SUMMER 2014ISSUE NUMBER 5

A vibrant sea of red poppies,largely sown using seeds fromFlanders fields, has been on displayadjacent to the steps leading up fromthe café terrace. Sue Daniels, leaderof the Friends gardening team, cameup with the idea to create a ‘field ofred’ as part of Tunbridge Wellscommemorations for WWI. (right)Council staff supported a group ofvolunteers from the Friends whospent a sunny Saturday preparingthe ground and planting out theseeds and plants. The poppieslooked really beautiful at their peak.

Flanders poppies in bloom

Herbs, flowers and vegetables withgolden and yellow fruits, blooms andleaves can be enjoyed in theplanters around the café. They formpart of the Tunbridge Wells

submission for the 50th Anniversaryversion of ‘RHS Britain in Bloom’competition. Volunteers of al l ageswere involved with growing theplants from seed and then plantingthem out. The veritable harvest in thelarge wooden manger was created

by a group of pupils from ClaremontPrimary School, whilst the blacktiered planters are the result ofFriends’ val iant work. The vegetablesand herbs are intended to be for thebenefit of the whole community soplease help yourself when the cropsare ready.

Litter volunteersLitter is a problem in many parksand ours is no different, but we workhard to keep it clear of l itter forresidents and visitors al ike. TheFriends’ efforts are spearheaded byPeter Vincent who makes regularsweeps during the week and atweekends.

Growing for gold!

What’s Onin Calverley Grounds

Sat & Sun August 23rd/24th - ‘Local &Live’- music festival

Fri August 29th - Family Fun Day

FoCG InformationChairman ­ Jim Kedge (521787)jimkedge@blueyonder.co.uk

Vice Chairman ­ Nick Popenicholas.pope@yahoo.com

Secretary ­ Jane Fenwickfenwickjane@yahoo.com

Treasurer ­ Lisa Grantchavassier28@yahoo.co.uk

Facebook:FriendsOfCalverleyGrounds

Twitter: @FoCGTunWel ls

E­mail: friendsofcalverleygrounds@yahoo.co.uk

Our well established annualsunflower growing competition forprimary school age childrengenerated around a dozenmeasureable entries this year.Allegedly some potential winnerswere savaged by a fox only daysbefore the judging took place! LisaGrant presented prizes to thewinners: Katie Child (top row below)in the 6 years and over category;and Sophia Deeprose-Kedge in the5 and under category (bottom row).Well done to them and thanks to allfor participating.

The Mela multi­cultural food andmusic event took place in theGrounds back in mid-July. I t was agreat success, with large crowdsenjoying the music and food in thesunshine. We hope that theorganisers can find sufficient

sponsorship for next year so we canall continue to enjoy this colourfuland l ively spectacle in the park.Come on you business owners - itis surely good publicity to be linkedto such a successful event!

Sunflower successes

Inspired by the poppies plantedby the Friends and guided by theirteachers, Mr Green and Miss Pratt,al l the pupils in year 6 at ClaremontPrimary School wrote poems on thetheme of the First World War. Theeight pupils chosen to read out theirwork were all presented withcertificates on behalf of the Friendsby Gary Faulkner, Chairman of theTunbridge Wells Branch of theBritish Legion. “The poemsdemonstrated great creativity anddealt maturely with the aspects ofloss and remembrance across thegenerations”, said Sue Daniels theleader of our gardening team.

Thanks are also due to Lisa Grantfor her l iaison work with the school.You can read the winning entries onour notice board in CalverleyGrounds over the next few weeks.

Thanks for your enthusiasticparticipation, with a 64% responserate to our questionnaire, we havegot some clear guidance on theareas in the Grounds where youwould most l ike to see improvementand investment: over 70% ofrespondents selected the location ofthe old bowling green and pavil ionas the prime target site. Thegravelled area in front of the café(dubbed the ‘dust bowl’! ) wassecond with 20%. But the question

of what incremental facil ities/infrastructure enhancements shouldwe focus on was less clear cut:chi ldren’s play/adventure equipmentled the way with 34%, but wildflower meadow/habitat for insectsetc and visual focal point/waterfeature/bandstand etc were bothsupported by a healthy 25% ofrespondents. A nice dilemmadeserving of more discussion withthe Council 's Parks team.Thanks again for your support.

Mela brings in large crowds

Poppies and poems for WWI commemoration

10‐year Vision questionnaire points the way forward