Well, it rained! Even so, we managed a total of £1,088 in takings which, although not quite a record, was near enough to make us very pleased and grateful indeed. The whole event is such a big team effort by committee and volunteers but we are well rewarded with this result.
Thank you to everyone who supplied a marvellous array of plants, cakes, books, and wine; and thank you to everyone who helped set up and/or served on the day. This year our well-laden cake stall was due in no small part to new suppliers of cakes, so an especial thank you to them for their contribution.
Did you notice our honoured guests in the marquee? Two enchanting harvest mice darting around their cage. They are the South Notts Group’s new ambassadors for conservation and will be helping to fly the badger flag for NWT. They have been bred by Neil Pinder, the SNG Treasurer, who is an expert on harvest mice.
We hope, as well as shopping, you found time to have some coffee and sample Marion’s delicious cakes in the café. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you next year.
We found a small M&S ‘tote bag’ in the hall. If you lost one there please give me a call on 0115 937 6320.
Having missed last year’s event due to illness I was keen to make up for it, so on a wet Saturday morning I left my Derbyshire home and headed off down the A52.
Finding somewhere to park is never easy on a Saturday morning in Ruddington but car duly parked I headed towards St Peter’s Rooms. On arrival I was greeted by Gordon Dyne and Neil Pinder outside under a Trust marquee. They had an interesting selection of wildlife exhibits including some freshly emerged white letter hairstreak butterflies and a couple of harvest mice which did not want to meet their public.
Out of the rain I was greeted with a room almost bulging with people, plants and books. I was impressed with the layout of the book stall which had been split into categories which made looking through them so much easier than a lot of book sales I have been to. There were some very tempting looking cakes for sale and I regretted being diabetic. Adjacent to the cake stall Trust Chairman Valerie Holt was busy selling all manner of Trust goods. I managed to ignore the cakes and headed into the room where all the plants were displayed. I think there were more plants of a larger variety than I have seen at Ruddington before and I managed to get some perennials to fill some gaps in my border and a load of French beans to replace mine which the slugs had eaten.
I spent a very enjoyable hour at Ruddington and it was worth the thirty mile round trip. I must commend the South Notts members on the organisation of an excellent event. If you didn’t go shame on you and I hope you make up for it by going to next year’s event.