Swaffham Newsletter

Ashill & Holme Hale Garden Group
Wildlife Garden Ponds
Gardeners are keen to attract most forms of wildlife
to their garden (with the exception of Muntjac deer)
and one of the best ways is to have a wildlife pond in
your garden. Thus we were fortunate to have Norfolk
naturalist and author Simon Harrap, who runs a
wildflower nursery on the Bayfield estate near Holt,
give us an excellent presentation in November on
how to establish a wildlife pond in your garden.
Simon started his talk with how to best construct a
pond in your garden. Simon warned against water
lilles, unless you have a large pond/lake as they
take up a great deal of space. Good oxygenators
such as the free floating hornwort will help keep
your pond healthy and offer great cover for newly
hatched species. Simon also warned about using
invasive aquatic plants in your pond, as once they
get established they are difficult to get rid of and
can completely dominate a pond to the detriment of
both other plants and wildlife. Plants such as Crasula
Helmsii from New Zealand (New Zealand pigmyweed),
which has been banned from sale due to its invasive
nature but still found in ponds around the UK. It is
wise not to accept plants for your pond that you do
not know the origin or species, even if donated.
The wildlife you can attract include many species of
dragonflies, pond skaters, frogs, toads and newts.
Unless you have a large pond fish are not advisable
as they eat tadpoles and need sufficient space. Most
importantly you should enjoy your pond and the
wildlife it attracts, accepting that nature may adapt it
from your original design.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Our next monthly meetings will be held on Thursday
January 25th, when Martyn Davey will talk on ‘Garden
Pests and Diseases’ and our February meeting will be
given by Andrew Sankey on ‘Rethinking your Garden’.
Meetings are held at Holme Hale Pavilion and start at
2.30pm. New members from anywhere in the district
are always welcome, so come along.
Community Hospital LoF's
I hope your new year has got off to a reasonable
start. There are lots of flu/cold viruses about at the
moment including my own "sniffles".
Christmas at the Hospital seemed to go well and the
patients and staff appreciated the presents and all
the garden lights and decorations.
Now the garden is back to normal and it will be a
few more weeks before another tidy up.
I have to say yet another thank you to those of
you who are still contributing to our home coin
collections. We have had 4 in recent weeks and it
always pleases me how much your jars can contain.
It may not seem much as you put your change into
the container but it soon adds up.
As mentioned last time the Ward/Hospital Manager
has now retired and the "Friends" look forward to a
continuing good working relationship with the new
team.
Our financial year ended 31.12.23 so we will soon
be finalising that year's accounts and sending to
our external auditor. Copies of the accounts will be
available in due course.
If any of you have any ideas related to the "Friends"
I am always happy to hear from you. As ever if you
would like to know more about what we do, please
contact me.
Colin Houghton (Chairman)
07767 262108
Authors Books and Cakes
2024 will see the return of a selection of awardwinning
authors to Swaffham on Sunday afternoons
in the Assembly Rooms with a delightful afternoon
tea while raising money for the Norfolk Hospice. All
events will commence at 3pm. Doors open at 2.15pm.
(Except 6th October which will be an all-day event)
Dates for 2024:
• 3rd March Cressida Mc Claughlin Hosted by Heidi
Swain.
• 21st April Nicci French hosted by Deidri O’ Brien.
Save the following dates and a full programme to
follow in the next Newsletter.
• 12th May
• 9th June
• 8th September
• 6th October A day with authors from across East
Anglia.
• 3rd November
Tickets can be obtained from The Green Parrot in
Swaffham or online from Norfolk Hospice. For further
information contact Lynette on 07900 570765.
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