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Patron HRH The
Prince of Wales |
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Autumn
2005 Web
site: www.kewatch.co.uk Charity
no. 1044931 |
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From our
Chairman, Sir Ron Cooke. The Arboretum will never
be the same again! This time last year we had just begun to
realise our ambition for a major new visitor centre, so that we can serve
better the needs of our rapidly growing numbers of visitors and members. We
had plans, planning permission, and some of the necessary capital. Since
then, and thanks especially to the
efforts of John Simmons, our
curator, our honorary fund
raiser Peter Marshall, and the very hard work of Hamish Currie who secured
for us the generous support of DEFRA, we have raised the funds for the
centre. The DEFRA grant, made under its Rural Development Service programme,
matched that of our benefactors. As I write, we are on schedule to complete
the centre before Christmas, and to open it for the new season (hopefully
with an official opening later). We can now see the imaginative design of
Tony Oldale taking shape, and very pleasing it is too: a low-profile building
with dominant columns of English oak, wood windows, and timber up-braces that
resonate with the existing bird observatory, the Cruck house, and the
splendid new display panel designed and built by the students of York College
under the leadership of tutor John Apps. It is my guess that very soon our
building will be well-protected by trees, and that its setting will be
greatly enhanced by the (as yet unfunded!) plans John Simmons has for
landscaping the area between the building and the lake. The adjacent, new car
park within the old Christmas tree plantation is splendidly obscured from the
Arboretum by the trees that surround and punctuate it. The new centre has
naturally been the focus of much of our effort, but that does not mean that
the arboretum has been neglected or that we do not have plans for future
developments. I should mention the absolutely wonderful work of our many
volunteers
in helping with essential
tasks, including running the entrance and shop, mowing the grass, and
checking fences. The volunteers and our Administrator, Maurag Carmichael
(with a little help from the weather) ensured that major events, including
Alan Titchmarsh’s generous and memorable visit, the Oddsocks production of
The Tempest, and our first wedding were great successes. Joyce Kingman
continues her excellent and crucial labelling work in Ray Wood and in the
main arboretum and Harry Kingman’s outstanding web site is a special asset
for us (www.kewatch.co.uk). Neil
Batty’s extraordinary energy and skills, with support from Ken Cherry and our
volunteers, have meant that not only have they been able to be closely
involved with the new centre, but have somehow also managed to maintain the
arboretum in its immaculate condition. In addition Neil has found the time to
become a media personality! Maurag Carmichael deserves my special thanks: she
plays a pivotal role in co-ordinating all our work, managing the office,
marketing and publicity. We have plans for the
future that should become possible when the new centre is finished. Most
importantly, Professor Alan Suggett one of our volunteers has been working on
our education programme and Harry Kingman has taken on the task of creating
the new exhibition and information centre planned for the new building. We
are able to progress this project through the generous support of the
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers. The year has seen some
changes amongst our trustees. We have been very grateful for the support over
the early years of the trust from Iain Oag and Lord Cavendish. In their place
we welcome Lord Selborne, who is also Chairman of the Trustees at Kew and one
of the country’s leading apple growers and Jane Ingham, who lives locally and
has been one of our enthusiastic benefactors since the Trust was formed. Meanwhile, the Arboretum
continues to mature and to give those of us who enjoy its many pleasures some
splendid surprises: on a recent walk, we discovered Diospyros lotus,
the date plum in the ebony family, a rare evergreen oak (Quercus semecarpifolia), a duck’s nest in the rootery, and a host
of smiling orchids. What a bargain our subscription is! |
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A
Year in the Arboretum
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An exciting
summer – work started on our new access road, car park and visitor and
education centre at the beginning of the year. We are extremely grateful to Peter
Marshall our fundraiser, our many sponsors, benefactors and friends who have
helped to make this possible, and to DEFRA for their significant
contribution. Progress of the building can be followed on our website www.kewatch.co.uk – see ‘What’s New’. We now have a
stunning building, but as with many building projects and the need to conform
to the building inspectors requirements, our project has gone over budget. We still need
to raise funds. We need to flag
100 sq metres to make a smooth access for our less able visitors - £50 will
buy one sq. metre. We would like to lay 100 sq metres of decking around the
south west front as a place for all to sit and enjoy both the sunshine and
the beautiful aspect - £30 will buy timber for one sq. metres of decking. We
need to buy flooring, paint and kitchen fittings. Our volunteers have
promised their time and talents to complete these projects but we lack the
funding to buy the raw materials. Will you help
please? Any donation
will be very much appreciated.
May 12th
was a red-letter day for the arboretum when Alan Titchmarsh dropped in to
visit his old friend and mentor, our curator John Simmons. Members and friends
of the arboretum enjoyed ‘A Morning with Alan Titchmarsh’ listening to his
gardening expertise and advice, having their books signed and posing in the
sunshine for their photograph with Alan.
The photograph
(on the right) shows part of the audience listening to Alan’s advice with
some of our Volunteer team in the background. (Their smart new sweatshirts
sponsored by and supplied by Raymac Ltd of Malton.)
Following the
morning’s activities The Chairman and Trustees of the Arboretum entertained
Alan and his wife Alison, Sponsors and Benefactors to lunch in Castle Howard.
Following Alan’s very amusing ‘after lunch’ talk, two rare trees were
auctioned for arboretum funds. The trees
were very kindly donated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Twenty-six
members of the Bamboo Society were guided round the collections in Ray Wood
and the Arboretum on October 8th. In spite of pouring rain, they were
impressed with what they saw and delighted to share their knowledge and
enthusiasm with our plant records officer, Joyce Kingman. |
The
Oddsocks Productions Company presented ‘The Tempest’ on 24 July. After a
fine couple of weeks, the weather turned cool so everyone had to wrap up to
enjoy their picnics. Hot coffee was more appreciated than chilled champagne. However,
the talented and enthusiastic performance was very much enjoyed. The dialogue
was witty, the adlibs appropriate and the audience participated accordingly.
All in all, a superb evening. A very popular
group, their ‘Blackadder’ style is well received.
We hosted
several private parties in the Arboretum this summer, which gave us the
chance to show the Arboretum to a new audience. On a
glorious, warm, June evening a group of York Magistrates and members of the
Crown Prosecution Service enjoyed a picnic and entertainment by The
University of York Jazz Orchestra.
In July,
the Company of Butchers of the City of York, with friends from other guilds
enjoyed a Sunday morning tour with
the arborist Neil Batty, culminating with a barbecue by the lake. As you would
expect from Master Butchers the steaks were a gigantic!!! The Master was
grandly attired for a summer picnic! The pig racing was unbelievable and the
weather was wonderful. The first wedding in the Arboretum When John
and Barbara Kinghorn, two of our volunteers, asked if their son Ian could
have his wedding reception in the arboretum, we were delighted to agree.
Dales Diary was transmitted on Yorkshire and Tyne/Tees television on 28 July and featured Neil Batty walking and talking with Luke Casey. A very pleasing result, which increased day visitors and raised many enquires. |
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On May 13th
we were honoured by a visit by the Scottish
Rhododendron
Society. The society has amongst its members some of the foremost experts on
rhododendrons in the UK. The visit began in Ray Wood, which contains the historic
collection from the Sunningdale Nursery in Surrey brought by James Russell in
1968. Later the members
visited the arboretum where they were impressed by groups of plants grown
from seed collected by James Russell and John Simmons, whilst they were
members of the expedition to Guizhou in Western China in 1985. During 2005 we
have been delighted to support several research projects. Rebecca Ledger
spent three days with us in June studying The Regeneration Success of Exotic
Trees for her PhD; Rebecca was introduced to us by Professor Fitter,
University of York. The Arboretum
is playing a part in reducing fraud in the international trade in honey. Scientists from Central Science Laboratory
are using the DNA of sweet chestnut trees growing in The Arboretum at Castle Howard to help prove the authenticity of
honey from Corsica. Being able to confirm the origin of Corsican honey will
protect trade of this premium brand, and consumers can be sure they are
eating the genuine product.
‘‘Bees in
Corsica feed on a mixture of sweet chestnut and lavender flowers’ said Dr Hez
Hird of CSL. ‘‘This mixture of pollen is characteristic of Corsican honey,
and can be used to prove authenticity. Finding sweet chestnut trees of the
right species in the arboretum has made it
easy for us to collect pollen and to produce the DNA fingerprint we need to
check the honey. We are very grateful for the assistance of the Arboretum
Trust at Castle Howard, without which we would have had to travel to
Corsica”. New Volunteers
Peter Jackson is assisting Joyce Kingman with labelling and
associated tasks in Ray Wood. Elizabeth Thompson has joined our team manning the ticket desk. John Brown is walking the boundary fence on a regular basis ensuring
that it is rabbit proof. New volunteers are always welcome, if you think you can help in any
way please contact us. Welcome this year to our new Corporate Members. Corporate Membership, bought by several local companies as a benefit
for their employees has been very well received. Quote from one young family
“it’s the best thing the company has ever done for its employees” |
With the
retirement of Lord Cavendish and Iain Oag as
Trustees, we
are delighted that Mrs. Jane Ingham, a long-standing supporter of the
Arboretum and Lord Selborne, Chairman of the
Board of Trustees of RBG Kew, have agreed to join our Board of
Trustees. Dr Alan Suggett is liaising on our behalf with Malton School, - the Deputy Head,
Stephen Fearnley and Head of Geography, Rob Cooke - on a project to develop
resources for educational visits to the arboretum. The school is also working
on art projects inspired by trees and the Arboretum landscape and raising
pupils’ awareness of trees and their part in the environment The Chairman’s Tours – now a much sought after invitation. Ron and
Barbara Cooke have hosted four Saturday morning tours this year. Inviting
around 60 friends on each occasion to “Walk with the Arborist” and thereby
introducing many new members to the Trust.
Final year HNC
students of furniture design, restoration
and
conservation at York College have been instrumental in designing and
constructing an interpretive arbour on ‘diseased woods’ for The Arboretum
Trust as one of their primary units on the course. The different grains
caused by ‘Disease’ in woods are much loved by all furniture makers as the
variations in the grain give the designs and uniqueness to all woods, thereby
making stylish and interesting pieces of furniture.
The old information
board had fallen into disrepair when the students came to the rescue.
Students on the course are required to do a group project every year as one
of the units for their qualification in Furniture Design and Restoration. The structure
was sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and is sited at
the south end of the Furniture Makers Walk. Rotary International celebrated its 100th birthday in
2005 and to mark the occasion the Rotary Club of Malton & Norton
sponsored a tree. The tree selected is a Deodar Cedar,
Cedrus deodara, which is
close to a similar tree planted by our patron - HRH The Prince of Wales,
when he visited in 1999. (Trees are a long-lived
and beautiful reminder of a special occasion. Details of how you can sponsor
one of our rare trees are available on request.) |
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Curator’s
Diary |
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For visitors, arboreta
are tranquil, sylvan, havens, but for those who care for them, the dynamic
natural life processes that drive growth and decay require constant vigilance
and can be testing at times. Eight years ago I was rather concerned over the then small and half
dead plants of the Himalayan silver fir, Abies
spectabilis, that were near the internal deer fence entrance gate,
especially because the seed was collected by a former colleague, David Sayers
(we were students together) from Nepal. In Britain it is naturally slow
growing in its early stages and slightly tender, but I hoped for better as
this lovely fir has large upright purple cones that are used to make purple
dye for garments such as those worn by Buddhist monks. Fortunately life has
steadily improved for all the arboretum’s trees and these particular silver
firs are now growing extremely well and have already produced their first
cones.
In this season of ‘mellow fruitfulness’ I also like to pay a visit to
our Brecon Whitebeam, Sorbus
leptophylla since I find it one of the most attractive of Britain’s
several rare whitebeams. Its lovely silver foliage takes on fine autumn tints
and it is always heavily laden with wine-coloured fruits. These
are edible, but bletting is recommend as for medlars, and certainly when in a
partially rotted state their flesh is sweeter! It is a smallish tree and well
suited to gardens, but only as seedlings from cultivated plants since it is
one of Britain’s endangered endemic species. There is only a small population
of this species and it is in the Brecons where the trees grow on
Carboniferous limestone cliffs. Work on our new oak-framed building goes apace and is under the
management of our buildings consultant, Tony Oldale. Full fitting out will
have to wait until extra funding is achieved, but even partially equipped the
building will meet our immediate needs and will be improved over time. It is
fairly ‘green’, in its use of wood and stone, and its permanent biodisk
treatment of sewage returns clear water to drainage. When funds allow the
hope is that we might also be able to invest in more insulation and possibly
a heat pump to use ground water as a heating source.
The new site offers exciting prospects for landscaping. Most importantly
the extra land has given us visual control of our eastern boundary. To the south the intention is to have a winter walk
with hamamelis (witch hazels) leading to a magnolia grove and these
particular plantings have been made possible by a generous donation form a
Member. To the west the existing lake and bridge offer the most exciting
possibility for features and views with a pond and bog garden to be created
by the bridge. With limited budgets the landscaping will also take two or three
years to achieve in full, but it will be worth the wait. John B E Simmons OBE VMH |
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Thanks to
our team of volunteers, who will man the desk, in 2006 we will be open 7 days
every week from 1st February to 30th November 2006. If you
would like to help by manning the desk on an occasional basis please contact
us. |
Boot scrapers – we are regularly
asked for boot scrapers (similar to those provided by golf clubs). Any
donations of those or information where they can be obtained would be very
welcome. |
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As we go to
press we have learnt that Councillors have backed a recommendation that our
chairman, Professor Sir Ron Cooke, should be made an honorary freeman of
York. |
A 'thank
you' to Castle Howard Estate who, when they changed their stationary, passed
on their surplus super quality paper and envelopes to the Arboretum. |
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Two thirds of the world’s
original forests have been destroyed – please support our conservation work in
collecting and nurturing rare and endangered trees by renewing your
membership. Please pass the
additional application form to a friend. Trees play a
hugely important part in our existence. They give us biodegradable
material for every sort of construction, fuel, food, shelter from the
elements and habitats for wildlife. They give shape
and substance to rural landscapes and soften the hard edges of our towns and
cities. Trees also lift
our spirits. (Words by our
Patron from the foreword to The Glorious Trees of Britain.) |
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