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| Home | MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES . ANYONE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING IS WELCOME TO SIMPLY SHOW UP AT OUR MEETING OR ACTIVITY DAYS THE NEXT MEETING IS ON THURSDAY 11TH MARCH AT 7 PM AT THE SWAN PUBLIC HOUSE IN CHEADLE! On 25th February 2010 the Group ratified the previous meeting's decision to withdraw from Heart of England in Bloom this year and confirmed the operating structure of the Group to be; Administration Group Peter Oakden Chairman Nick Hale Treasurer & Web Site Manager Dennis Newboult Secretary Business Sponsorship Group Richard Grice Andy Brown Plant Acquisition Group Joan Grattage Terry Grattage Val Johnson Hammersley Hayes Neighbourhood Group Ian Whitehouse Brookhouse Area Group Gary Bentley Volunteer- Ray Wood Arrangements were also made to get ideas and tenders for plants and to explore alternative options for watering. The Group also agreed the allocation of "independent" funding to Brookhouse Area Group to proceed with a plant acquisition trial. On 11th February 2010 at the Annual General Meeting of the Group, Peter Oakden indicated that for personal reasons he wished to take a more background role this year and advised that for personal reasons Ray Wood had stood down as Treasurer. Vice Chairman Dave and Diary Secretary Andy also stood down, the latter indicating that he had run out of new ideas for the Heart of England in Bloom diary. Dennis Newboult confirmed that he was prepared to continue as Secretary and Nick Hale volunteered to take on the role of Treasurer. There followed considerable discussion as to the future activities and role of the Group and ways of spreading the workload, with Dennis broaching the idea of form forming small working groups of three. It was generally agreed that the volunteers wanted to continue providing flower displays for the benefit of the town but thought that we should withdraw from participation in Heart of England in Bloom for this year with the position to be reviewed next year. The Chairman formally completed the business of the AGM and called a meeting for 25.02.10 to give members time to reflect on the evening's discussions. On 11th October 2009 members met at 9am in some numbers and planting of the pansies and bulbs was completed without incident and in record time. On 7th October 2009 the Group held a brief meeting at which the planting out of the winter display of pansies and bulbs was arranged, the plants coming this time from Heath House Nurseries. Peter Oakden reported that troughs were now in place and filled ready. Helen Anderson advised that she had written to a leading rose grower (Fryers) enquiring as to the possibility of naming a new rose "Pugin's Gem",given Cheadle's forthcoming celebrations and would report back on progress. The Group welcomed Margaret and Ron Locker who had been instrumental in forming Cheadle in Bloom some 7 year earlier. The Chairman advised he would be presenting certificates to the schools which had participated and contributed in the Heart of England competition. After discussion of funding Group members participated in an excellent celebratory buffet, the donor of which wished to remain anonymous. CHEADLE IN BLOOM WINS GOLD! On 3rd September 2009 Peter Oakden returned from the Heart of England in Bloom presentation awards ceremony in Pershore and announced to a special meeting held in The Swan at 7:00 that Cheadle in Bloom had received a Gold Award, the highest possible. To add to this success Keeling Rd had received an "Outstanding" certificate in their category again the highest possible. He congratulated everyone involved. Under pressure he also "confessed" that he had personally been awarded a discretionary "Certificate of Merit" for his own personal contribution to Heart of England in Bloom and was duly congratulated by all present. He noted that in the space of just three years Cheadle in Bloom had gone from a silver to silver-gilt to Gold award, an achievement which was truly outstanding given that other participants had taken more than 10 years to achieve this. The judges report noted "Areas for Improvement" as "None"!! There followed a brief discussion on the Cheadle rebranding exercise being conducted by the Council and it was agreed that those responsible be contacted with the suggestion that the proposed new Cheadle signage at entrances to the town refer to the Gold Award. It was also agreed that Sponsors be contacted by letter, advised of the results and thanked for their contribution. Finally Peter Oakden reported that in view of time pressure he had ordered winter pansies for winter planting which was only 5 weeks off. The next meeting would be on 7th October at 7:00 at a venue to be confirmed. On 5th August 2009 Peter Oakden began the monthly meeting with the sad news of the sudden death of Mike Steele from Little Island Nurseries. Mike had been a great supporter of Cheadle in Bloom, had shared his expert knowledge of plants with the Group and supplied the majority of plants used by the Group, including extra plants this year at his own expense when funds were tight. He would be sadly missed. It was noted that Peter Oakden and Ray Wood were to attend the funeral and members asked that they extend the Group's sympathies to his wife, daughter and son-in-law. The Chairman reported on judging day, noting that the weather had been good and the atmosphere festive, with initial feedback from the judges being good. He extended his thanks to all the people and groups who had volunteered their services to make the day so successful. The purchase of a water bowser and ongoing watering was going well though it was noted that due to the weather plants had suffered a mildew attack, that they had been sprayed to kill this which seemed to have worked reasonably well but that some plants, particularly those by the Guild Hall were too far gone and would be removed. Looking forward it was noted that funding continued to be gained with Lafarge having contributed £500 and grants received of £500 each from both County Councillors. It had been determined that the grant from the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council was a rolling one and incidentally not conditional on entering Heart of England in Bloom. It was noted that Biddulph had not entered for this year only. The position on the Cheadle Town Council grant had yet to be determined. The presentation day for Heart of England in Bloom this year was on Thursday 3rd September in Pershore and after some discussion it was agreed that this was to be attended by Peter Oakden and Dave Barber with representation next year to be reviewed. In view of this there would be no meeting on September 2nd. Instead the Group would meet at The Swan in Cheadle at 7:00pm on Thursday 3rd September when the Chairman would announce the judging results. On 10th July 2009 judging took place for the Heart of England in Bloom Competition, with the judges again being Les Goodman and David Wassell M.B.E.The weather was fine and the judges were given a tour of the town on a vintage bus kindly provided by Roy Hine accompanied by the Chairman and other volunteers. They were particularly shown and were impressed with the new permanent planting in Well Street arising from their recommendations last year and also saw the excellent decoration of the fencing at the bottom of the car park which had been carried out by pupils from Painsley Catholic College. They then adjourned to the Market Place where there was Irish dancing and music performed by Murphy's Marbles band and free tea and cakes available to all. With banners in place, the Council having organised an exceptional weeding all around and the Market Place crowded out, the atmosphere was truly infective and a good times was had by all. On 1st July 2009 in place of the normal meeting members met at Greyhound Walk and spent about an hour weeding and deadheading the displays. On 31st May 2009 on a gloriously hot day numerous volunteers turned up for planting out day with the result that it was completed without incident and before noon. On 6th May 2009 the first meeting was held at Cheadle Fire Station at 7:00 p.m. The Chairman advised that he had made contact with Les Latham at High Peak BC who was now looked after maintenance in Cheadle. He had undertaken to assist by arranging the partial emptying of tubs, the spare compost being placed in the area identified for permanent planting. Planting day was agreed as Sunday 31st May, meeting at the market at 8:30 am and was likely to be extended as members agreed to do it all on one day rather than the normal two. All are asked to attend with appropriate equipment. The Chairman updated members on the grant position and it was also agreed he would contact Heart of England in Bloom to arrange a Judging day anytime after 1st July to allow greater public participation. It has since been confirmed Judging Day will be Friday 10th July. Ray Wood undertook to investigate positioning of banners on the day. On 19th March 2009 the AGM took place at 7:00 p.m. at The Swan Public House in Cheadle. Key points are: (1)The Committee was re-elected.(2) Arrangements are in place for the purchase of a water bowser and pump primarily to be operated by Peter Oakden and David Barber but with volunteer assistance as necessary (3) The plants have been ordered and in view of the financial situation Little Island Nurseries have kindly offered to upgrade the proposed "cheap and cheerful" plants for outlying plantings to the same as the main planting for the same price quoted.(4) The winter planting will be kept in place as long as possible-date for their removal and new planting the following week will be announced later.(5) The Chairman will seek to move the judging date by Heart of England in Bloom to around 2nd or 3rd of July to enable greater participation by local schoolchildren. On 8th March 2009 7 volunteers attended a maintenance session at 9:00am in which we successfully removed all the small upstanding basket supports, which as discussed at our last meeting, have proved to have caused such a problem with vandalism. On 26th February 2009 a meeting was held to determine this year's planting arrangements. A lengthy discussion ensued and in view of the limited funds available it was decided to go primarily with mixed Begonias (non stop begonias) with geraniums in the Memorial Garden. Guidance was taken from Mike Steele of Little Island Nurseries who has supplied plants previously. Alternative quotes are awaited from Heath House Nursery. Prices were also sought for cheap and cheerful planting in "outlying" displays as the Chairman did not want to see unplanted tubs around Cheadle.
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