Calne in Bloom

We would like to give our thanks and congratulations to Rob, Ben and the entire Calne Town Council Grounds Team for delivering such a volume and diversity of trees during the recent tree planting season. Our Vice-Chair assisted the team in some planting at Hillcroft recently, and managed to get a snap with Calne Town Mayor . The total number of trees planted by CTC this season are: • 650 Whips forming a new 125m hedge which will create a wildlife corridor joining up two existing hedges. The species selected were: o Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) o Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) o Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) o European Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) o European Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) o Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) • 14 Fruit / Nut trees. The species selected were: o Medlar (Mespilus Germanica ‘Nottingham) o Apple ‘Elstar’ (Malus domestica ‘Elstar’) o Pear ‘Conference’ (Pyrus communis ‘Conference’) o Quince ‘Vranga’ (Cydonia oblonga ‘Vranja’) o Apple ‘Cox Orange Pip

Castlefields Canal & River Park Association is one of our It's Your Neighbourhood community groups, caring for Castlefields and the River Marden for over two decades.  Here is a brief introduction to CARP and an update on their latest projects by their Chair, Denis Robinson: Castlefields Canal and River Park Association (CARP) is a local registered charity, established in 2001. Its aims are to preserve, protect, develop and improve the environment of the River Marden Valley. We work with landowners, local authorities, other community groups and individuals to achieve these aims. In the longer term we would like to include incorporation of areas downstream from Castlefields as a country park (i.e. the River Marden Valley). We have working parties held on one Sunday every month, where volunteers carry out maintenance/improvement tasks in the park. Every year we enter Its Your Neighbourhood (IYN) and consistently achieve Level 5 Outstanding. In 2022 the public voted Castlefields

The Calne in Bloom Allotment and Garden Competition Presentation was held in October where we celebrated the efforts of our local community gardeners, schools and groups.  The standards of all entries was extremely high and the judges awarded more Gold awards this year than ever before despite the high temperatures and lack of rain which had a big impact on our gardens. We welcomed Richard Budge from Truro City Council who gave a very interesting talk on how he started his gardening career and journey to become an RHS judge. Deputy Town Mayor Cllr Robert MacNaughton also awarded our RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood Groups.  If you have a group which would like to enter the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood Scheme you can find out more buy following the link:- southwestinbloom.org.uk/Its-Your-Neighbourhood.aspx Calne in Bloom will be sharing information regarding the 2023 Allotment and Garden Competition soon. -Trudy King, Calne in Bloom Coordinato r Check out some of the event photographs

Collect a free packet of wildflowers seeds to get the kids growing this year. The packets, which are recyclable, can be sown on a clear patch of soil between now and October. Each packet contains a mix of species, including: Yarrow, Lesser Knapweed, Wild Carrot, Ladies Bedstraw, Rough Hawkbit, Ox-eye Daisy, Ribwort Plantain, Cowslip, Selfheal, Meadow Buttercup, Yellow Rattle, Sorrel, Salad Burnet, White Campion and Red Campion. Grown in full sun, the plants will flower from late spring and through the summer. Available from Calne Town Council, Bank House, SN11 0EN Mon-Fri 9:30am-4pm While stocks last More packs of these seeds and others are available from  Seeds For Children To Grow & Plant: Wildflower Favours (wildflower-favours.co.uk)

Beechy, the winner of the second Calne Tree of the Year competition is a 20m high copper beech with a girth of 4.8 metres entered by Denis Robinson of Quemerford. Here is Beechy's story, as told by Denis: My name is Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea you can call me Beechy. Some say I am over 150 years old and that I am amongst the first of my family from Germany to be planted in England. Well, I don't know about that. What I do know is that I have stood here, through drought, flood, storm, heatwave and frost. During my life, much has happened. Kings and Queens have reigned and passed on. There were times of peace, and times of war. The land I stand on, and on which I live, has been part of a garden enjoyed by the owners and their friends. As their fortune's waned ownership passed to the community. Still, I remained. Sometimes I was cared for but sometimes neglected and ignored. One day I was joined by my very distant cousin Taxus baccata. How he arrived by my side I don't rem