A Canterbury Tale

A day off great sadness and yet one of real joy, too. I travelled to Canterbury Cathedral with Irene and Roger Kirby and Linda Bowley for the funeral service for Revd Clare Nicholson, onetime Vicar of St. Peter's Aldborough Hatch. The service in the Quire was inspiring and a fitting tribute.The car journey was often hilarious and all three were great company. I love the last photograph - with Roger in typical pose as he walked towards the lift! I guess Linda may not be happy as I did not ask her permission before taking the photographs!

Cuckoo Hall Orchard - the second Saturday - 13th August 2016

The second Saturday at Cuckoo Hall Orchard with the Aldborough Hatch Defence Association and The Urban Orchard Project found us continuing to cut back the undergrowth to reveal yet another apple tree. We built a massive pile of clippings and undergrowth for Redbridge Council to clear - which they did as promised and even swept up the car park too leave it clean and tidy afterwards. WE learned how to bark ring to kill saplings at their roots - Balkrishna and Revd Lovesey are seen at work here. It was a reward for our hard work to see come superb cooking apples against the blue cloudless sky. Next there is work to be done mulching around the trees to prevent weeds and sitting back the ivy which we have killed lower down - all giving light and air to the trees that now seeing daylight for the first time in years!

Columbia Road Flower Market

Columbia Road Flower Market in Bethnal Green - approached from Liverpool Street Station - was bustling at 8.30am when I arrived on Sunday 14th August - it is only open on Sundays. Hoteliers were coming away, armed with cut flowers - the aroma was just stunning. I bought a foxglove (a colour I do not have so I will save the seeds), a large pineapple plant bulb and a spring bulb the name of which I have forgotten (buy I now what it is like!). My foxglove is second from the left in  the shot here - a light pinkish colour. The lad attaching a sort of cling film to the rear of a stall told me that this was to stop thieves taking plants! He was very busy! Thence to St. Paul's Cathedral for Sung Eucharist, where there was some amusement as I guess it might have been the first time a foxglove has been taken in to a service! Then to Valentines Mansion - great day!

The Walled Garden at Valentines Mansion

The Walled Garden at Valentines Mansion was a blaze of summer vibrant colours in the recent brilliant sunshine. Whilst jazz and folk music delighted over 200 visitors to the Cafe garden, some folk could sit quietly a few feet away, admiring the gorgeous array in the summer sun. Rebridge Parks are to be congratulated on a tremendous display.