BHS Talks
Talks are held in the Village hall and are usually free of charge to members. Typically each talk will last for around an hour plus ample time for a question and answer session. This will then be followed by wine and nibbles (soft drinks available) and the chance for a chat with the other members.
Robert Smillie Lecture
Thursday 16th October 2009
Mr Peter Wright - "Growing fruit and vegetables on an allotment".
8pm in the Village Hall
Peter is keen to spread the word about growing your own and is passionate about the benefits gained from Home grown over mass-produced. He is a very experienced Head Gardener for a private garden in West Sussex and has been self sufficient in fruit and vegetable growing for over 20 years.
Do join us, for this informative talk.
Refreshments provided free of charge.
We look forward to seeing you all at this event. For more information about the BHS events calendar, Click Here
An Evening with John Cushnie
Thursday, March 12th 2009
Following the success of the Bob Flowerdew talk last year, the committee of the Basildon Horticultural Society decided to invite John Cushnie, another panellist from BBC Radio 4 Gardeners Question Time. John has been a presenter on GQT for the past 15 years and is consistently one of the most entertaining, amusing and occasionally argumentative presenters they have.
The committee and various family members or friends of committee members did a splendid job preparing the halls. The Dixon Hall had been filled with chairs and a small stage. The front of the stage had been decorated with plants that had mostly been lent to the society by Glenvale Nursery. The screen and projector had both been loaned to the Horticultural Society by other local organisations, to which we are extremely grateful. John himself commented several times on what a splendid hall it was, and how much better as a venue it was than many he has visited and spoken in around the world.
The Chairman of the Horticultural Society opened the evening by welcoming everyone to the hall, thanking them all for supporting the society in its endeavour and thanked the committee members for working so hard to enable it to happen at all. He then gave brief background to John Cushnie during which he stated that John had started his broadcasting career on BBC Radio Ulster 99 years ago, if that is true, John looks well for his age.
Having handed over the stage, John Cushnie then spoke for about an hour, illustrating his talk with slides. He is clearly a man of strong passions and clearly stated the reasons he hated some plants and loved others. He interrupted his talk on several occasions to regale us with some stories of his past, some undoubtedly true, others I am not quite so sure about. He even went on to tell about the worst joke in the world, all about "Arti’ chokes 2 for a pound". He gave examples of two plants to give as presents, not to people you like mind, these were for people you really didn’t like! Apparently, the scent given off them is appalling. Examples of why he is such an entertaining speaker.
At the end of his talk he took questions from the audience for around 15 minutes, one question from a lady in audience about clematis had him stumped. Isn’t it good to see an expert have to admit, "I really don’t know?"
Following the question and answer session, John happily sat and talked to members of the audience and signed books that he had either written or co-written that were for sale on the night. It was very pleasing to see how many people stayed for a glass of wine or cup of tea at the end of the main event.
It was a very social event, well supported and extremely well run with a very entertaining speaker. The committee should be proud of what they achieved and we all look forward to whatever they put on next year - Rachel De Thame or Alan Titchmarsh perhaps?
Steve Ferguson (Chairman BHS)