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Ashbourne - 10th June 2000
| The first meet of a new millennium was held at the Ashbourne home of Jill and David Bell on Saturday, June 10th 2000. The nearest we came to an offical head count tallied 24 adults and 13 children, who, thankfully, kept themselves entertained with all sorts of shenanigans, as far away from the urglers as possible.
Miraculously, a freak weather cell hovered over south Derbyshire for the duration of the meet, and we were treated to glorious sunshine and mediterranean temperatures for the whole day, at the end of a week that had seen floods in other parts of the country. Add to this enough food to feed a Third World country, more plants than Kew Gardens and a teapot of industrial proportions, and you have the prefect ingredients for a great meet. |
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| The Plant Swap - I have never seen so many plants at a meet. There were literally hundreds, ranging from small sempervivums up to Oak and Hazel saplings, grasses, alpines, pond plants and a host of other stuff. |
From L to R Karen M, Edward E, Janet T, Jon R, A.M, Jill herself and husband David |
At the hub of most of the swapping was Janet Tweedy, who is one of life's natural market traders. Janet won first prize for largest number of plants crammed into one vehicle.
Here she is, on the left in a dark blue top, listening to our glamourous hostess Jill, on the right, explain exactly *how* big it was. ;~) |
Anton entertains Helen and Chris |
Pete the Gardener and Graham Ransom discuss the finer points of plant care |
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| Jill, centre, and Mrs Taz stand arms akimbo to discuss matters of great import while Edward contemplates the meaning of socks.
In the background, taking it all in, is baby Daniel, son of Clare Lusher and youngest urg meet attendee to date! |
| David of Crown Cottage and Angela Nickson compare their various acquisitions. David is a new convert to gardening and was looking for ideas and inspiration. Angela is an urg lurker but decided to come out of the closet for this meet. |
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What's going on here? From left to right we have Jon Rouse, Martin Rogerson and Jane Ransom. Has Jane spotted an unusual plant or is she laughing at Jon's feet? ;~) |
Janet and Tom, John Nickson and Martin Rogerson take a break from the plant swapping and seek shelter in the shade. |
Hilary Popiolek alongside Karen Mountford |
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Edward manages to convince Mrs Taz that she needs yet another sundew for her windowsill. He'd already given me two of them for my greenhouse! |
| Here's Janet Tweedy again, in the midst of yet another mass swap, this time with Jane and Graham Ransom, Janet herself in the centre with Edward and Mrs Taz in the background, Kay brushing back her hair, with Helen and Karen M behind her, and Pete The Gardener bending down to take a closer look. |
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That's definitely Chris French's back, and he's chatting with Karen Rimmer. |
Janet takes a break from all her wheeler-dealering and spends a few moments in deep contemplation, along with Jon Rouse. |
| Kay and Karen enjoy a cup of coffee and discuss tactics for the re-vamped Plants for Shade faq. |  |
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| And finally, the star of the show - the big tea-pot that kept us all going during the day. Thanks to Jill and David for the excellent hospitality, and all the tea-bags - they should add a good 100mm thick layer to the compost heap. :~) |
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