Effingham Open Gardens Event

Neatly clipped box hedging in this garden open to the public.

The Effingham Open Gardens Event was a first for the village and an wonderful success. The event was centred for the most part on the conservation area and in Little Bookham near All Saints’ Church. Not surprisingly the event was organised by the Revd Mandy MacVean and her team.

Sunday June 9 was a pleasantly warn and dry day when 10 private gardens opened to the public for the first time ever. High quality teas, cakes and other refreshments were once again available in the Jubilee Gardens opposite St Lawrence Church. Some cakes had been kindly provided by residents but most were donated by Wiltshire Farm Foods free of charge and said by those partaking to have been very tasty.

A pond with waterlillies in this garden.

There were a range of gardens large, small, rustic, formal and informal. They were all stunningly beautiful. Several had free range hens and one even had some young chicks.

Virtually every owner was on site and went out of their way to greet every visitor (over 200 people in three hours) to their gardens. That said the houses themselves drew considerable admiration as many were of historic interest and listed.

A lovely border indeed!

One open garden was maintained by the Effingham Housing Association residents. Those involved took charge of their own particular part of this large garden. One of the most beautiful displays was the work of a 94-year old resident. Unfortunately it is not technically possible to show photos of every garden so those shown here are just a flavour.

A small token of thanks to those who had opened their gardens.

And finally, to close this section, it was great to see all the garden owners receive a small gift as a token of appreciation. (See photo above)

Sinking of the Tirpitz talk

An official historian for the 617 Dam Busters Squadron, Dr Robert Owen.

The night before the gardens were due to open Dr Robert Owen returned to Effingham to give another talk, free of charge, about the famous Royal Air Force 617 ‘Dambusters’ Squadron.

Readers may recall Dr Owen is an official historian for the squadron. He regularly brings visitors to St Lawrence Church in Effingham to visit the grave of Sir Barnes Wallis who is buried there in a quiet corner of the grounds. Sir Barnes is of course famous for designing the bouncing bomb used to breach the Ruhr dams.

Those attending the talk were greeted by a free glass of Prosecco and a few nibbles. This time Robert’s talk marked the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the Tirpitz, a Second World War Bismarck class battleship.

Every effort had been made to sink this vessel, which had been laid up in a Norwegian fjord. Long story short. The “Tall Boy” bomb also designed by Sir Barnes Wallis, and so coupled with the RAF’s navigation and bombing skills, the battleship was eventually sunk.

The talk was well received and attracted plenty of questions afterwards from the 100 or so people in attendance.

Art on display

Moo Muriel with some of her paintings pictured here at the sale in St Lawrence Church.

Over the same weekend the Revd Mandy MacVean also hosted an art sale of watercolour paintings by Moo Muriel.

Moo was thrilled by the interest shown in her works. The sale raised more than £600 with much of the proceeds going to the upkeep of the church..

Other meetings

Residents attend Effingham Village Recreational Trust’s annual meeting.

Looking back to Tuesday, May 28, Chris Iles chaired the annual meeting of Effingham Village Recreational Trust (EVRT). It was his last official public duty involving the charity and while not particularly well attended, it was relaxed and inclusive.

In his report Chris gave an overview of the committee’s many achievements over the past year; the new toddler’s playground, improved outside children’s day-care access and amenities, revamped steps for the eastern access to the grounds and the £120,000 raised by Bookham Colts for the new all-weather 3G games pitch. Work is due to start later this summer.

There was discussion about the need for EVRT to have a change of status from unincorporated to incorporated. The reason given was to provide the trustees with more protection when the £2.64 million developer money became available for a rebuild. The audience raised concerns about passing the ownership of the fields and buildings from the parish council to the trust should this change occur. The matter was still under consideration.

Trustee Sue Morris gave a detailed report on the accounts and explained the unpredictability of trying to make a judgement on the profit and loss on any particular day. The unexpected costs of for example; fallen trees, a hole in the roof or even a lawsuit inevitably provide a measure of unpredictability. Unusually for this somewhat dry item on the agenda, it drew plenty of questions and some sensible suggestions.

The subjects of community events such as the former village fetes and fireworks were discussed in a positive light and it was agreed that EVRT would form a working group to consider them. As always the issue of volunteers appeared to be the main stumbling block.

Sue Morris presenting Chris Iles, the outgoing chairman, with a bottle of wine.

Leaving aside the difficulties, Chris and his team have faced over recent years, Sue Morris warmly thanked him for his hard work and dedication during his time on the trustee management committee. He received a bottle of Lebanese wine and a well deserved round of applause.

Chris leaves the trust in the capable hands of mostly new trustees who will be looking forward to the £2.64 million developer’s contribution which has been allocated to fund a rebuild.

The General Sir Douglas Haig pub.

The General Sir Douglas Haig pub

The future of the Haig pub remains uncertain. It is under new management and has a new chef. However, while the staff are friendly, little has changed and potential new clientele appear to be reserving judgement as the new manager settles in.

New councillors for Effingham

New line up for Effingham Parish Council. From left: Bronwen Roscoe, Keith Cornwell, Jon Short (clerk) Ian Symes (chairman), Arnold Pindar (deputy chairman), Liz Hogger, Charles Thorne, Cliff Hackett.

Effingham Parish Council held its first public meeting after the May local elections. The council welcomed its two new members, Bronwen Roscoe and Charles Thorne.

However, with the departure of James Nicholls there are still two unfilled vacancies.

As is usual with these first meetings much of the time was taken up with annual routine admin and financial matters. Cllr Paula Moss was again absent from the meeting but had expressed willingness to continue with her duties.