Programme and contact information

Next event: January 31st: AGM (not as frightening as it sounds)

We meet at 7:30 on the last Wednesday of the month in the Village Hall, High Street, Heckington.

Contact us using the email below or by contacting any of the committee.

gardener@gardenheckington.org.uk


Committee:

  • Chairman: Stuart Fox (07974 949951)
  • Secretary: Kes Whitehead (01529 469557)
  • Treasurer: Sally Wallington (01400 272564)
    • Penny Johnson (01529 460770)
    • Beryl Machin (01529 469363)
    • Bill Machin (01529 469363)
    • Heather Whitehead (01529 469557)


2024 Programme

January 31st       AGM - plus something more interesting!

February 28th    Andy Boyton, Springfields - Bulbs

March 27th      Dr Nicola Crewe – Traced Evidence

April 24th       Chris Evans – The World of Bees

May 11th (Sat.)       Coffee Morning – Methodist Hall 10-12

May 29th        Robert Wiseman – subject to be confirmed

June 26th       Barbecue

July 31st        Garden Crawl and Village Treasure Hunt

August 28th      Gill Walsh – Kew Gardens

September 25th    Club presentation evening, a series of short presentations from Club members

October 30th      Nicholas Watts – Farming and Wildlife

November 27th      Christmas Themed Social Evening

December/January  Christmas Dinner/Lunch


2025

Jan 29th        AGM - plus something more interesting!



A brief history of the club

Moves to start a gardening club in Heckington happened in 1989 when two neighbours on High Street, Sylvia Lawes and Derek Neverson, decided that if they didn't make the effort it might never happen. Notices were put up around the village and in the Parish magazine inviting people to a meeting in Sylvia's cottage. In the event, 18 people squeezed into Sylvia's small front room – there was clearly pent up demand for a gardening club. Looking back, it was surprising that there hadn't been a club established before.

It was decided to hold club meetings in the Methodist Church hall, and the last Wednesday in the month was decided on as it was the only slot available! The first formal meeting was held in January 1990 and over 30 people joined in that first year. It was £5 to join. Sylvia was elected chairman at that initial meeting, and retained the post for 14 years – in spite of her efforts to pass the post on to someone else.

The pattern of holding monthly meetings with a guest speaker was established from the start, but in those days there was much more emphasis on vegetable growing than there is now. An annual BBQ was also held from the beginning, and in the early days members would visit a local strawberry farm on the day of the BBQ to ensure there would be a suitable end to the meal.

Trips to visit gardens were a regular feature, and making a long day of it was not unusual. In the early days two trips were made to Wisley, which necessitated a seriously early start and late finish if sufficient hours at the the garden are to be had. A February trip to see a snowdrop display became a fixture, now lost.

The club established its own annual show, complete with a schedule for a range of fruit, vegetable, flower and domestic classes, more than 50 at the peak, and with trophies for various categories of entries. The inscriptions on the trophies make it clear that there were shows from 1993. Accredited judges were used, but the shows were not without their problems. One well remembered incident involved accusations/confusion over the ownership of particular prized onions. Had they been moved between entrants during the judging? This was important stuff. One of the trips undertaken by the Club was to the Southport show to see the vegetables being exhibited there – seriously large cabbages. The trip went well, apart from leaving the Treasurer behind when the coach left that is. The last time the club held its own show was 2007.

Over the years the membership of the club has risen and fallen. The peak was around 2005 when there were 61 members. There have also been low points, when the continued existence of the club was in doubt, notably in 2013 when the membership was in the teens and a programme for only the first half of 2014 was put together as it was by no means clear that the club would be able to pay for speakers beyond that.

During this period the club had a small stand at the Heckington show for three or four years to see if they could attract members, on one occasion winning a bronze medal for the appearance of the stand. Unfortunately the aim of significantly increasing the membership was not met. None the less, the Club did survive the 2013/14 crisis and by the end of 2014 the membership had begun to grow.

The nature of the Club has changed over its history, certainly with less emphasis on vegetables and without the competitiveness of a show, but members are still keen to show off their gardening skills. This shows in a number of ways: a garden crawl, to spend an evening poking about in other peoples gardens; a container competition at the annual BBQ; a Flower of the Month competition, with points awarded and a trophy for the year's highest points total; and a selected plant that is available for all members to raise during the year and a grand review at one of the autumn meetings. The Club is now in a secure position and able to continue to hold a full programme of speakers, trips and other events for its members.