Meetings
Our monthly social Meetings take place on the first Friday of most months in the evening and are a great way to catch up with other members and hear the latest Club news. The Meeting normally includes a talk from a guest speaker.
Non-members are warmly welcomed to our meetings. To find out more please contact us.
Club Meetings
Horticultural Club Talks in 2020
In 2020, there is another exciting range of events outline details are below. More detailed descriptions will follow. If you would like more information or if you have any questions about the Club activities, please let us know via the Contact Us link and we will be delighted to help.
-
All evening events are held in the Church Hall of All Saints Church New Haw, Weybourne Way, 98, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, KT15 3DH.
-
Light refreshments are included in the entrance price. Tea, coffee and a choice of cakes (including gluten free) all baked by Melissa Gill
-
Homemade jams and preserves are also on sale –again prepared by Melissa. A share of the sale price is donated to Club funds
-
There is always a raffle and a good selection of prizes
-
All meetings on Fridays start at 7.45pm and conclude at about 10pm
-
To attend a meeting as a visitor, just turn up
Please note that the admission charge is £3 per person for members and £4 per person for visitors.
Friday, 7th February
David Jackson from Ottershaw Cacti will give a talk on 'Our Road to Chelsea Gold'
Friday 6th March
Heavenly Hostas by John Baker
Friday 3rd April
Say it with Poison by Russell Bowes Meeting Cancelled
Friday 1st May
The Florence Nightingale Story - Paul Whittle on the 200th Anniversary of her birth Meeting cancelled but Paul has given us his presentation notes - see below
Friday 5th June
Herbs and their uses, culinary and medicinal with Belinda Allen Meeting cancelled
Friday 2nd October - Celebrity Speaker - Pippa Greenwood Meeting postponed till October 2021
My Life in Gardening.
This will be an all-ticket event - details to follow.
Friday 6th November
Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Rules and Regulations on how they plan and manage the gardens in their Cemeterys Cancelled but replaced with a talk on Zoom by Derek Dexter on Over-wintering fuchsias
Friday 4th December
Matt Biggs will be talking to us by Zoom about 'The Wonder of Plants'
Have you ever wondered how cacti survive the extremes of the desert, how the ‘Venus Flytrap’ captures its prey or intricate orchid flowers are pollinated? This talk takes the opportunity to look closely at the complex survival mechanisms of plants and to marvel how they survive in extreme climates throughout the natural world.
You will be introduced to amazing plants from some of the world’s most extreme habitats, from the high-altitude Andes to the humid Amazon rainforest and arid American deserts. With the focus on plant pollination, he reveals the secrets of the ‘Giant Water Lily’ and the smallest waterlily in the world, the unusual diets of ‘carnivorous’ plants, survival strategies of cacti and much more. There’s much more to the botanical world than meets the eye. Welcome to the wonderful world of plants!
Fun Competitions are on: 3rd April (Daffodils), 5th June (Roses) and 2nd October (Dahlias).
Members are invited to bring along five specimen blooms in a vase of their choice. These will be displayed during the evening and members will then judge the entries and prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Results of the Daffodil Fun Competition on the 3rd April:
1st Place - Maggie White
2nd Place - Jo Graham
3rd Place - Jim Adams
From Paul Whittle
The Lady with the Lamp – The Florence Nightingale Story
I am sorry that the inevitable result of the COVID 19 restrictions is that I will be unable to give you this talk on 1 May - just 11 days before the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.
Whilst known principally for her work in the Crimea, her subsequent achievements over the next fifty years deservedly gave her the accolade as the founder of modern nursing.
So it is absolutely fitting that the seven temporary NHS England COVID 19 hospitals bear her name.
My talk would have included an overview of her long life and many accomplishments, the people and places associated with her, and a look at the Crimea of today, immediately before its annexation by Russia.
However, in very small compensation I hope you will find the attached fact sheet of interest, and I look forward to coming to see you all again once normal life has resumed.
Very best regards – and stay safe!
Paul Whittle
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE – KEY DATES
1820 Born 12 May at the Villa La Colombia in Florence.
1837 Family embarks on Grand Tour. Queen Victoria succeeds to the throne. Florence recalls her ‘revelation’ when she felt God had called her to his service. She interprets this as nursing, at that time not even a respectable job, let alone a profession.
1845 Florence first hears of the Kaiserswerth community in Germany.
1847 When in Rome she meets Sidney Herbert for the first time and accompanies his wife, Lis, on visits to convents and hospitals. On her way home in 1850 she visits, and is inspired by the moral tone and nursing work of Kaiserswerth.
1851 Second visit to Kaiserswerth where she gains extensive practical nursing experience.
1852 Florence studies hospital reports and designs. She continues to press her parents for permission to apply for a nursing post.
1853 Appointed Superintendent at the Establishment for Gentlewomen during Illness, Upper Harley Street and also nurses cholera epidemic patients at the Middlesex Hospital. Russian troops occupy the Turkish-controlled Danube States.
1854 March: France and Britain support Turkey and declare war on Russia. June: Coalition forces arrive at Varna on the Black Sea. First reports of inadequate medical support. September: Coalition forces land in the Crimea. Battle of the Alma. 4 November: Florence and 38 nurses arrive at Scutari (opposite Constantinople and a huge Turkish barracks converted into the main British military hospital). Insanitary conditions result in high mortality.
1855 24 February: First image of ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ published in the Illustrated London News. 4 March: a Sanitary Commission arrives at Scutari and rapidly improves water/sanitation. May: Florence visits army hospitals at Balaclava and has her first attack of ‘Crimea Fever’ (since identified as a form of brucellosis). She never again has sustained good health.
1856 30 March: Peace Treaty signed in Paris and the war ends. 7 August Florence returns home incognito, ill and exhausted. She enlists Queen Victoria’s support for a Royal Commission into the health of the British Army. Her report runs to 900 pages.
1858 Elected first woman member of the Statistical Society of London (later the Royal Statistical Society).
1859 Louis Pasteur suggests that micro-organisms may cause many human and animal diseases. Between then and 1863 Florence, although very ill, secures a Royal Commission for India and publishes Notes on Nursing and Notes on Hospitals.
1860 The Nightingale Training School opens at St Thomas’ Hospital (the first non-sectarian training establishment for nurses).
1863 The Herbert Military Hospital Woolwich opens, with many features advocated by Florence.
1870 Louis Pasteur and Robert Kock establish germ theory.
1871 The relocated St Thomas’ Hospital opens oat its present Westminster Bridge site, with much design input from Florence.
1901 Queen Victoria dies and is succeeded by Edward VII.
1907 Florence is the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit.
1910 13 August: Florence dies at her home at South Street, London. She is buried at East Wellow, near the family home of Embley Park, Romsey.
Further Information:
Florence Nightingale Museum, St Thomas’ Hospital
Florence Nightingale Foundation
www.florence-nightingale-foundation.org.uk
Nightingale Society