Page 38 - link magazine

Gardening

West Swindon open garden weekend Professor’s view of Swindon’s great
raises over £1,000 for SMASH green heritage

West Swindon’s annual open garden weekend, which saw 15 households Dr Patrick Harding, an expert
in the Nine Elms and Old Shaw Lane area showing off their hard work in on Britain’s flora and fauna, has
mid-June, raised £1,680 in aid of SMASH - Swindon Youth Mentoring and commented on the green wealth
CALM - Swindon children’s cancer and leukaemia movement. Swindon has, after visiting Coate
Event coordinator Kevin Fisher, chair of Shaw Residents’ Association, said: Water and Peatmoor Community
“Despite cool weather and the ever present threat of rain over the two Woodland in early July.
days, just over 200 people visited and there were lots of compliments. Dr Harding lectures on the
“We’ve received letters of appreciation from the two charities and I’d UK’s fungi, flowers and trees at
like to publicly thank all the volunteers who opened their gardens for their Cambridge, Oxford and Sheffield
efforts, together with the hundreds of people who supported the event” Universities as well as appearing
on TV to interpret British history
Swindon team prepares for channel through its changing landscape.
Leading a weekend course on
A team of six swimmers including completing a team swim in 2012. trees at Lower Shaw Farm, Patrick
Bethan Sowden and Lyndsey Bethan said: “We had our last said the arboretum at Coate Water
Adamson from Swindon, will training weekend on 10 July, we is ‘one of the the best he has seen,
attempt to relay swim the English had some tough conditions that even including the Cambridge
Channel in aid of the Aspire spinal weekend; the sea was extremely Botanical Garden.’
injuries charity on 17 August. choppy but we all managed to Visiting Peatmoor Copse with Botanist Dr Patrick Harding
To help, Beth and Lyndsey have cope. course members, he said he was
been engaged in fundraising “The next time the team will be impressed by the range of trees after the last ice age 5,000 years
activities throughout the months together is when we get the call to and plants to be found there and ago.
leading up to the challenge, go which will be any day from 17 also the age of the site. The copse “I’m really pleased to see how
including an event at Bengal August.” is understood to be a fragment of the copse is being managed using
Square in Roughmoor village centre Aspire provides practical help to the ancient Bradon Forest, a royal traditional methods which go back
on 1 August. Having already raised people who have been paralysed by hunting ground that covered north hundreds of years, ensuring trees
over £2900 the team hope to reach spinal cord injury, supporting them Wiltshire. are looked after in such a way as
their £3500 target before diving in from injury to independence. He said: “If it is as old as I think it to encourage insect and birdlife to
to the channel. To follow the team’s progress, or could be, it means this little patch thrive.”
Bethan is no stranger to the donate to their cause, visit: of wood can be regarded as ‘ancient Patrick appears in a short video
channel crossing, having attempted www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ woodland,’ a remnant of the virgin on the Peatmoor Woodland Group’s
twice already, successfully Bethan-Lyndsey forests that repopulated the land Facebook page.
Advertorial
Busy with work? It need not be ‘bore’-ing - DIY column
by GA Plant and Machinery
Allen Cleaning School run? GA Plant and Machinery, a new
we clean so you don’t have to! Help is at hand tool hire and sales shop in Cheney
Manor, unravel the mysteries
Household cleaning, Business cleaning
• Household • Business around digging a hole for a fence
Carpet cleaning, One off cleans and rental cleans
• One-off cleans • Office cleaning post.
We also offer an Ironing service
from £24.50/visit This is especially relevant for all us
Your house cleaned from as little as Swindon residents with our heavy
Fully trained staff clay just under the surface.
£20.00 per visit
Friendly & reliable service If you set about digging a hole for
Telephone number : 07513 031145
1st clean free when booked a fence post with a regular spade
Cirencester | Cheltenham | Swindon
by 31st August 2016* you will inevitably dig out more
Call 01285 861412 or 07811 842795 to discuss your requirements material than necessary due to the
www.allencleaning.co.uk
* Minimum term angles you need to dig at. You’ll
applies also probably snap the handle or
bend the blade. And, above all, you One man post borer available
are likely to come away with back from GA Plant and Machinery
ache and blisters.
We would recommend hiring a machine to hire for bigger jobs,
petrol driven post hole borer. The particularly when lots of holes are
hole produced by the auger will be required.
neat and accurate meaning less If you decide to hire from our
wastage if backfilling with concrete. store in Cheney Manor you can
The one man auger can handle a either collect or we can deliver.
200mm bit whilst the two man The handles on both machines fold
auger comes with a 280mm auger up and the auger flights come off
or 200mm auger. If the ground is easily with a quick release system.
particularly tough or heavy then the Both will fit in the back of an
two man auger with the smaller bit average family car.
would be a good option although GA Plant and Machinery are
the required dimension of the hole located on Derby Close in Cheney
will dictate what is required. The Manor. Visit their website:
two man auger is also an excellent
www.gaplant.co.uk
38 swindonlink.com n August 2016

August 2016 Master Pages.indd 38 22/07/2016 10:42