A group of members recently visited Varfell Farm, right on our doorstep; the largest grower and packer of daffodils in the world. Everyone was totally impressed by the efforts being made by such a large commercial operation to protect the environment, while enhancing the well-being of so many people throughout the nation. The Regenerative Programme is being efficiently followed with the use of ‘sympathetic’ machinery and modern technology with particular care being taken for the welfare of the migrating workforce so necessary for the business to cope with seasonal demands. Our thanks to Manager, Simon and his dedicated team, for such an interesting and informative afternoon and to Julie for organising.
As we come to the end of the Great Big Green Week, The Eden Project is encouraging everyone to plant lots of seeds – especially wild flower seeds – and at the end of the month Homebase will be selling seeds at half price to those who want to get involved, so check their website.
Also, our Rector, Nigel, is running a short “green” course on caring for the environment: I will let you know about interesting things that come out of that.
This year there was no Royal Cornwall Show, as you know. But we did have a wee Chy Noweth Show at WI HQ in Threemilestone and it was great to see some of you there. This year was our environment committee’s turn to run the prestigious WI’s RCS Cup Competition. Because of the cancellation, there was a lot of time and effort wasted on that. We ran a little competition at our own show- with a little response from just 3 competitors. The theme was all about paths to a sustainable future and the entries were great. You will have seen pics of the show on Facebook and there will be more on the competition in County news a bit later. The prize certificates will be awarded at the annual meeting next month at the Hall for Cornwall. It will be great to see the newly revamped HfC. We will have two stands up at the meeting; one for climate ambassadors and one for the environment committee, so do come and see us.
Looking ahead we have loads of plans for all sorts of different events focusing on the environment. The planning times are so long that we need to start on a plan 9 months in advance – but I will keep you posted.
We are looking for two new members of our county environment committee. If you are interested in joining please let me know. (Julia Havard)
Our WI was invited along to a talk organised by English Heritage at the Hayle Rugby Club on Dynamite/Cordite manufacturing – this was a very interesting and technical talk by Peter Channon – with a free pasty for everyone and all finished off with the Celtic Fiddlers.
This talk was followed up by a guided walk of the Dynamite works at Upton Towans, Hayle. The landscape has been transformed by safety banks made of sand, that were built separately around the various workshops. There is little evidence of any remaining structures. Other than the foundations for the acid works/electrics etc, everything was demolished. These sand barriers are now covered in grass and weeds and stand at 2 metres high. A train platform is still very much in evidence as a train ran down from the Towans to the harbour carrying the dynamite and cordite; supplies were also taken to the site by train. The safety record of the site was quite good considering they were dealing with such dangerous substances – only a handful of people were killed. There are numerous walks in this area with views across to Carbis Bay and St. Ives. It was a lovely sunny day which made for a very pleasant afternoon.
We were very lucky with good sunny weather for this month’s walk. The route started at the 15th Century Church in the village of Sancreed. From there it was uphill and on to moorland which led up to Sancreed Beacon. The views were stunning of both the coast and countryside. Ann, Mary and Julie were very familiar with the area and pointed out the farms and interesting land marks which all added to our enjoyment. Our destination was Carn Uny – the remains of an Iron Age Settlement with even more far reaching views. It was a good spot to explore, rest and eat our picnic. We returned to Sancreed along the easy bridle way.
Jazz pianist Roger Brown joined members at the September Monthly Meeting and entertained with tunes and tales from his musical life, from singing Al Jolson songs in talent contests aged four, to his performance in the musical Camelot and tours with his Jazz Band. Anne and Sally made rainbow cupcakes to join in with the WI’s Pride Season Celebrations and Wendie read a poem about Love by Mariepam198 from Power Poetry Online. Read the poem here https://powerpoetry.org/poems/love-everybody-who-they-are
Camera Club headed east for their September Meeting, to the beautiful tranquility of The Japanese Garden at St Mawgan. With the leaves starting to turn, the colours of the foliage were a particular highlight. Following the meandering paths around the gardens the interest of each section changed, with pretty waterfalls, ponds with carp and Japanese style statues all offering great photo opportunities.
After watching a television program about the Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, I had the idea of growing my own Phalaenopsis Orchids (the most common indoor Orchids) an indoor plant. In my sun lounge I have a large avocado tree that I have grown from a discarded stone. This is supported by a moss pole that seemed to be the perfect thing to grow my Orchids on. In the wild Orchids grow on trees by using nooks and crannies in bark to attach themselves. They are not a parasitic plant, as they take no nutrients from the tree; just use them as a growing ledge to give them the perfect spot for light and moisture. At Kew they exploit this property by attaching the Orchids to all sorts of trees and growing frames including pergolas and arches.
I was not so ambitious but I am pleased to say that after a month or so all three of the orchids I attached came into flower. I water the roots with a bottle and the excess water will also water the avocado and both benefit from an occasional spray with orchid fertiliser. I used hessian ribbon to tie loosely around the roots and sphagnum moss, they already had around their roots, and bit by bit the roots are escaping and finding their way around the tree and the moss pole. I love how the orchids have added colour to my avocado tree and moving them there has freed up space on the window sills for more plants.
President Wendie was up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to set up the fantastic Crowlas and Ludgvan WI craft stall on Penzance Promenade, close to the start of the 2021 Tour of Britain Cycle Race. Members had been busy during lockdown making knitting bags, beach bags, jewellery, aprons for both adults and children plus gardening aprons, pincushions, needlecases……the list goes on. All the hard work paid off, as teams of members manned the stall, chatting to locals and visitors to the town, including members of other WIs from around the country. Sales were good, particularly in the morning and helped to raise money for WI funds. (PHOTO: PETER PUDDIPHATT)
Winifred Watson’s 1938 novel ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’ was the chosen book for August’s Book Club Meeting. New members Genie, Irene and Hazel were welcomed to the group, which, this month met for lunch at Brew Cafe, Trereife. Several members enjoyed the most delicious locally caught crab sandwiches. The book was proclaimed a good read, and especially ‘a good laugh’. The following excerpt gives a flavour of the book:
“They led her (Miss Pettigrew) into the bedroom. She had a quick bath while Miss Dubarry and Miss LeFosse concentrated on Miss LeFosse’s wardrobe. She put on silk underclothes laid out for her by Miss LeFosse. She had never worn real silk underclothes in her life. At once they made her feel different. She felt wicked, daring, ready for anything. She left her hesitations behind with her home-made woollens. They psychology of silk underclothes has not yet been fully considered mused Miss Pettigrew happily. She came back into the bedroom like a debutante. Even her legs quite uncovered below the last short frill of lace, caused her no blushes”.
We planned to walk from Ludgvan to Trencrom but for various reasons we failed to achieve our goal!. Despite that we enjoyed the walk, the sunny weather, the views across the countryside and especially catching up with friends. Rosie’s puppy Mist joined us for the first time. We were all very impressed by her speed and obedience . We eventually returned to Ludgvan to eat our picnic in the Community Garden, where we made use of the bench donated by Crowlas and Ludgvan WI. (Shirley) (Photo: Mary)
Crowlas & Ludgvan WI 