Author Archives: Andrew King

Remembrance Day

Just look at that sunshine (see below)! The weather gods once again smiled on us and Remembrance day dawned bright and sunny; a wonderful backdrop to our annual service marking the Armistice in WW1.

Reverend Carol Backhouse from Christchurch led proceedings as usual. We really are lucky to have someone who gets so involved in important local Community events – thank you, Rev Carol!

Once again, children from 4 local schools attended  – in strictly alphabetical order…….Castle View, Cathedral, Central Lancaster High, and Christchurch. It’s great that the Field can serve as a focus for all our local schools on such an important topic and with such direct relevance to the  gift of the Field to the children of Lancaster. Their behaviour was described as ‘exemplary’, with the 2 minutes silence perfectly observed; well done all.

As well as local children we were also delighted to welcome our seasoned supporters MP Cat Smith and County Councillor Lizzie Collinge, both in (carefully selected?) poppy red coats, and City Councillor Sam Riches. We greatly appreciate the time and effort they give in supporting us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday 11th at 11a.m. a Remembrance event was also held at the Gregson as part of their 40th Anniversary celebrations. The emphasis was on the links between the Gregson and Miss Whalley’s Field (also known as ‘The Gregson Garden’). Without the tragedy of the First WW  it is probable that Miss Whalley’s Field would not exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS There’s also an article about the Field in The Lancaster Guardian this week. 

 

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Plug planting – Thank You!

Many thanks to the 20 volunteers  (including some very welcome new faces) who turned out at such short notice on  Saturday to plant over 700 wild flower plugs in the newly mown areas of the Field. The weather was benign and the volunteers really got stuck in and completed the job in record time – anyone would think some of them had done it before!!

A really excellent result. Richard and Catherine (our seed growers who have been nurturing these plug plants for months) were very happy to see them installed so efficiently before the weather turns too cold. 

Well done and thanks to everyone involved!

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URGENT call for Volunteers – this Saturday, 1.30pm

Two of our hard working volunteers (Richard & Catherine) have been nurturing 800 (yes, 800!) plug plants raised from wild flower seeds they have collected. Now the problem is that the season for planting them out is fast drawing to a close. Once we get frosts, the plants will find it much more difficult to get established. On the other hand, until the Council managed to cut the grass, it was more or less impossible to plant plugs in the long grass and they would probably have been smothered anyway.

The good news is that the Council have finally managed to dodge the wet weather and get the mower on the Field. The designated areas have been mown and cleared, so now it’s urgent to get the plug plants bedded in as soon as possible.

There’s a work party at 1.30pm this Saturday (28th October)

Many of you will have helped planting plugs before. It’s always a popular activity as you can see…….. and the results will be there for everyone to see next year.

Don’t worry if you haven’t been before. No experience necessary! Just wear suitable clothing and footwear and bring along trowels and small spades to dig holes for the plug plants.  There will be plenty of people to give advice if it’s needed.

Sorry about the short notice but we are at the mercy of the weather.

See you at 1.30pm this Saturday  – 28th October. All welcome!

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