December 2003
Published by the Bexleyheath & District Rose Society
Patron:- Dr. David G. Hessayon
President:- Mr. F. H. Boardman
Vice-President:- Mr. W. Skinner
Chairman:- Mr. S. Burch
Vice-Chairman Mr. B. Rainsbury
Hon Secretary:- Mrs. J. Newton
Hon Treasurer:- Mrs. Z. Neale
Show Secretary:- Mr. A. Neale
Membership Secretary:- Mrs. D. Taylor
_______________________________________________
Obituary
We are sorry to report the death of Mrs June Frost who had been a member for many years and attended meetings and shows when her health permitted. Our deepest sympathy to her daughter and family. Next Meeting on Tuesday 27 January 2004 at St John's the Fisher Hall, Thanet Road, Bexley, Kent This will be our first meeting of 2004 and is traditionally our Cheese and Wine get together. This is an evening when we can mingle and chat and also test our brains with some of Alec and Dave's quizzes. All good fun. We need members to contribute to the buffet so if you can bring some finger food along please contact Vanessa. It is important that you let her know what you can bring so that we can get an even variety of food and she can fill in with items where needed. Welcome to New Members Mr R Martin Secretary's Report on the November Meeting This month our speaker was Mr Beric Morley, brother of our member Peter. Beric is an Archaeologist and Architectural Historian. You may have seen him on the TV programme Time Team when he gives his opinion on wood. He began his talk by telling us that contrary to popular opinion the English Oak is not a tree that made up the ancient woodlands. It was dominant in the north of the country but in the rest of the country it was the Small Leafed Lime that was predominant. Unfortunately this tree is now virtually extinct. In Neolithic, early Stone Age times dating back as far as 3000 BC small communities lived inside earthwork enclosures. They dug up trees to settle their sites and built log walls using anything up to 10,000 trees standing shoulder to shoulder and all cut ad fashioned with flint tools. An incredible feat. This laid waste to many woodlands. Beric told us there is a difference between timber and wood. Timber comes from trees that are allowed to grow in competition with each other and have their canopy at the top giving a long straight trunk. Wood comes from trees that have been coppiced. This means that trees have been cut to near the ground and allowed to sprout new branches. These grow to about 15 feet. The first use of coppiced wood was for firewood. The Romans were very good at coppicing and used the logs for buildings and also for their road building. The Saxons, when they arrived had not learnt the art of coppicing and the trees, being left to their own devices returned to the wild wood.
When the Norman's arrived they came upon an unmanaged landscape. They went into
coppicing in a big way, cutting down enormous amounts of competitive trees. This
gave them massive amounts of building material and enabled them to build nearly
1000 castles together with hundreds of monasteries and churches. Life expectancy
began to rise in this period because there was plenty of firewood available so
houses were much warmer and people could eat more food thus improving their
general health. The forests were mainly owned by the King and he gave timber for building. Roofs were almost entirely made of timber and whilst the first designs were simple pitched roofs on an A shape with a flat bottom they soon became more adventurous with arch braces and hammer beams, the ultimate construction being the octagon at Ely Cathedral. Westminster Hall is the finest example of timberwork, being the largest wooden roof in Europe with a span of 67 feet. It was put together in sections at Farnham in the late 14th century and transported to London where it was put together. Beric told us that William Morris set down the precedent for repairing timber in that as little as possible should be cut out and it should be replaced with the same wood. We saw a good selection of slides showing coppiced and pollarded trees and also the great competitive trees, straight and true, up to 60' tall. We also saw slides of barns and houses featuring different styles of roofs built according to the type and length of timber available at the time. It was a very interesting lecture and we thank Peter for helping to arrange it for us and also for putting his brother up for the night. Members Donations The society has recently received two very substantial donations from members. The first is from Mrs Violet Holmes who donated 50 pounds. Mrs Holmes has been a member for many years but has been unable to get to meetings for some time due to age. She says she has enjoyed keeping up with the Society through the Monthly Bulletins. The second donation was given to us by Jean Davis and was the sum of 200 pounds from the estate of the late Joan Farrell. Joan greatly enjoyed meetings and came on most of our holidays. Jean said it was a thank you for the many happy times Joan had spent with us. The Committee are hoping to use the money to sponsor a class in the Summer Show in Joan's name. Dates for next years diary Chelsea Flower Show - Public days 27 May £30 & 28 May £28 We are on the Web http://home.btconnect.com/cadoss/bexrose The law is on the trail of the dreaded Leylandii An amendment to the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill will give local authorities powers to intervene where neighbours cannot resolve disputes over evergreen and semi evergreen hedges that have got out of hand. People who allow hedges to grow higher than 2 metres will be classed as behaving in an anti social manner. The Government's move follows a long running battle in Parliament to secure relief for home owners who claim that the fast growing Leylandii hedges have blighted their homes and gardens by shutting out light and obscuring views. Until now common law rights only allow people to cut overhanging branches back to the property boundary line. Two Thousand Years It's two thousand years since the angel came "Don't worry Mary", the angel replied, In time the baby was born in a stable, Round the camp fires the shepherds sat, "Don't be afraid, there's nothing to fear, "They'll never believe us. We'll keep things quite, The star it beckoned, again and again, They followed the star as best they were able, It's two thousand years since the angel came Merry Christmas Everyone As this is the last bulletin the Committee wish all our members a Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Mr R Peacock
Mrs N Peacock
Miss I Steward
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show - 8 to 11 July - £22
RHS Flower Show, Tatton Park - 22 to 25 July - £17 pound in advance, £19 on the door
RHS London Flower Shows run from April to September - £5 - advance booking ring 0207 821 3408
By Fred Vincent, Retired Civil Servant
And told Mary that Jesus would be her son's name
It's two thousand years since the maiden said,
"How can that be, I'm a virgin, not wed?
The Lord will come down and be by your side
"Its all been foretold," he said with a nod,
"Your baby will be son of God".
His cot was a manger, so goes the fable,
Mary and Joseph, now both of them wed,
Looked down on the infant, asleep in his bed
Watching their sheep, chewing the fat,
When an angel appeared, right there, in their midst,
And scared the poor devils, right out of their wits.
I've just come to tell you the Saviour is here.
He's lying in a stable, it's not very far,
If you want to see him just follow the star".
We saw an angel? No one will buy it"
The land all around was suddenly bright,
And there was the star, with heavenly light.
And they followed its light across desert and plain
Their camels well laden with fortune untold,
With Frankincense, Myrrh and a little Gold.
Until it stopped and lit up a stable,
Kings with their camels and shepherds their sheep,
All came to worship the baby, asleep.
The baby was born, Jesus his name.
The best birthday present we can give him
Is peace on earth, good will to all men.