Issue 26
Summer 2007
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Group News cont’d
The autumn term of Keep Fit starts on Tuesday, 4th September and we welcome new members to join particularly at that time. The venue is the Jennyfield Styan Centre and there is excellent parking and a good bus service from the centre of Harrogate.
Before that we have arranged to meet for tea and cakes and to renew friendships at Farrah's Palm Court Café, which is near the Crown roundabout, at 3 p.m. on 28th August. Potential new members are welcome to join us.
Please contact Val Cooke
Val Cooke
Two outings were arranged for the summer. The first in April was a half-day visit to Adel church where we were very warmly welcomed. It is a lovely Norman church with a very fine doorway. We then visited the non-conformist chapel in Bramhope. This is almost unique as it was built during the interregnum following the Civil War when very few churches were being established.
The second trip was an all-day one in June to Stow and Coates-by-Stow in Lincolnshire. The first is a very large Saxo-Norman Minster church in a small village just south of Gainsborough, the second is a delightful small one, sensitively restored in the 19th century, but retaining its medieval fittings, including a fine rood screen and loft.
Over forty people took part in the trip and enjoyed the day enormously.
Patrick is planning to start again the first Tuesday in October, and fortnightly thereafter.
It has been a very exciting year for the group – and it’s not over yet!
We have listened to a wide variety of musical genres, within the themes of: Music of the Day and the Night, Dreams, the Viola, and Music of Spring and Summer. We’ve enjoyed music both familiar and previously un encountered.
The year has brought both personal sadness and happiness. One of our members has moved away. Frances Thomason, who was responsible for my becoming the leader of this group, died in April. Patrick Bishop and I attended her funeral.
On a happier note, I was married on June 1st, and am now Jane Lishman. David and I plan to stay in Harrogate and hope the Group will continue to flourish.
As always, I would like to thank the members for their wonderful support.
The naturalists have been busy this summer only being rained off once for the visit to Grass Wood. We have been contributing to the recording of local flora on visits to some of our nature reserves. This activity has helped those in the group who are not familiar with plant identification to make some progress in this field.
We recorded over eighty species at Quarry Moor including the rare Thistle Broomrape and the group were pleased to see some Bee Orchids. The birders had a thin day. Visits to Farnham and Staveley produced a good range of species. The Farnham reserve was missed out because the leader lost his key to the reserve but a roadside survey provided us with some very interesting plants and a good lunch was had at the Royal Oak.
At Staveley we saw the Marsh Helleborine which is an orchid that is rare in this area, we counted 144 flowering plants indicating that it is flourishing at this site. On that day we also recorded over eighty plant species. The birders also had a good day with Great Crested Grebe, Sand Martins, Reed Buntings amongst the list. Dragonflies, Black Tailed Skimmer and Emperor, were also out and about. Some butterflies were also seen and with our limited identification skills we saw Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Skipper species.
There is no August meet, the next outing is on Sep 11th when we visit the Nidd Gorge for a fungus foray. We meet at Scotton Banks Car Park at 2.0 p.m.. Other aspects of natural history will be looked at, the fungi can not be relied on to be present for our foray.
Our regular weekly meetings and artistic challenges have continued throughout the Spring and into the Summer. We have attempted a wide variety of subjects including “The Orchestra”, “Moonlight through the trees” and “Hands”
In June we enjoyed a visit to the Mercer gallery to study the works and career of William Powell Frith, a popular Victorian artist who lived for many years in Harrogate.
Other visits, seeking entertainment or inspiration, were made to Lincoln and Holmfirth. The Holmfirth Art Week continues to grow and now claims to have over 9000 items on show!. The return journey included a short stop at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. A small group, including our Group Leader Peter Kearney, will be venturing further afield, this time to Florence in October.
Planned changes to the premises at the Oatlands Drive Convent will shortly reduce the amount of space available for our use. This will test our organising ability but we expect to overcome the difficulties as our meetings, including three outdoor painting visits and participation in the Askham Bryan Open Day, continue throughout the Summer.
Bill Mallinson