Christmas Grotto 2019

After all the hard work put in during the year by the two Johns, we decided to make full use of the shed to celebrate the festive season with the Arno community.  This was the first time we have been able to organise an event like a christmas grotto, so we were keen to make it a wonderful celebration to end 2019.

Posters were made and social media used to let everyone in the local area know that Santa would be visiting our Arno.  All preparations were made to tidy up around the shed and our membership secretary Linda Atkinson, assisted by her sister Pauline created a wonderful secret grotto in one side of the shed, as well as elf outfits. Linda, also helped by our Chairperson Annette Capper, organised the event and allocated duties to other Committee members so that everything was ready. We were also selling home made jams which Brenda had kindly brought, ideal last minute gifts!









Saturday 14th December started very cold with quite a breeze. We gathered at 8.30am to set up the gazebo, decorate outside the shed and set up the tables and chairs. We had brought our home-made or shop bought cakes, gingerbread men, mince pies  and bottles of mulled wine.  Tea urns were used to warm the mulled wine and boil water for teas and coffees. Christmas music began to play and Santa arrived to take his seat.  We even had a basket full of bagged up dog treats for the many dog walkers who regularly exercise their pooches in the Arno and on the Oxton Fields.

We were delighted that so many people came along to support us.  Lots of dog walkers came to partake of the mulled wine and their dogs were looking smart in their Christmas coats. The star of the show was even giving a piggy back to his own mini santa toy.  Our elves were walking around handing out the dog treats and letting people know what was going on.





















Lots of children were brought along to meet Santa, and were given a chocolate treat and a satsuma.  After visiting Santa in his grotto they joined us under the gazebo for soft drinks and gingerbread men.
It was lovely to be able to gather so many people in our community together at this festive time of the year. 

















 






































At midday we started to clear away and dismantle the gazebo.  We felt that it had been a success. The sale of the jams had raised £68 and altogether, including donations in our snowman basket, £200 had been taken in just two hours. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone who came along to support us and have been spurred on to plan more community events in 2020.  Watch this space!

December Litter Pick 2019

On Saturday 7th December we met at the bottom of Duck Pond Lane to start our last litter pick of the year.  Litter pickers, gloves and plastic bags were trundled down in a wheelbarrow ready to be collected by volunteers at 10am.

Our Chairperson  Annette Capper

Everyone spread out across the Oxton Fields, up the paths through to the Rose Garden and around the Quarry area.  There were particular spots which were littered with lots of empty drink cans and glass bottles.  Around the edges of the Quarry and where the remains of the Sundial are situated seem to be especially prone to litter being thrown into the undergrowth.

Some strange items always seem to turn up, no matter what time of year we do the litter pick.  This time, we unearthed an old fire extinguisher, section of air ducting as well as a children's sledge.

After just over an hour, all the volunteers met for a photgraph or two and hot drinks and mince pies.
These regular litter picks are a vital part of the work the Friends group carries out.  Without these events, there would be so much more rubbish, spoiling the beautiful green spaces that we should treasure and enjoy as a community, as well as posing a danger to wildlife. 

If you feel you would like to take part in our next litter pick, follow us on Facebook or read our Notice Boards whenever you are passing.

In Memory of Jim Fryer.

On Saturday 23rd November 2019, members of our Friends group gathered on the Oxton Fields to plant a tree in memory of our dear friend Jim Fryer.  He was one of the founding members of our Friends group way back in 2007 and a true gentleman.

Jim sadly passed away earlier this year on the 5th January and we had decided, after discussion with his widow Val, that planting a tree would be a fitting and lasting tribute to her late husband.  Naturally we had to wait until November to plant a bare root tree, and a suitable spot was chosen, visible from Val's kitchen window.  We purchased a native mountain ash ( Rowan) tree, which will look beautiful, not cast a huge shadow, and will produce red berries to feed the wildlife.





A few of us prepared the planting hole before Val, their two sons, and grandchildren arrived.  Our chair Annette Capper said a few words about our memories of Jim. His family poured some of Jim's ashes into the planting hole before the tree was positioned. Val did the honours, shovelling in the first few spadefuls of earth, followed by one of Jim's sons and grandchildren.




Then we finished the planting and completed the task by staking the tree to protect it for the first few years.  Finally, we stood together for some photographs to commemorate the occasion.

Fully grown Sorbus Aucuparia

We look forward to watching Jim's tree grow and develop in the years to come.  I'm sure Val will keep a watchful eye on it from her window.  His grandchildren, we hope, will return when they have grown up, to tell their own families about the significance of this particular tree on the Oxton Fields.

Recycling Hanging Baskets 2019

Every Summer, Oxton village is adorned with beautiful hanging baskets of flowers.  These are planted up and cared for by Dovecote Nursery of Station Road, Burton, until they go up in the village at the beginning of June.  This year, Oxton village won a gold from the RHS Britain in Bloom Awards in the village category. 


Since the Friends have created composting bays at the top of the long border, we have started to empty these baskets in early November.  Despite some of their contents still flowering, Christmas is just around the corner  and soon it will be the annual switching on of the Christmas lights.








On Saturday 9th November, some members of the Oxton Society brought along all the baskets.  Many of our Committee members, along with extra volunteers, worked to sort and empty the baskets into our compost heaps.  Apart from the moss lining, all is added to the heaps to rot down for future use in the Rose Garden.

 

The wire baskets can then be returned to Dovecote Nursery to be reused for next year's display. This is a wonderful way for us to recycle so that everyone benefits.  During the year the Friends have been using a rotary seive to create perfect compost, which we use when we are planting perennials and shrubs around the Rose Garden, or potting up plants for sale to raise funds for the Friends group.






Thank you to everyone who turned out on Saturday.  It was a fantastic team effort.

RHS North West in Bloom Award 2019

Back in the Summer, I posted about the RHS judges coming to visit our Rose Garden on the 23rd July. This was part of their North West in Bloom awards.  In 2018 we achieved level 4 out of a possible 5, which classed us as 'thriving'.

It is with great delight that I can announce that this year we did even better and were awarded level 5, outstanding.  We are so pleased that our efforts have been recognised, as our volunteers work so hard to make the Rose Garden as pleasant a green space for the public as possible.

Rose Planting November 2019

As scheduled, we gathered in the Rose Garden at 10am on Saturday the 2nd November.  It started cloudy with rain forecast for later so we had to work quickly to plant the 160 bare root rose bushes .

The plan was to fill in gaps that were evident in the rose beds.  Obviously some beds needed only a few new rose bushes, whereas other beds were almost empty.  This year, the varieties of rose were selected to match in with the colours and heights already in.  There were Arthur bell, a yellow rose which has already proven to do well, Super Trouper, Pride and Prejudice, Ruby 40th Anniversary and finally Chandos Beauty.

Super Trouper

Pride and Prejudice

Ruby 40th Anniversary

Chandos Beauty

Arthur Bell

Despite England Rugby Team playing that morning in the World Cup Final, which we sadly lost against South Africa, we still had quite a few volunteers arrive, armed with their gloves and spades.  Each rose had its roots dipped in a solution of wallpaper paste and Rootgrow,  a mycorrhizal fungi in powdered form which helps the plants establish faster.  We worked well as a team, some digging holes, some dipping and handing out the rose bushes.  After a short tea/coffee break in our new Gardeners' shed, we continued planting until just past midday , at which time it was raining heavily.  We packed up and agreed to finish planting the remaining bushes on the following Monday.

Monday morning was cold but bright and some of us met up around10am. By noon all 160 rose bushes had been successfully planted.  Hopefully next June  everyone will be able to enjoy the scent and sight of all the rose beds in full bloom.

A huge thank you to all those who braved the cold and wet to help us.

Maintaining our Green Flag status

It is with delight that I can share with you the great news that we have yet again achieved green flag status. We first received a Green Flag for the Arno way back in 2010, only three years after our Friends group was formed.

So many improvements and additions have come about due to the perseverance and efforts of the Friends, in collaboration with the Council Parks and Gardens team.  Rose, tree and bulb planting, commemorative plaques, rose arches, benches, notice and interpretation boards, nest boxes, bug hotels, extensive planting of the long border and shrub beds and more besides.  A huge thank you to those people who have made all that possible over the years.  The Green Flag is a symbol of the recognition and appreciation of all that work.

In the photograph you can see just some of us gathered to raise the Green Flag for the ninth time.

Britain in Bloom 2019

Last year was our first time entering the RHS Britain in Bloom award scheme.  We were delighted to have achieved level 4 out of a possible 5, which described our Rose garden and Quarry as 'thriving'.
This year we are hoping to do even better.
On Tuesday the 23rd July, two RHS ( Royal Horticultural Society ) judges paid their second visit to the Arno.  The weather was particularly hot that whole week but it gave us a chance to show off the long border and all the projects we had been working on since their previous visit.  They were handed a folder, which our Membership Secretary Linda Atkinson had compiled. This contained photographs and details of all the events and work we had undertaken in the Arno as well as the Oxton fields.
 

Annette and John  with the RHS judges.

Our Chairperson Annette Capper talked them through the folder, which they could take away with them as a reminder of what they had seen.  John Booth was delighted to show them our progress on the Shed and explain how we intended to use it.  They seemed particularly pleased that we were collecting rainwater from the roof.  Our compost bins, leaf bins and newly built potting table showed how we are environmentally friendly in our approach to gardening.

The two Johns, hard at work.

The judges were also delighted by the Bug Hotel and sign, along with the nesting boxes which John Booth and John Hall had fixed into suitable trees around the perimeter of the Rose Garden. Finally, after a walk along the long border,  where we pointed out areas of new planting we had completed using funds raised from our Spring Plant sale, we said our goodbyes and escorted them back to their driver and car. 





All we need to do now is wait for the results. Fingers crossed for a higher score than last year!

Protecting our Insects

In recent years, we have all come to realise the importance of a good balance of nature in a garden. We no longer wish to use pesticides or slug pellets, which are harmful to insects, birds and small mammals.  Bees are in decline and yet we can all play our part to make a genuine difference, by changing the way we garden in even the smallest ways. Beetles, birds and frogs will eat slugs and snails, greenfly on the roses and so on.  We should let this wonderful balance in nature do what it is supposed to, with us gardeners working alongside, not against.



In the Rose Garden, and the shrub beds and long border, we are making a conscious effort to select plants which are of benefit to pollinators. Providing flowering plants from January through  to November so there is always pollen and nectar available. In Autumn we leave plants to die back and  provide shelter and food for wildlife in terms of seeds, rose hips and cover for spiders and insects and caterpillars. If every garden in the country followed these same principles then that would provide a huge resource for our wildlife.



As part of the school syllabus, many primary schools do a study of Minibeasts. We have seen schools visiting the Rose Garden and Quarry as part of this study. With this in mind, our volunteers have created a bug hotel, to help create a place of shelter for insects of all kinds.  You can do this on a smaller scale in your own gardens.  Leave a pile of rotting logs in a quiet corner, create a compost heap, stack some bricks with gaps between for frogs and woodlice and beetles etc.
We hope our bug hotel will be added to with dead hollow stems, fir cones, straw.  Perhaps the schoolchildren can collect materials to add when they visit.  Why not build a bug shelter in your garden, it's great fun for you and just great for insects!

Clematis Planting

Clematis Anna Louise

As you know, our recently installed double rose arch is now planted with four climbing roses.  These are beginning to wind their way up the sides and are flowering well.

It has always been our intention to introduce clematis to the rose arch.  This is a common practice, as the clematis use the roses to scramble up and it prolongs the season of colour on the arches.

Clematis Elsa Spath

Four clematis have now been planted alongside the roses.  The varieties are two from pruning group 2, called Anna Louise and Elsa Spath. These flower in May and June, then can be lightly pruned and can flower later in September

The other two are group 3 Clematis, Polish Spirit and Etoile Violette. These are both purple varieties which flower in late Summer. To prune these, if you want to, all the stems can be cut down to around 30cms in mid February.  We hope these beautiful clematis will add extra colour and prolong the season of interest when the roses are not in flower.  They will also be of benefit to pollinating insects.
                                                                                                                                                                 

Clematis Polish Spirit

Clematis Etoile Violette

Welcome to our new Patron the Earl of Shrewsbury

It is with great delight that we are announcing that his Lordship has kindly accepted to be the Patron of the Friends of the Arno and Oxton Fields.

Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 22nd Earl of Waterford, 7th Earl Talbot, 7th Viscount Ingestre, 7th Baron Dynevor DL (born 18 December 1952), styled Viscount Ingestre until 1980, is the premier earl in the Peerage of England as the Earl of Shrewsbury (created 1442), and in the Peerage of Ireland as the Earl of Waterford (1446). He also holds the titles of Earl Talbot and Baron Talbot.

A significant part of the land on which Oxton is situated was part of the Estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury. This has been commemorated in many of the road names, which bear the family names and titles of the various Earls. Hence Alton Road, Shrewsbury Road, Talbot Road, Beresford Road, and Ingestre Road. The oldest pub in the village is called “The Shrewsbury Arms” (for the same reason) and the bar now known as “The Oxton Bar and Grill” was formerly the “Talbot Hotel”.

In 1910, the Earl of Shrewsbury (Major Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 5th Earl Talbot and 20th Earl of Waterford (November 13, 1860 - May 7, 1921), was a British peer. ) advised Birkenhead Corporation that he was willing without charge to hand over the deeds of The Arno (and The Little Arno) if the Corporation would agree to plan a 'Recreation Ground' on the site - and maintain it. His offer was accepted and the total cost of converting his disused quarry into a formal park was £1,106 8s 9d (£1,106.43p) - at that included £182 to build the stone wall and provide gates on Storeton Road. But by far the most expensive cost was the laying out of the Rose Garden. At £679 8s 8d (£679.43p) it was at that time,quite a substantial amount of money. The Little Arno, by comparison, cost very little to lay out. The site was the garden of a former house that stood on Mill Hill. This simple little park cost only £108.75p to create.

TheArno was officially opened as a 'Recreation Ground' on Saturday 30th March 1912.

Sally Spencer's Memorial Plaque

It was a special occasion on Saturday 1st June, as we gathered to unveil the memorial plaque for our dear, former Membership Secretary Sally Spencer, who sadly passed away last year.  Sally was a much loved part of life at St.Saviour's church, as well as being part of our Friends Committee.
She will always be remembered as a warm and welcoming soul, frequently found offering tea, coffee and cakes, with an encouraging smile.

We are very grateful to  Phil Stafford  of Revive Stone Walls , who set the plaque, which we had purchased,  in the wall by our double rose arch. Phil kindly did this free of charge.
It was lovely to have so many of Sally's friends there for the unveiling, as well as one of Sally's sons Andrew Spencer.

Andrew Spencer

 Our new Membership Secretary Linda Atkinson had bought a beautiful rose called Simply Sally which she planted beside the wall plaque. 

Thanks also to our President Patricia Williams, who gave a short address to those gathered.  The unveiling was followed by refreshments. 

Secret Gardens of Oxton 2019

After nearly a whole week of rain leading up to Sunday 12th May, we were desperate for some sunshine for the event. Luckily, we awoke to clear skies and the weather was gorgeous and sunny all day.
We gathered in the village at 8.30am to set up the plant stall.  People had been incredibly generous with their donations of both plants, gardening books and containers. Our Friends group had also been busy planting up lots of perennials from both the long border in the Rose Garden, and our own gardens.

Linda, Pauline and John.

Our Membership Secretary Linda had set up a separate table to try to enrol new members and raise our profile with the public. She was assisted by her twin sister Pauline and John Booth. 

  

The plant creche worked very efficiently and our price system of colour coding the pots also made it easy for people to clearly see what they were spending.  Thanks go to Linda who made the potted pricing signs which were intermingled with the plants.  

Our. clear colour coded pricing

There were definitely more plants this year than in previous years and this was reflected in the total sales at the end of the day.

Our Secretary Peter on creche duty.

We took an amazing £1,112. This is a new record for the plant stall.  The Friends of the Arno and Oxton Fields expect to receive £444.  We want to say a huge thank you to all those who made donations and our volunteers who ran the stall on the day.