Dear Gardening Members

Welcome to another gardening year.

The CHAPS Committee has put together another really good programme of activities for 2017 which we will hope you will enjoy.

We start our programme on Thursday the 19th of January at Quinnettes with a talk on Planning and Planting a Border by Geoff Hawkins.

Back at the Village Hall on Thursday the 16th of February Lesley Chamberlain will talk about the Secret Gardens of Sussex and on Thursday the 16th of March we will have a talk on Growing Dahlias by Nick Gilbert.

Our day visit this year will be on Wednesday the 21st of June to Borde Hill, Haywards Heath. This is an all-day coach trip and we will depart at 9.30am from the Village Hall. We will be selling tickets for this at our talks and the Spring show. The price will be £20.50 to cover the coach hire and entry to the garden. You can also book your place via the CHAPS website. Just go to the Members’ Area .

Our afternoon visit will be on Tuesday 18th July  to RHS Wisley. Please arrange your own transport for this and meet at the entrance at 12 noon. Entry will be free as part of our affiliation with the RHS.

Our evening visit is on Thursday the 17th August to Wheatley House, Kingsley. Please arrange your own transport and meet at Wheatley House at 6.30pm The entry fee is £5.

Avalon Garden Centre continues to be our sponsor, as well as continuing to offer members a 5% discount on plants. In addition to Avalon many other outlets kindly give CHAPS members discounts – details can be found in the schedule. Remember to show your membership card at the till before your items are put through.

Thank you to all our loyal CHAPS members, without whose support this society would not continue to flourish as it does. 2016 was a really successful year and the Committee members look forward to meeting many of you again throughout 2017.

Happy Gardening.

Maggie Wright

Nearly 40 CHAPS members enjoyed an informative and entertaining talk on ‘Garden Birds’ by Roger Beck after their AGM at their November meeting.

At CHAPS’ last talk of the year, Roger, a former leader of the Guildford Branch of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, shared with CHAPS members his enthusiasm and knowledge of the birds we might see in our gardens. He also reminded us of the local jewel in the crown when it comes to spotting birds – Thursley Common with its stone chats, great grey warblers and dartford warblers. Further afield Pulborough Brooks is excellent for nightingales but only for a short period at the end of May, beginning of June.

Roger had both a stunning range of slides and an ability to mimic bird songs so we all enjoyed both a visual and auditory experience. He gave the Latin names for the birds – not to test our scholarly understanding but to help describe the particular characteristics of the birds. As an example, the male chaffinch’s Latin name is fringilla coelebs which translates as celibate bachelor finch because in winter the females migrate south, leaving the males behind on their own.

Roger explained that birds need food such as insects and seeds, water for drinking and washing and shelter from predators. We can help them by planting suitable trees, shrubs and flowers, by providing supplementary food such as seeds, nuts and fat balls throughout the year on bird tables (both high and low), by making fresh water available and by providing nest boxes. He also encouraged us to let nature takes it course rather than being over tidy in our gardens as a bit of wasteland is great habitat for birds. Roger said some decent binoculars are a good investment.

Some interesting facts we learnt include:

• The robin’s heart beats 500 times per minute when resting and 1000 times when active – compared with the human’s 70 beats per minute
• Seabirds can live for up to 50 years whereas the life span of a blue tit is one year and a black bird maybe 5 years
• The base of the bill in a male magpie is blue and in a female magpie it is pink
• Song thrushes can break a snail on an anvil – the only bird we know of that can do this
• Global warming is threatening bird reproductive behavior
• The nest of the long tailed tit takes 3 weeks to build, is joined with gossamer and spiders’ threads and is lined with 1500 feathers; it is the size of a tennis ball and incredibly strong
• Nuthatches are the only birds that can walk up and down trees and they have large feet
• The five note call of the wood pigeon – number 2 on our national bird list – sounds like ‘my feet hurt Betty’
• The eagle owl is the world’s largest owl with a wing span of 6’

Many members commented that this was probably CHAPS best talk of the year and all were inspired and fascinated by Roger’s passion and encyclopedic knowledge. You can find out more about the R.S.P.B. at http://www.rspb.org.uk

Please select the newsletter or talk summary you would like to read from the drop down menu – they are in date order with the most recent first.

Dear CHAPS member,
Since the summer newsletter CHAPS members have been busy. A large group enjoyed an afternoon visit to Vann Garden, Hambeldon in June. After a wet day the weather turned beautiful, and following an interesting talk on the house and garden the walk round the garden was lovely with lots of different areas and styles of planting to explore.
At the beginning of August we had the summer party at Quinnettes which I hope was enjoyed by all who came along. Judging by the empty plates and noise of conversation it was a good social evening.
Looking forward to our Autumn programme there is still much to keep you occupied.
CHAPS Autumn Show is on Saturday 10th September. This year we are hosting the Close Brooks Cup, an inter-village competition so there will be an opportunity to see fruit, vegetables, flowers and a pot plant produced by other villages in the area.
As always I would encourage everyone to have a look at the schedule to see if there are a few classes you can enter. There is lots of choice from floral arrangements through garden flowers to fruit and vegetables and then on into home industries and photography. If you need any help or advice please contact one of the committee members who will be happy to offer assistance.
Also, please don’t forget to encourage your children under 16 to enter. There are three categories: a photograph they have taken, a bookmark or a potato person.
Entries can be made by using the entry form in your schedule and posting it in the box at the Village Hall or you can submit your entries by E mail to chaps.showsecretary@gmail.com. Please include the same details on your E mail as you would on the entry form. The deadline for entries by whichever method you choose is 8pm on Thursday 8th September. We start preparing the show cards on the Thursday evening so it is important that this deadline is met.
Exhibits should be staged by 10.45am on the Saturday and the show opens at 2.30pm. There will be tea, coffee and home baking available plus a raffle. The prize giving will be at 4pm.
Our first talk of the autumn season is on Thursday 15th September and will be on Planting and Growing Autumn Bulbs by Tim Woodland.
On 20th October we have a talk on Growing Soft Fruits by Peter Barwick.
The AGM is on 17th November followed by a talk on Garden Birds by Roger Beck . The September and October talks start at 8pm in the Village Hall. The AGM will be in Quinnettes and a glass of wine will be served at 7.45pm with the AGM starting at 8pm. As advised to members earlier in the year we have been working on a website for CHAPS – this will be unveiled at the AGM – hopefully you will find it useful (if nothing else, if you mis-place your handbook you will know where to go to find out about forthcoming talks and entry schedules for the shows.
We do have a few vacancies on the committee so we would be delighted if any members would like to put themselves forward to join.
Don’t forget the celebration of 50 years of Quinnettes on Saturday 3 September from 2 to 5.30pm. CHAPS will have a promotional stall where new members can join and we will be running a raffle for a potted planter and a trug of fresh fruit and vegetables.
We have been advised by the Parish Council that the person who has been looking after the planting and weeding of the War Memorial in Churt is moving away and will no longer be able to undertake this work. If anyone is interested in taking on the job please get in touch with Dawn Barrow, the clerk of Churt Parish Council.
I look forward to seeing you at some or all of the forthcoming events.
Happy gardening!

Maggie Wright, Chairman

Dear CHAPS member,

We have a busy summer ahead of us with several dates for your diaries.

The Churt Village Fete is on Saturday 11 June where CHAPS will have a plant stall. Any donations of plants for sale can be delivered to Sue Styles at Ambleside on Old Kiln Close in advance or straight to the stall after 12 noon on the day itself.

On Wednesday 15 June we have our afternoon visit to Vann Garden, Hambledon, Godalming, Surrey GU8 4EF. The visit starts at 3pm with a talk arranged for especially for CHAPS. The cost of the visit is £7. It will take between 30 and 40 minutes to drive there from Churt. If you would like to come and have not yet signed up please let Sandra Probert know by E mailing her on chaps.showsecretary@gmail.com. We need to let Vann Garden know the numbers and send payment in advance. Therefore we need to know numbers and have the £7 entrance fee by Friday 27 May. Payment can be made to any CHAPS committee member. Information on the garden can be found at http://www.vanngarden.co.uk/

On Saturday 9 July we have the CHAPS Summer Show. Hopefully the combination of rain and sun we are having will make everyone’s gardens bloom allowing lots of options for entries to the show. As always entries need to be submitted by 8pm on Thursday 9 July. You can do this by using the entry form and posting it in the box at the Village Hall or if you prefer you can submit your entries by E mail to chaps.showsecretary@gmail.com. Please include the same details on your E mail as you would on the entry form. Entries must be staged by 10.45 on the Saturday morning and the show opens for viewing at 2pm. As always there will be a raffle, plant stall and home baking with tea or coffee.

Finally, but very importantly, on Friday 5 August (7pm for 7.30pm) we will be holding the CHAPS Garden Party at Quinettes. Tickets will be £12.50 and can be obtained from Sarah Bourne or any committee member. Tickets will also be available at the CHAPS stall at the Churt Fete and at the Summer Show. As always there will be a home cooked two course meal with a glass of wine. There will also be a quiz and raffle.

We have been contacted by Claudia Malitzki-Hastie who has recently moved to Churt and would like to have an allotment. As you may be aware there are no allotments in Churt at the moment but the council are obliged to provide them if there is sufficient interest. If you would be interested in an allotment, please contact Claudia on 01428 714576 or by email at cm@I-alive.com and she will take the matter forward.

As you know CHAPS are hosting the Close Brooks Cup at the Autumn Show. If you would be willing to donate any fruit, vegetables or flowers to the CHAPS entry please contact Sandra Probert. In the week before the show you will be contacted to see what you have available and a selection will be made from the range available to make as good an entry as possible.

I look forward to seeing you at some or all of these events and I hope your garden is growing well.

Maggie Wright, Chairman

Dear CHAPS member,

What a good start we have had to the year with an interesting talk on Madeira and a demonstration and talk on heathers (I’m inspired to plan a heather bed now – I hadn’t appreciated the diversity of size, colour and flowering time before).

Our last talk on the 17th of March was a change from that advertised as our speaker had to cancel at the last moment due to ill health. However, Sarah Bourne managed to arrange for Paul Patton to come and give us a very interesting talk on A Diet Plan for Plants and the Use of Essential Organic Material – there may be a rush to the garden centres to stock up on various feeds to encourage our plants to grow better.

Our next event is the Spring show on Saturday the 9th of April – hopefully the weather will be kind to us and we’ll have a good show of daffodils. Please have a look through your schedule to see if you can make a few entries. For those of you with children don’t forget to have a look at the children’s classes to see if there is something to tempt an entry.

Please don’t forget to sign up for our garden visits:
On Wednesday the 18th of May we have our day visit by coach to West Dean Garden https://www.westdean.org.uk/gardens and Weald & Downland Open Air Museum http://www.wealddown.co.uk/ . The price is £32.50 which covers the coach and both entry fees. We will be departing from the Village Hall at 9.45am.
On Wednesday the 15th of June we have an afternoon visit to Vann Garden, Hambledon, near Godalming http://www.vanngarden.co.uk/ . The visit will cost £7 including a short introductory talk. Please arrange your own transport and arrive ready to go into the garden at 3.00pm.
You can sign up at the Spring Show or let Sandra or me know by phone or E mail.

The Churt Fete is on the 11th of June and as usual CHAPS will have a stall selling plants. If you have any plants you can bring along for us to sell and raise funds please drop them off with Sue Styles in Old Kiln Close during the week before or bring them to the CHAPS stall on the day. Any unsold plants will be donated to Phyllis Tuckwell to help with their fund raising.

The WI will also have a stall at the fete selling books to raise money for the causes they support. If you have any good condition fiction or non-fiction books you can let the WI have please contact Marion Mitchell .

As you know CHAPS are hosting the Close Brooks Cup at the Autumn Show. If you would be willing to donate any fruit, vegetables or flowers to the CHAPS entry please contact Sandra Probert. In the week before the show you will be contacted to see what you have available and a selection will be made from the range available to make as good an entry as possible.

Happy gardening!

Maggie Wright, Chairman

Dear Gardening Members

Welcome to another gardening year.

The CHAPS Committee has put together another really good programme of activities for 2016 which we will hope you will enjoy.

We start our programme on Thursday the 21st of January at Quinnettes with a talk and demonstration on the many uses of Heathers by John Hall of Whitehall Nursery, Headley Down at 8.00pm.

On Thursday the 18th of February Derrick Donnison-Morgan will give a talk on The Flora of the Island of Madeira in the Village Hall at 8.00pm.

Then on Thursday the 17th of March    we have a talk on Clematis through the Seasons by Everett Leeds of the International Clematis Society in the Village Hall at 8.00pm. There will be some plants for sale.

We are in the process of developing our own website which you will be able to access independently or through a link from the Churt village website. We would like to include photos of plants and gardens and would ask any member who has some photos of plants from their garden, garden views or wildlife in their garden which they would be happy to share on the website to send them to me at chaps.chairman@gmail.com. We will let you know once the website is ready to use.

At the Autumn Show in September CHAPS will be hosting the Close Brooks Cup, an inter village competition. We would like to put in a good entry ourselves! The classes are listed below and I would encourage all members to see which of these they might be able to help us with by growing a few more than usual to allow for enough produce to enter the normal show classes and have a few good specimens available to CHAPS to call in for our Close Brooks cup entry.

The entry will comprise of a combination of any 6 (maximum 2 fruit items) from the following 17

We will be looking for one pot plant, flowering or foliage, pot not to exceed 200mm (8”) diameter. Do you have a pot plant that might be suitable?

And finally we will need to put together two front-facing flower displays. Each may be mixed or of one variety or species. One will be in a vase not to exceed 100mm (4”) at the top, and the other will be in a container not to exceed 200mm (8”) diameter. If you grow flowers for cutting perhaps you may be able to help us with some for these displays.

Our visits this year will be on Wednesday the 18th of May to West Dean Garden and Weald & Downland Open Air Museum. This is an all-day coach trip and we will depart at 9.45am from the Village Hall. We will be selling tickets for this at our talks and the Spring show. The price will be £32.50 to cover the coach hire and entry to both the garden and the museum.

Our afternoon visit will be on Wednesday the 15th of June to Vann Garden, Hambledon, Godalming. Please arrange your own transport for this and aim to arrive at 3.00pm. Entry is £7.00 and includes an introductory talk. As with the day trip we will be selling tickets at the talks and the Spring show as we need to provide firm numbers at the end of May.

Avalon Garden Centre continues to be our sponsor, as well as continuing to offer members a 5% discount on plants. In addition to Avalon and the other outlets who have kindly given CHAPS members discounts over the last several years we have one new providers: The Chocolate Frog in Oakhanger who will give 15% off plants. They will give you a discount card on production of your membership card.

Thank you to all our loyal CHAPS members, without whose support this society would not continue to flourish as it does. 2015 was a really successful year and the Committee members look forward to meeting many of you again throughout 2016.

Happy Gardening.

Maggie Wright