Contents of the Summer 2011 Northants News
The Northern Area Weekend
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On a dry but chilly morning the 4th
March Jeff and I left home at 10.30am to go to the Northern Weekend at Alston
Hall, in Longridge near Preston.
Alston Hall is a splendid Victorian
Mansion located in the beautiful Ribble Valley a few miles to the east of
Preston. It was built in 1876 as a family home for Mr John Mercer. Mr Mercer
started his career as a railway surveyor but later became a colliery proprietor.
It was established in 1962 as a Day Learning Centre and is now the Lancashire
Adult Learning College South & East Area.
We arrived at the College at about
2.30 pm after taking a short break. We got into the wrong lane on the M6 just
before Birmingham and had to take the Toll Road, this is not a cheap option at
£5.30 but it is not so stressful and a lot more comfortable than struggling
through Birmingham on a Friday. After finding our room we went down to the
Conservatory where attendees gather to have a cup of tea and a chat. There did
not seem to be so many attending this year and a few of the familiar faces were
missing. At 7.00pm
we were called to dinner, which consisted of Minestrone soup with hot rolls,
roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and a delicious blueberry pudding with cream,
bang went my diet.
John Miller was the speaker after
dinner, he arrived just in time to give his talk as he had been held up on the
M6 motorway due to an accident, his talk was called ‘Around and about in
Mexico’, a digital presentation with excellent pictures of Mammillarias,
Opuntias, Pilocereus and many others, finishing at around 10.00pm when everybody
rushed to the bar for a drink, (or two).
Saturday morning after breakfast,
Tim Marshall gave an excellent talk and digital presentation on ‘Cacti and
their associated flora in Central South America’, which consisted of pictures
of shrubs, herbaceous plants and cacti in Bolivia. Tim is Head Gardener at
Holkham Hall in North Norfolk a 25,000-acre agricultural estate. The estate now
comprises a deer park, holiday park, several shops, a building company and an
internationally acclaimed hotel and pub.
After coffee and biscuits Derek
Tribble, who is a member of Harrow Branch, took to the floor with an exciting
talk called ‘Extreme Plant hunting in Namibia 2007’ which included an
excellent slide show.
After a buffet lunch, the afternoon
is free with the Sale of Plants, books and raffle tickets and if you feel able
you can go for a walk in the beautiful woodland down to the Ribble Valley, or
down the road to see the Observatory. Tea and cakes were served at 4.00pm.
John Miller then gave an excellent
talk and presentation on ‘Turbinicarpus’.
After an excellent dinner (the diet
had now fallen by the wayside), which left us all full up and barely able to
keep awake, but needs must as Petr Pavelka was next to give a talk. Petr, who
comes from the Czech Republic and who was a speaker at the Zone 6 Convention
hosted by N&MK in 2008, gave a talk and digital presentation on ‘The best
of Madagascar’. The talk was excellent and it included the devastation and
destruction of Madagascar and he spoke about the eventual Civil War that he
could see coming.
Time for a drink and bed. Sunday, a lovely fine sunny morning,
bags packed and in the car and then into breakfast after which Petr
Pavelka gave another presentation on the ‘The Genus Copiapoa’. This
is a new talk and the first time he had presented it as it had only been
completed in November of last year. Coffee and biscuit time again after
which Derek Tribble gave a talk and slide show on ‘The Tanquana Hunt -
Succulents around Laingsberg’. We returned home with fond memories
of another great weekend at Alston Hall, and as always the highlights
for us are the good company, the food and of course the excellent talks
and slide shows. Thanks to Dorothy and Ralph for the excellent
organisation and hope that, if circumstances allow, to do it again next
year. Diana
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