Hognaston News No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Hognaston News No. 331 July & August 2017 HOGNASTON NEWS Hognaston First Forget all talk of Hognaston second. HN can report that Hognaston (as represented by Hogweed) is now officially first – as judged by the Royal Horticultural Society in their Perfect for Pollinators category at last month’s Chatsworth Flower Show. Pictured above are the trophy and plaque that Liz, Lynda, Carolyn and Nicola received from Steve Porter, the head gardener at Chatsworth. The judges commended the Hogweed container’s mix of planting, designed to encourage a wide range of pollinators, the quality of the plants, the structures that provided homes for insect-life and the fact that what was presented in the container closely adhered the design ‘as drawn’ in the original submission. Well done to all involved. More details and a picture of the winning entry are on page 3. Hogfest2017 from Ian Cousins Hogfest returns to the Village Hall on Saturday 8 th July 2017. Tickets are selling fast and are now on general sale (so you can buy tickets for family and friends from outside the village); to avoid disappointment make sure you get yours now from Jayne (The Old Post Office, 372824), Darcie (Bank Side, 370446) or Claire (The Chapel, 07970 299316). There are two sessions – day and evening. Under-16s can attend the day session at no charge, otherwise tickets cost £7.50 per person per session. This year’s exciting daytime line-up of musical acts, playing between 2.00 and 7.00pm is: • Derby Youth Musical Theatre, cast of West Side Story . Some of the best youth talent in the region (including Hognaston's own Mia Mitchell) will be singing songs from their show, which will be at the Derby Guildhall from 6th to 9th September 2017. • Corey Hind (aka The Lone Stranger). An acoustic singer/songwriter from Ilkeston playing some stripped back cover versions of popular tunes and some original songs. • Hessian Throw (because they cover anything). An acoustic duo performing a variety of songs ranging from The Beatles to Taylor Swift. • The Foxgloves. Closing the afternoon session with songs from the 40s and 50s. As before, a full bar will be open all day and we will also be serving teas, coffees and cakes throughout the afternoon. This year we’ve added Mick & Rick’s Cocktail Bar to accompany the Foxgloves’ performance. The evening session (7.30pm till late) features music from: • Woodstone. A local Ashbourne band with a mix of rock covers by bands such as Dire Straits, The Rolling Stones and Queen. [email protected] 1 Hognaston News No. 331 July & August 2017 • Dogs On Bees. The local favourites return to end the night with their eclectic mix of popular tunes. Again, the full bar will be open and food will be available. Donations of cakes to be sold during the daytime event would be most welcome; please drop them down to the Village Hall on the morning of the Hogfest. To help create a festive atmosphere, we are hoping that scarecrows around a musical theme will again decorate the village in the lead up to Hogfest. The idea is that all the scarecrows will then ‘gather’ around the Millennium Hogstone on the day of the festival – please bring yours along/drop it off on the day. Hogfest promises to be a great fun day out (though perfect weather cannot be promised – this is Derbyshire). Profits from this year’s event will be shared between the Village Hall fund and a breast cancer charity (TBD). Please help us make this event a success again; we hope to see you there. … and, in more ‘Fest’ news … 2017 Hognaston Winter Festival from Alan Cribbens The Hognaston Winter Festival AGM and a further planning meeting took place on 16 th June. Subject to PCC approval, there will be more trees in the church this year to give the display a more balanced look. Most of the additional trees will just need decorating with lights and it is hoped that volunteers will come forward to help set up the display. All the members of last year's choir have been invited to express an interest in performing some choral pieces in this year's concert; the initial response has been encouraging. Whether or not you were involved last year, if you are interested in taking part this time please let me know. A date for the next planning meeting has yet to be fixed but is likely to be during w/c 31 st July. Funding raising for our churches from Alix Compton A reminder that the five villages of Atlow, Bradley, Hognaston, Hulland and Kniveton are joining together on Sunday,16 th July for a fete at Carsington Water. There will be stalls, games and competitions. All proceeds are for the upkeep of our churches. Donations of plants and items for the tombola and white elephant stalls should be left in the church meeting room on or before Monday 10 th July and cakes and home produce on or before Saturday 15 th July. I will contact those who have offered to help in the week preceding the event. Raffle tickets (first prize £200) are now available from PCC members and will also be sold on the day of the fete. So please, please turn out your cupboards, dig up your plants and get baking and make Hognaston’s contribution to this joint event really count. If you are baking for us, please could all cakes be labelled and packaged to take away. A late addition to the event – an inter-village Tug of War competition is scheduled for 2.30pm. We need a team of eight to uphold the honour of the village. If you are interested let me know. Hoglit – Hognaston’s book club from Stephanie Taylor Last month most members of the book group who came to talk about The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanne Cannon claimed not to have enjoyed it. Despite this we had a long and interesting discussion about its many nostalgic references to the long, hot summer of [email protected] 2 Hognaston News No. 331 July & August 2017 1976. The story had its amusing moments too and by the end of the evening we had agreed it was a very enjoyable read. When we meet on Tuesday 11 th July (7.00pm in the Red Lion) we will be talking about The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler. Franz Huchel, a young Austrian, is sent from his home in the mountains to work in lively, pre-war Vienna as a tobacconist’s assistant. He falls in love there but subsequently finds himself in urgent need of quality time on a psychiatrist’s couch. As luck would have it a regular customer at the tobacconist’s shop is a certain Professor Sigmund Freud. If you want to read this novel (or have already read it) and want to join us for the discussion you will be very welcome. Our next book for discussion on Tuesday 8 th August will be Exposure by Helen Dunmore with Ashbourne library suppling copies for our use. This is a story set in 1960s London during the cold war when an innocent employee of the war office becomes entangled with a colleague who turns out to be a spy. The fears, hopes, frustrations and changing emotions of the characters are examined and there is a thrilling ending. It would be great to have the views of more male members of the Hognaston community. Do join us if you can. For more information on Hoglit contact me on 370293. Editor’s comment. Whilst on matters literary, it would be remiss not to note the two hundredth anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. Already author of, IMHO, one of the finest pieces of literature penned in the English language, Emma , one can only imagine what else she would have gone on to produce had she not died on 17 th July 1817 at the age of only forty-one. To mark the occasion, on 18 th July at Winchester Cathedral (where she is buried) the Bank of England will unveil its new ‘polymer tenner’, which will feature Austen. Hogweed Garden Club from Nicola Mosley June’s Club activities First things first, as reported on the front page, the Club’s entry was awarded first place in the Perfect for Pollinators container gardening competition at the 2017 RHS Chatsworth Show. Liz and Carolyn potted our container up on a wet, windy and wild 5 th June (the picture opposite shows how they left it – you can probably tell that at that point the wind was from the right). The following day the show was closed for safety reasons as the weather worsened; judging was deferred to Wednesday. The containers survived the deluge and late in the afternoon Carolyn received the call – we had won. On Thursday, 8 th Liz, Lynda, Carolyn and I were at the show to accept the award from the head gardener at Chatsworth, Steve Porter – a wonderful trophy and a plaque (which we will have to find more permanent homes for) and £200 in RHS vouchers (which will provide a welcome boost to Club funds). Many thanks to all those who contributed. We are already wondering what we might do for next year. Back to the Club calendar, the speaker for our June meeting was Lynne Tann-Watson, of The Witch’s Garden herbary in North West Leicestershire. Lynne, who was an excellent speaker, shared her wealth of knowledge about herbs – not just how to grow them but also how to use them across a range of everyday uses from treating minor ailments to using them in cooking recipes, plus a bit of history about how they got here (something else the Romans did for us apparently).