BCSS Macclesfield & East Cheshire Branch

Newsletter September 2007 - Trev's Topics

To quote the title of a Wallace and Grommit adventure, it was "A Grand Day Out". But no, I haven't been to the moon to replenish my stock of Wensleydale cheese, something far more enjoyable than that! On the 14th of July Manchester branch held a special meeting to celebrate 60 years since the foundation of the branch. I looked forward to an interesting and well organised afternoon and was not disappointed.

Having signed the attendance book we were greeted with a cup of tea and home made scones. It was time to look around. Cacti and succulents were for sale at various tables around the room, both from nursereymen and hobbyists selling surplus plants. Prices were very reasonable, I resisted temptation! My greenhouse is already too full. Where have we all heard that before? On to the bookstall, another of my weaknesses, where I enjoyed perusing the many titles on offer. Again I had to drag myself away without adding to my already overloaded bookshelves. In the far corner of the room (away from temptation) a variety of early attendance books were on display and I spent some time looking back through these and reading names of people I knew from early days as a Manchester branch member, memories came flooding back. My own name appeared in the records for 1966, but no time to look in earlier records as the first talk was about to start. Paul Hoxey from Cambridge gave a very knowledgeable and well illustrated talk on Eulychnia and Espostoa, going into great detail about the various characteristics of the plants.

A short break for more tea and scones also provided an opportunity for the 50-plus people attending to be assembled for a group photograph, outside the hall, as the sun was actually shining for once this summer! Peter Bint then gave a detailed account of the 60 years of Manchester branch from its origins to the present day. During PeterŐs talk a digital projector displayed a continuous loop of early photos of branch outings and copies of early branch programmes. This interesting display was created by Ivor Crook.

By this time the ladies of the branch had laid out a very substantial buffet and we were all encouraged to do it justice by eating as much as we wished. We didn't need asking twice as it looked, and was, very appetizing. Our thanks for this feast must go to the prime workers in this area, the wives of Peter Bint and Brian Darnell, ably assisted by others.

A celebration cake had been baked and decorated with the emblems of the BCSS, and Brian, as branch Chairman and longest standing member, was photographed in the traditional "cutting the cake" pose. To end the day John Watmough from Oxford had us all laughing with his talk and display of plants titled "Horrible Plants!" A relaxing look at the less serious side of our hobby, where he showed us some Cinderella plants, the sort that we look at in our greenhouses and wonder to ourselves, "Why am I growing that?" We have all been there!

As a happy group of cactophiles left the hall we were all presented with a piece of anniversary cake and a well put together copy of a special 60th anniversary edition of Gaultonia, the newsletter of the Manchester branch. This newsletter proved to be a very enjoyable read, with historical photos, a history of the branch and biographies of some branch members, running, in total, to 40-plus pages. As I said at the beginning, much better than I imagine a trip to the moon would be.

And .....

An exhortation:- I feel that it would be great shame if our branch newsletter appeared less frequently than every three months as at present. A quarterly newsletter keeps everyone in touch and is especially welcomed by our branch members who, for various reasons, can not or do not attend our meetings. Alasdair, our Editor, does a lot of work for both the Society and our branch, including producing this newsletter. It would be very unfair to expect him to write the majority of the content, as editing, producing and distributing it is a considerable task in itself. Of course, lack of articles for publication is not confined to our Newsletter, the problem occurs with most other society journals etc. However, most manage to keep going, so please do not let ours die of starvation. Write something, however brief, on any of the topics suggested in the June edition and any other topics of interest. Let Alasdair have your writing and enjoy the thrill of seeing your article published, and bask in the warm glow of knowing that you have helped to keep our Newsletter alive and well.

That's all for now.

Enjoy your plants.

Trevor Shannon