Winter and Spring meetingsWe have resumed our face to face meetings at the usual time of 7.30 for 7.45 in our new venue, Eastgate Baptist Church which is opposite Lewes Bus Station and just along from Waitrose supermarket.
Our next meeting will be on February 2nd (There's no January meeting) Wednesday March 2nd is our AGM - time to renew your membership! (Members only) Wednesday April 6th Russel Bowes The Tale of the Tulip In the middle of the 14th century, a beautiful and exotic visitor from the east set foot on European soil for the very first time. With an extensive wardrobe of colourful veils of glistening silk shielding her dark and mysterious eyes from the gaze of the curious, the captivating visitor swept all before her and made people her willing slaves. Her beauty became the stuff of legend, and she could bring prestige and riches to anyone who courted her favour. But within 150 years she would fall from grace within the course of a single week. The Tale of the Tulip follows the spectacular rise and fall of this beautiful garden flower. Wednesday May 4th Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke on Borde Hill Gardens Borde Hill Garden is situated in historic parkland in West Sussex. The Elizabethan mansion was purchased in 1893 by Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke (known as Stephie), who set about creating the garden and woodland using plants from several continents brought back to England by the great plant hunters of the early 1900s. Well over a century and three generations later, Borde Hill remains in the ownership of the Stephenson Clarke family, and today is renowned for its collection of rare shrubs and trees. Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke, great grandson of Colonel Clarke will be speaking to us about the gardens and his new book which is the the first book about Borde Hill Gardens To become a member, email the contact found on contact page. Annual membership is £12. |
Meetings in 2022
Wednesday 2nd February Robin Tuppin’s company is the original maker of the famous Sussex Trug Basket, first invented by the founder, Thomas Smith, in the village of Herstmonceux, in Sussex in 1829. Robin and his craftsmen still make the Royal Sussex Traditional Trug, using locally coppiced Sweet Chestnut and Cricket Bat Willow, which is the by-product of the English Cricket Bat Industry. The honorific "Royal" comes from the fact that Thomas Smith was awarded Queen Victoria's Royal Warrant after having sold some of his Trugs to her Majesty on the first day of The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Robin's assistant will show us how their trugs are made and there will be opportunites to buy trugs. LDGS Anniversary 2021 was our 40th Anniversary year. We were hoping to arrange a celebration event, similar to the one held at All Saints in Lewes on our 30th anniversary. Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, we were unable to celebrate. 
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