Bassingham Open Gardens & Scarecrow Festival
Photographs of 13th June 2010 Event
Photographs of 14th June 2009 Event
Photographs of 15th June 2008 Event
Photographs of 17th June 2007 Event
Photographs of 18th June 2006 Event
Photographs of 19th June 2005 Event
Bassingham Open Gardens & Scarecrow Festival
Sunday 13th June 2010 (Saturday also for the Scarecrows)
Visitors were treated to ten fine and varied gardens reflecting great diversity, imagination and of course some stunning plants plus twenty-five (at least that is what was spotted by the photographer) creative and amusing scarecrows (on the theme of "Occupations") distributed throughout the village. The weather held with a few threatening clouds coming to nothing and, as the photograph of the tea garden testifies, was enjoyed by many. It took a three hour stroll at a leisurely pace and several chats along the way to do this excellent display justice. A fantastic effort by all those preparing gardens and exhibits is much appreciated by residents and visitors and is a credit to the village and yet again raised much needed funds for the Bassingham Village Hall and Playing Field Charity. The following selection of photographs provide a flavour of this much loved event:
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Well done to all exhibitors! |
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Well done to all exhibitors and gardeners! |
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Which one is the real dog? |
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The teas were in demand throughout the afternoon |
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..and plenty of bargains to be had at the plant stall |
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We are all looking forward to next year's event. Thanks again to all the hours of effort that went into making this one such a success. |
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Bassingham Open Gardens & Scarecrow Festival
Sunday 14th June 2009
The fine June weather brought out the crowds and they were amply rewarded with the ten dazzling open gardens and entertained by the many scarecrows (on the theme of "films") dotted around the village. The effort put in by the many people involved in these coordinated events is impressive and they have raised useful funds for the Bassingham Village Hall and Playing Field Charity. The following selection of photographs illustrate the high standards achieved:
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Well done to all exhibitors! |
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The Scarecrow Colouring Competition Held on Sunday 14th June during Bassingham Open Gardens Winner was Katie Mettam age 5 Well done Katie
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Sunday 15th June 2008
Gardens in Bassingham were open for visitors on Sunday 15th June from 2pm until 6pm. In spite of some early shows the event enjoyed a fine afternoon and was well supported. The visitors for an entry fee of £3.00 were treated to eight spectacular gardens, a plant stall, teas, cakes and other refreshments.
Proceeds from these events go to the Bassingham Village Hall charity which, as well as running the Village Hall and playing field, is trying to raise money for The Hub.
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A selection from the Gardens |
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Bassingham
Open Gardens & Scarecrow Trail
Sunday 17th June 2007
A selection of delightful gardens were open from 2pm
until 6pm together with a Scarecrow trail around the village. Refreshments and a plant stall
were available. The event attracted record numbers and was blessed with a
fine afternoon (not a common occurrence in summer 2007).
Entry to the gardens was by programme, £2.50 (children free if
accompanied by an adult). All proceeds went to the Bassingham Village Hall charity.
The organisers (Open gardens Jan Culpitt 788793; Jean Solven 788949 and scarecrows: Jill Evans on 789728 or Jane Root on 788278) did a splendid job as did all those who participated in opening their gardens and / or displaying scarecrows within the theme of "TV programmes". If you would like to be involved in next year's event please contact the organisers.
A selection of photographs from the June 2007 open gardens and scarecrows is shown below:
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A selection from the Gardens |
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A selection from the Scarecrows |
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June 2006 Event
Bassingham opened a splendid and varied selection of gardens on Sunday 18th June between 2pm to 6pm. The weather was kind without being spectacular which made the village tour around the gardens and scarecrow festival easier on the viewers. Refreshments, ice creams and a plant stall were also available and encouraged visitors to the events to adopt a leisurely pace.
Some photographs of the beautiful gardens are included below, providing just glimpses of the treasures they all contain.
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Jean Solven has a new garden for a recent build...
The aim is for colourful, bold planting to give a vibrant display over a long period without excessive demand for labour.
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To the front Bill and lrene Croft have a beautiful garden with interesting and
colourful planting...
To the rear are the wonderful tightly disciplined areas dedicated to the production of show vegetables of the highest quality - all in the green-fingered hands of a master.
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Jane and Les Root's garden showed the talents of the owners through the landscaping and planting schemes, which is "easily maintained with short bursts of enthusiasm and long periods of neglect"....
The result is an attractive plantsman's garden, which is also notably productive. A classic village garden of its time.
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Jan and Geoff Culpitt's garden was formerly a pub car park...
Now it is a flower arranger's garden with a variety of perennials, broadleaf evergreen shrubs, an established wildlife pond and a new pond settling in with oxygenators and a few aquatic and marginal plants.
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A wonderful garden created by Connie, a plant fanatic, and the late Keith Wood,
a craftsman landscaper....
Uncommon plants in startling settings.
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Mike and Valerie Bell's garden is about 10 years old...
Its features include landscaped rear garden, sunny patio, water feature, greenhouse and a small vegetable plot. The planting was planned to give an all year round display.
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Jack Woodcock has created a beautiful small garden....
This garden demonstrates the touches of a great gardener of unrivalled skill and experience.
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June 2005 Event
On Sunday 19th June 2005 a number of Bassingham residents opened their gardens to the public in aid of the Bassingham Village Hall and Playing Field Charity. As usual this was a successful event and this year, blessed with beautiful summer weather, attracted a good turnout of visitors. This is an event that has been running for many years and demonstrates that horticulture and hard work are alive and well in our community.
On this page we include a selection of photographs, with their owners' permission, from some of the gardens on display. The photographs were kindly taken by Mr. Ellis Pounder on the day of the event and serve as a testimony to the achievements of the gardeners involved.
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A south-facing view across the garden of Tony and Carole Gamble to fields beyond.
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The colour-themed and structured garden of Tony Oldfield.
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Jean Solven's patio with its vibrant display of climbers. A plant stall here provided visitors with the opportunity to buy plants
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The many vistas and river frontage of Mike & Bunny Allports' garden where a selection of refreshments were served.
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Disciplined rows of high quality vegetables grown in Bill and Irene Crofts' garden.
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The converted pub car park of Jan and Geoff Culpitt who have organised this event for many years and served teas on the day.
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Labour-saving planting and eye-catching structure of Barrie & Maureen Tostevens' Garden.
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The beautifully scaled and landscaped garden of Norman & Diana Geeson.
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Connie Wood's secluded garden with its balanced structure and planting.
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June 2006 Scarecrow Event
Bassingham Scarecrow Festival was held on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th June 2006 and was coordinated with the annual Open Gardens event on the Sunday afternoon. Both events were highly successful and complemented each other well.
The theme was characters from children's books and it generated a lot of interest and fun for both children and adults.
The effort and skill demonstrated by all those who made exhibits was very impressive - well done everybody! The event raised funds for the Village Hall from where the trail began to the twenty-nine exhibits distributed all around the village.
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you would like to make comments on the event or perhaps be involved in next
year's event please contact the organisers:
Jill Evans on 789728 or Jane Root on 788278
On this page we have placed small images of all of the exhibits (in alphabetical order) so you may enjoy them again, and perhaps see some that you missed during the event. We are sure most of you managed to identify the characters! but for those who did not, we reveal their identities here beneath each image.
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| Ali Baba | Alice | Bob the Builder |
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| Charlotte's Web | Cinderella |
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| Cubs Outdoor Challenge | Cubs Caring Challenge | Cubs Creativity Challenge |
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| Cubs Fitness Challenge | Cubs Global Challenge |
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| Cubs Outdoor Challenge | Dennis the Menace |
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| Dorothy | Frog Prince |
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| Gnasher | Harry Potter |
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| Jack with Beanstalk | Lion (from Wizard of Oz) |
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| Mad Hatter | Mary Poppins |
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| Mr. Happy | Noddy |
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| Pinocchio | Playing Cards |
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| Queen of Hearts | Red Riding Hood |
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| Scarecrow | Scarecrow |
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| Scarecrow | Scarecrow |
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| Scarecrow in "Open Garden" | Sleeping Beauty |
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| Sponge Bob | Superman |
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| Teddy Bear's Picnic | Tin Man |
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| Titchy Witch | Toto |
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| White Rabbit | Wizard of Oz |
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Witham Staple Web Editor can be contacted by e-mail: info@withamstaple.com