Owls about Town
We had a very enjoyable evening on 14th Nov where we were top close and personal with some owls and a hawk. Andy, from OaT, gave us a glimpse into the world of Owls. He is passionate about his birds and has to be as his largest Owl, a Eurasian Eagle Owl will live for up to 70 years so he will have to a arrange Power of Attorney to care for the bird for the next 60 years! What a responsibility.
There are a few Owl images in the Photograph section but here is one of the Giant long eared owl
Death of Ray Hartley
Diana Hartley has asked us to share with you the very sad news that Ray passed away on Sunday 6th November 2022, having been in Westlake House for the past three months.
Ray’s funeral is on 1st December 2022 at Worthing Crematorium.
Ray was on the Committee for several years and was instrumental in setting up our website back in 2009. He also set up the scoring spreadsheets for our shows, which made a huge difference and saved a lot of time on show days. All of his efforts were very much appreciated over the years, and he will be sorely missed.
Show Dates for 2023
It is cold and wet in early winter 2022 but it is worth looking at events for 2023 to start planning for the Spring and Summer Shows in the Show Dates 2023 section of the website.
Quiz Night March 8th 2022
was a big success. Teams representing Bolney, Horsham, Mannings Heath and Southwater participated in a close contest in front of a large, lively audience. Thanks go to Vic and Gillian Mansell who provided the questions and controlled the event with great skill. We had eight rounds of ten questions on subjects ranging from the female reproductive anatomy of flowers to lyrics from a pop song “Mad Passionate Love” made famous by Bernard Bresslaw in 1958. It was heart warming to see members from our societies socialising with each other after a prolonged spell of pandemic induced social isolation. We can look forward to further meetings and horticultural interests during 2022.The team from Southwater won the trophy but it was a close thing! Congratulations to all teams taking part.
SUMMER OUTING WARNHAM BUTTERFLY RESERVE TILLETTS LANE, WARNHAM
Due to the very high cost of hiring a coach this year we have made the decision not to run a coach outing in the summer. We have organised an additional local visit to Warnham Butterfly Fields. This follows a very interesting talk recently by David Bridges and lots of members asking us to arrange a visit. Who knew that such a lovely facility was right on our doorstep?
The visit date is Sunday, 22nd May, meeting at 10.30am at the top of Tilletts Lane. (If the weather is wet we will postpone until the following Sunday, 29th May, and will confirm this with you by e-mail nearer the time.) The suggested donation is £5.
Please bring along a picnic if you wish (don’t forget your picnic chair!) and we will sit a while and enjoy watching the birds and butterflies in these peaceful surroundings.
Directions: From the A24 out of Horsham, turn left into Bell Road (signposted Warnham). At the top of Bell Road turn right onto School Hill and left after 150m onto Knob Hill (also called Three Stile Road). Turn left at the top of the road into Tilletts Lane. The Butterfly Fields are at the top (Northern end) of Tilletts Lane. (Nearest postcode RH12 3RD).
There is layby parking for 7 or 8 cars, or you can park along the road (take care as it is quite narrow in places). The first layby is immediately on your left after turning into Tilletts Lane, and further laybys are on the right hand side further down the road. Alternatively parking is free at Warnham Village Hall if you wanted to meet others to car share.
Sad news about the death of a founder member. HILDA GENT
Sadly Hilda Gent, who had been one of our vice-presidents since 1996, died on 20 August 2021 having reached the ripe old age of 102.
Hilda was brought up on a farm close to Horsham and lived all her life in or close to the town. Her father died a few years after the war so her mother told her to go and join the Horticultural Society to find out how to look after their big garden, which she did. Our Society was founded in 1945-46 so Hilda would have been a member for over 70 years!
Hilda moved to Heathfield in 2018, and several members of our society and the Committee who knew her enjoyed a birthday cake and tea with her on her 100thbirthday in February 2019.
She was a wonderful person and will be missed.
Her funeral will take place on Tuesday 28 September at 3.00pm at the Methodist Church in London Road. It would be nice if some of our older members who knew her can attend.
This tribute has been written by Geoffrey Kirk, a friend for many years