Past Events (in 2023)

Saturday 22nd April.  Earth Day at Langford Lakes Nature Reserve.  A very successful and well-attended afternoon, with three speakers, on re-wilding, the Wessex Rivers Trust and farming in a nature friendly way, which were followed by refreshments and a chance to walk around the Reserve.

Friday 16th June.  Charlton Farm, near Malmesbury.  This was another very interesting and inspirational visit to a garden that is not often open to the public.  Sarah Rivett-Carnac very kindly hosted us.  It is an unusual garden with a different approach – Sarah is planting for the future on difficult land which was a chicken farm.  A further three acres were planted with trees in 2016.  Tea and delicious home-made cakes were served.

Thursday 13th July.  CPRE Wiltshire AGM at the Corn Exchange, Devizes.  This was attended by over 30 members.  Draft Minutes are available here.

After the AGM we heard from two very interesting speakers:

David Holroyd, Head of Water Quality, Wiltshire Fisheries Association, who gave a talk on the special attributes of the river Avon and the urgent action needed to stop the falling trends in water quality.

Alan Maryon-Davis, Chair of Nadder Community Energy (NCE), who spoke about the Nadder Valley Community Energy Project. Community energy is a growing movement in which energy generation is owned not by large industrial companies but by local communities, with the profits invested back into the community. NCE generates renewable energy from solar panels on roofs of farms, commercial buildings and schools.  It is considering other sources and initiatives.

Wednesday, 30th August Summer Drinks Party – Hyde’s House, Dinton, Salisbury

The annual summer drinks party in south Wiltshire was enjoyed by over 50 members and their guests.  Hyde’s House is a Grade 1 listed Queen Anne house and has a 3-acre wild and formal garden with a series of hedged garden rooms with numerous shrubs, flowers and borders, all allowing tolerated wildflowers and preferred weeds. There was also a walled kitchen garden, a herb garden and a fascinating C13 dovecote.  Suzanne Keene, Chair of the South Wiltshire CPRE group, gave a short address about the work of CPRE both locally and nationally.  George Cruddas, our host, gave a short welcome and a brief history of the house and garden.

Friday 8th September.  Wudston House garden, Wedhampton.

David and Venetta Morrison were our hosts at their relatively young garden which is one of their passions. The more formal features near the house included a perennial meadow, impressive double borders, a vegetable garden and a sunken garden.  Further away there was an extensive arboretum containing no less than 847 trees, almost all of which have been planted in the past nine years.  David and Venetta generously provided a variety of drinks and food, and they and their gardener were constantly on hand to explain aspects of the garden and its history to the 30 members and their guests who enjoyed this warm early evening event.

Saturday, 28^th October. The Four Sopranos, who sang at Devizes Town Hall.

90 members and their guests enjoyed a wonderful performance by The Four Sopranos, who sang well known songs from stage, screen, popular and opera, including:

I Dreamed a Dream (Les Misérables); Flower Duet (Delibes); Never Enough (Greatest Showman); Sull’aria (Mozart); Skyfall (James Bond)