
How to Grow & Care for Hostas
Our July meeting was all about Hostas. Our speaker
was Ken Abel who came from East Suffolk to enlighten
us on how to grow and care for our Hostas. Ken is a
prize winning grower of Hostas and Pelargoniums and
gave a well illustrated talk on all the different aspects
of growing Hostas. Hostas are widely cultivated
herbaceous perennial shade-tolerant foliage plants that
are native to northeast Asia (e.g. China, Japan, Korea)
and was named in honour of the Austrian botanist
Nicholas Host.
Ken discussed how to care for hostas, and the advantages
and downsides of growing in pots, as opposed to
planting directly in the ground. If grown in pots it is
important to give a nitrogen feed to get best results. It
is best to let the leaves die naturally over winter rather
than cutting them off as they wilt. Common pests of
hostas are snails and slugs, the snail usually eats from
the middle of the leaf, while slugs will start from the
edge. A good remedy to deter slugs is to spray with a
garlic infused solution, which can be made by boiling up
a full globe of garlic cloves in water and straining off. Ken
finished his talk by going through many of the different
types of hostas you can grow in your garden, with a
surprising number of options available.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Our August meeting (August 24th) will incorporate our
Annual Fruit & Vegetable Show, with 11 classes of entries
covering all fruit and vegetables and also homemade
Jam. In addition there will be a brief AGM followed by a
Gardeners’ Question Time panel, where
4 experts will answer members gardening queries. The
September meeting (Sept 28th) will be presented by
Kathy Gray on The Diversity of British Gardens, which
will include a discussion on plant heritage. Monthly
meetings are held on the 4th Thursday of the month at
Holme Hale Pavilion and start at 2.30pm. New members
from anywhere in the district are always welcome, so
come along.
Swaffham Jazz Club
Unfortunately, I missed our July session featuring Jazz
Signs, so I cannot give an account of the evening, but
Norman tells me that we had a full house and the
band were excellent!
For our August session we welcomed another great
band, Equinox, with Terry Loane — piano, Danny
Silverstone — sax, Greg Loops — bass, James Lewis —
drums and guest Chris Lee — trumpet and flugelhorn.
They have a great jazz feel and I enjoyed all the solos
from everyone. I will single out just one, James’
splendid drum solo towards the end, in a number
called Saint Thomas. At one point he put down his
sticks and played drums and cymbals with his hands.
It was a performance of a virtuoso.
I took the opportunity during the interval to interview
trumpeter Chris. He told me he was born and brought
up in Cheltenham. In his early teens he played the
bugle in a local Church Lads Brigade band. When
he was 16 he heard a record of the brilliant modern
jazz alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and was ‘blown
away’ so he bought a trumpet and taught himself
to play jazz. His favourite players were Miles Davis,
Chet Baker and Clark Terry. In his early 20’s he joined
a funk band, ‘Pigbag’ which had a single (Papa’s Got a
Brand New Pigbag) that went to number three in the
charts and they appeared on ‘Top of the Pops’. Chris
went on a world tour with the band and he still gets
royalties for their recordings.
However, the band split over becoming more of a jazz
band or staying as a pop group. As a result , when he
was 25 he moved to London where he made a living
as a session player, at one point playing with ‘The
Police’.
After 35 years in London, Chris and his wife decided
to move to Norfolk and settled in a small village near
Acle. They like the open spaces and walking their two
dogs in the countryside and on the beach.
He is a serious chess player and played for a chess
club in London and now plays mostly online.
Next up: Melody Brooker and her Quartet. Tuesday
12 September at 7.30 am. Swaffham Conservative
Club. 23 London Street PE37 7DD. £10 cash on the
door. More information from Norman 01760 722384
or Geoff 01366 328730.
Friends of Swaffham Heritage
We are looking forward to our coach trip to the
Sheringham ‘40s theme weekend on Sunday 17th
September. If you are interested in going, there may
still be places available, so contact our Membership
Secretary, Stuart Clapton – contact details below.
Tickets for Friends are £10, and for guests/others
are £12.50.
Later in the year on Friday 17th November we have
a trip to the Ely Cathedral Christmas Fair. Tickets for
this coach trip including entry are now on sale. Again,
please contact Stuart if you would like to go. Tickets
are £20 for Friends and £25 for guests/others; this
includes the £5 entry fee. The absolute deadline
for booking for this event is the end of September.
Payment for the Christmas Fair event can also be
handed in at the Museum in an envelope please,
marked for the attention of the Friends of Swaffham
Heritage and, importantly, do include your details
ie name and address, or phone number, or email
address. If you do hand it in at the museum, please
do so at least a week before the end of September.
Swaffham Heritage trustees have invited the Town
Councillors to a tour of the Museum at 5.30pm on
Wednesday 27th September and hope that many of
them can come along. The Town Council provides a
grant to support the work of Swaffham Heritage. The
trustees are then inviting the Friends of Swaffham
Heritage to come along from 6.30pm on the same
day, in recognition of the support of the Friends; all
Friends are invited so mark your diary or calendar!
100 Club
The 100 Club is a steady contributor of funds for
Swaffham Heritage, run by the Friends of Swaffham
Heritage exclusively for its members.
Winners for August 2023 were:
• £40 – no 2265
• £20 – no 2227
• £10 – no 2220
Cheques are on their way to our lucky winners!
Emails and letters will shortly be going out to remind
members of the 100 Club to re-subscribe as our
draw year commences in October and runs until
next September (don’t ask me why!) New numbers
starting 23…. will then be issued. If you are not already
a member of the 100 Club, you can apply to join.
For further information about the Friends of Swaffham
Heritage contact the Membership Secretary by
email stuartclapton@aol.com, or see our webpage,
on the Swaffham Heritage website https://www.
swaffhammuseum.co.uk/support-us#friends-ofswaffham-
heritage or call in to the Museum.
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