An Autumnal Celebration

Tags

floral workshop, Hebden Bridge, pelargonium cuttings, propagation workshop, salvia cuttings, Simply by Arrangement

I can’t believe how quickly this year has whizzed past. As this is only my third post of the year, *looks sheepishly at screen*, it probably goes without saying I’ve found it hard to keep up with work, gardening and other commitments. Something had to give and unfortunately that turned out to be this blog.

It’s been a year of trying to focus on what’s important. Lots of seizing the day, grasping the nettle and all manner of other cheesy clichés. There’s nothing like turning forty and having an operation to make you look at life with renewed vigour. There have been garden visits a plenty, which will provide lots of blog post potential if I can ever get back into the blogging groove, a ‘100km in a year’ swimming challenge (I’m at 63km), and my allotment flowers appeared on the front cover of the RHS The Garden magazine.

Next up is a project that I’m really excited about. I’ve been invited to give a class on propagation by the fantastic flower grower-florist Sarah Statham of Simply by Arrangement at her gorgeous garden and workshop in Yorkshire. Forget about the post-holiday blues and the darker nights because Sarah and I have planned a day that will celebrate all that the early autumn garden has to offer. In the morning I’ll show workshop guests how to propagate pelargoniums and salvias. You’ll get to take cuttings from a selection of great varieties, which you’ll take home in vintage clay pots and a handmade seed tray.

Lunch will be a delicious affair created by Christie, Sarah’s business partner who’s otherwise known as Mrs B. Mrs B’s food has become legendary among workshop attendees, so guests are in for a treat. Then, in the afternoon, you’ll be able to pick from a selection of flowers and foliage from Sarah’s garden, my cutting patch and local flower growers to make a stunning table arrangement to take home. There’ll be dahlias galore! Sarah will be on hand to offer advice on how to arrange – have a look at her Instagram feed to see her gorgeous floral creations.

The course starts at 10.30am at Sarah’s workshop near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and will finish about 4.30pm. The cost is £180 and this includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day. And … there’s only one place left!

If you fancy extending your stay in the area you won’t be disappointed. The nearby town of Hebden Bridge is a mecca for lovers of independent shops. It’s nestled in the glorious Pennines, which should still be clad in purple heather, and the Rochdale Canal meanders through the valley. I can highly recommend a walk at the nearby Hardcastle Crags too, and if you’re a lover of the Brontes, Haworth is only a short drive away.

For more details go to simplybyarrangement.co.uk and to book a place contact Sarah at simplybyarrangement@sky.com.

Hope to see you there!

Under Water

Tags

Boxing Day floods, Calder Valley, Hardcastle Craggs, Hebden Bridge, Pennines, the Snug Gallery

Rochdale Canal, Hebden Bridge ©Ian Curley

What would you do if your home, your business and your allotment were deluged by water? I’ve been incredibly lucky to never experience this kind of flooding, so I can only imagine how devastating it would be to hear the sirens signalling the imminent threat of flooding, to watch as streets became rivers and to see the flood waters rise. On Christmas Day night and Boxing Day this is what many in the north of England were faced with as the rain kept on falling. There had been floods earlier in December in Cumbria and there have been more since, particularly in Scotland, but when it hits somewhere you know and love, when it threatens family and friends, it takes on another dimension.

Market Street, Hebden Bridge, with kind permission of Helen Baron. Taken from above her shop Ribbon Circus which was damaged in the floods.

The Calder Valley sits below a stretch of the Pennines in West Yorkshire. Wellyman grew up here, we were married here and it’s somewhere I’ve come to think of as my adopted home. I love its stunning, rugged beauty, the fantastic market towns and great community spirit. Then the rain came, the rivers swelled and the flood waters rose. This is an area accustomed to a degree of flooding; the topography, a steep-sided valley with rivers running through it, makes it somewhat inevitable, but what happened this Christmas was beyond anything that had been seen before. At one point, in the main streets of Mytholmroyd the water was as high as the shop signs above doors and windows. It inundated homes and businesses, damaged bridges and lifted road surfaces. It would be one thing if this was clean water but it isn’t, it’s full of whatever it has swept with it – debris, mud and, worst of all, sewage from the overwhelmed sewers. It has been heart-breaking to see the footage of the destruction the floods have caused.

 

 

For some time now the market town of Hebden Bridge has been a beacon for independent shops and has gained a reputation for its quirkiness, profusion of organic shops and ethically sourced products. We make a bee-line for the town whenever we’re in the area. Many of us decry the loss of the nation’s high streets and the homogenisation of shopping due to out-of-town developments and massive superstores. Hebden has been a model for what a town can be, a thriving community with an eclectic mix of small businesses supporting the local economy. Whether it’s the food shops which supply local produce, the independent bookshop, the art and crafts supplier and the whole host of galleries, clothes and gift shops, this is a place where shopping is a pleasurable experience. I normally can’t stand the prospect of having to go shopping, the thought of fighting through the crowds and being blasted by loud music mean I spend as little time in shopping centres as possible. Hebden is so different. I could happily spend a whole day pottering around here, having a delicious lunch and then a wander by the canal or up to Hardcastle Craggs, a local beauty spot. Then there’s the Hebden Bridge Picture House one of the last surviving civic-owned cinemas in Britain and the Little Theatre Company formed in 1924. This is a town which celebrates creativity and community.

The Snug Gallery, Hebden Bridge ©Ed Chadwick

One of these businesses is the Snug Gallery run by Ed Chadwick. Ed is a photographer who has created a highly regarded gallery which showcases incredibly talented artists from across the country, including his partner Jill Shaddock’s beautiful ceramics. On Boxing Day Ed and his partner Jill faced the triple whammy of having their home and their business deluged, and their allotment washed away.

What do you say to people who have had their world turned upside?

The Snug Gallery prior to the floods, Hebden Bridge ©Ed Chadwick

Wellyman and I met Ed last summer; I think it might have been raining then too. A mutual friend, Sarah, knew we were in town and said we should pop by the gallery and say hello. Her text went something like, ‘He has an incredible allotment, you’ll have lots to talk about’. And we did. Ed showed us photos of his plot on Instagram, we chatted about potato varieties and our dahlia obsessions. Later that day, after a walk by the canal we took a wander past Ed and Jill’s allotment. It was stunning, not just an allotment but their garden. Now it’s all washed away.

Ed and Jill’s allotment in Hebden Bridge last summer and after the recent floods ©Ed Chadwick

Hebden Bridge has come back to life after previous, albeit less damaging floods, it has also survived the decline of manufacturing and the mills to reinvent itself. But this flood has really knocked the stuffing out of people. Many businesses haven’t been able to get insurance against flooding for some time now. There’s a fear that people will leave, that businesses won’t reopen and what will happen to the town then?

Flooding isn’t going to go away. Perhaps there are ways to alleviate the ferocity of future floods. There has been talk of damage to the moorland above the town caused by possible over management of a grouse shoot. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/29/deluge-farmers-flood-grouse-moor-drain-land. Possibly Hebden Bridge and the surrounding areas can look to other places which have come up with ingenious ways to limit any damage. But what about the here and now?

The Snug Gallery Appeal ©Ed Chadwick

I’ve felt really useless over the last couple of weeks not knowing how I could help, so I thought the least I could do was to write about what has happened and to tell you about the appeal Sarah, the friend who introduced us to Ed, has set up. The idea is to raise £10,000 to keep the Snug Gallery alive. Although they managed to salvage their stock and reopen, there is a bigger problem. The town has been decimated and it will take quite a while to recover. Without visitors over the coming months shops like the Snug will find it difficult to keep going. By supporting Ed and his business you’re also supporting a community of craftspeople and this fabulous town. Ed has devised a tiered system of rewards to show his gratitude to all those who pledge their help which include Snug Gallery seeds, a limited edition print of Hebden taken by Ed, a vase created by Jill, a photographic walk around the town with Ed, or the ultimate bespoke Snug Gallery Experience. For more details of how to pledge and how you’ll be helping go to https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/sarah-statham-4.

To see more about the Snug Gallery http://www.snug-gallery.com/ and to find out more about the fantastic rewards go to https://www.instagram.com/snug_gallery/.

Scenes from Hebden Bridge ©Ed Chadwick

I’m sure normality will return to the area soon and Hebden Bridge will be ready to welcome visitors once again. If you get a chance do go. Hopefully you’ll get a taste of why this is such a fabulous place.

If you go down to the woods today

Tags

early flowering bluebells, Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge, National Trust, wood anemones, Woodland Trust

Wood Anemone

Woodlands play such an important part in the history, landscape and psyche of Britain. The British government discovered this last year when it proposed to sell off forestry land to raise money in these cash strapped times. It quickly backed down when a significant number of people campaigned to save our trees. It seemed that the proposed sell off triggered a realisation that our woodlands are integral to our heritage.

Spring is one of the best times to appreciate our native, deciduous woodland. Woodland flowers make the most of the spring light that enters through the trees before leaves unfurl and the tree canopy excludes most sunlight. I’m lucky enough to live near some beautiful ancient woodland which looks at its best over the next month or so. One of my favourite walks is in the Wye Valley running along Offa’s Dyke, the old boundary between England and Wales. There is a stretch of woodland here that is very old and forms one of the most important areas for woodland conservation in Britain. English Nature credits it the same importance as the Caledonian pinewoods and the oceanic oakwoods of western Britain.

Early Flowering Bluebells

Two weekends ago we made a trip there to see the carpets of wood anemones. These are the first of the woodland flowers to cover the woodland floor, followed by wild garlic which fills the air with a pungent garlicky smell and the stunning sight of masses of bluebells. We were delighted to see the white starry flowers of the wood anemones which light up the woodland but completely surprised to see the first bluebells open since it was only the middle of March. The unseasonably mild spring had obviously encouraged them from their dormancy earlier than usual. I always think of bluebells as a May flower but maybe with our changing climate they’ll become associated more with April.

Hardcastle Crags, West Yorkshire

Not content with one spring woodland walk, whilst visiting family, we made a trip to Hardcastle Crags about a mile outside the Pennine town of Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire. The woodland, owned by the National Trust, is one of my favourite places in the UK. A classic woodland walk from the car-park follows the river Hebden Water up through the craggy, densely wooded valley to Gibson Mill, now a visitor centre but once a cotton mill built in 1800. Paths continue up the valley past waterfalls and finally you emerge on top of the Pennine moorland. The ‘crags’ refer to the stacks of millstone grit which you can see half way up the steeply side gorge.

Hardcastle Crags is a great place to spot wildlife with us seeing nuthatches, treecreepers, dippers, grey wagtails and mating toads. It’s also home to the northern hairy wood ant. We did see huge numbers of large ants, I can’t say I noticed them being particularly hairy, but apparently it’s their eyebrows that are hairy, one for the magnifying glass I think. They live in huge anthills which can reach 6ft high and are made from pine needles which you can see dotted through the woodland.

I love these bright green larch needles

I love this place so much because it has such a magical feel. Moss covered rocks and branches, ferns, shafts of sunlight streaming down through the newly emerging leaf canopy and glistening on the water. The only sound being the flowing water and birdsong. Wood anemones were in flower here, too and there were the very first bluebells starting to open, a little later than at home but still early for the time of year.

It’s fascinating to think such a peaceful beautiful place was the setting for one of the first cotton mills of the Industrial Revolution, with water from the river providing power for the mill. The mill used to employ 20 or so people in the 19th century, who lived in purpose built cottages next to the mill. In recent years it has become a pioneer for sustainability, as the National Trust has restored the mill complex so that it is self sufficient in power, water and waste treatment and is now the perfect place to stop for a cup of tea and a slice of tasty cake after all that walking and fresh air.

Unfurling leaves

Set in a stunning part of the UK I can heartily recommend a visit to Hardcastle Crags if you’re passing through the area or staying for a bit longer. For more information on the local area visit Hebden Bridge’s HebWeb

For more information about Hardcastle Crags visit the National Trust. The Woodland Trust has some excellent tree facts and details of woodland around the country that you can visit. So if you’re thinking of something to do this Easter and we’re not all knee deep in snow and shivering then why not give your local woodland a visit.