FRIENDS OF THE STOREY GARDENS
Newsletter
Issue No 1
February 2013
Formation of The Friends of The Storey Gardens
The Friends of The Storey Gardens was formed at a public meeting on Tuesday 19
February 2013 – remember that date for anniversaries ever after. One day you will be
able to say – “I was there”. The constitution wasn’t formalised – that’s for the next
meeting – but various details for the running of the group were agreed by those present:
 That the aims of The Friends should be To preserve and enhance The Storey
Gardens for the benefit of the community
 That it should be an open organisation, with all meetings open to anyone who
wanted to attend
 That there should be no formal committee at this stage, just three officers (Chair,
Treasurer and Secretary) to take responsibility for the running of the group
 That the three officers should be – Annie Watson (Chair), Michael Greenhalgh
(Treasurer) and Sue Widden (Secretary)
 That there should be regular monthly meetings at 6.00pm in the NICE restaurant
of The Storey Institute on the last Tuesday of each month
 That there should be a regular monthly work session in The Gardens – 2-4pm on
the afternoon of the 1st Sunday of the month
 That there should be a monthly Newsletter
Garden Activities So Far
The City Council Tree Officer has already visited The Gardens and identified trees
which need some action taken, four of them at the emergency action level. The copper
beech in The Storey Garden has some dead limbs which have been lopped, and two
dead trees in The Tasting Garden have been felled, with a sycamore which is causing
structural damage also for the chop. The City Council has allocated £8000 for some
tree management and an annual sum of £1300 for general basic maintenance (grass
cutting, etc).
A structural survey of all the walls is to be undertaken and a report produced – until the
outcome of the survey is known, The Friends have been asked not to do any more ivy
clearance from the dividing wall, between the two gardens, or to work on the wall at all.
The City Council’s insurance will cover volunteers working in the Gardens, as long as
they don’t undertake anything too radical without notifying the City Council first, and as
long as no-one uses power tools there for which they have not been formally trained.
First Work Session
The first work session will be held on Sunday 3 March from 2.00 to 4.00pm – this will
probably consist mainly of surveying the state of The Gardens and discussing a work
plan – but please bring your secateurs, spades, wheelbarrows etc for manual work.
There are few group tools at present, although the Gardener’s Hut in The Tasting
Garden does have a spade or two in it. Once we are properly constituted we can apply
for funding for group tools and plants, seeds etc. We would hope to have a work plan to
present to the next Friends’ meeting for discussion and agreement.
Unfortunately the NICE restaurant is not open on Sundays, so bring your own flask,
refreshments etc.
Open Day
Jon Barry suggested that we should set ourselves an early target – to open up The
Gardens to the public, with sales stalls, and raise £300.00. Although there was a
certain amount of jaw-dropping at first, enthusiasm began to build up, and it was agreed
to hold it on Saturday 18 May, which coincides with the Council’s City Parks Bio Blitz,
we understand.
The plan at the moment is that The Gardens should be open, with Friends on hand to
explain and steward, from11.00am to 2.00pm, with a variety of attractions – stalls selling
appropriate goodies, interpretation panels, activities for children, raffle etc. If you have
overproduced on marmalade you might like to contribute a pot or two, or if you like
making biscuits/cakes/tray-bakes you might be happy to donate a selection for sale –
and if you are taking cuttings, thinning out seedlings etc between now and May, please
set some aside for sale. Any ideas to make this a fun and profitable event are all
welcome – email Annie on anniewatson30@hotmail.com or bring your ideas to the next
meeting.
There is Talent out There
This group will work best if as many people as possible become involved in some way
and are willing to contribute any special skills they may have for the benefit of The
Storey Gardens. Most people will want to get involved by offering their muscle power
and knowledge and love of gardening and plants, but lots of other skills will help to
make the Friends an exciting group to belong to. For example, it would be great to keep
a running record of the way The Gardens develop, with photographs starting from how it
is now, and showing each stage of development. So we need a photography
enthusiast. We need a website to keep people up-to-date on what’s happening –
Cecile has volunteered to start a website design, but would love A N Other with
IT/website design expertise/experience to help her. Barry is investigating the
history of The Gardens – if any Castle Park residents whose houses back on to The
Storey Gardens have deeds which mention The Gardens, Barry would love to hear from
you. Anyone with publicity or promotional skills will be useful for advertising what
we do, especially working with someone with fundraising experience.
If you feel you can help out in any of these areas, or have ideas about what else The
Friends group would benefit from, please get in touch with Annie (see above for email
contact details)
A Community Resource
We would like The Storey Gardens to be a community resource, not just for people local
to the area but for groups throughout Lancaster who share our aims. Two primary
schools – Dallas Road and Willow Lane, could be approached to see if their staff and
students feel they would like to play a role in creating and maintaining a garden.
Lancaster Girls Grammar School might like to send students along to undertake
projects. There will be other community groups who may like to get involved – the more
people who feel a sense of ownership in The Gardens, the less the risk of vandalism.
Perhaps in time The Gardens will be part of a wider community resource – Le Corbusier
said when he designed a ring of parks round the business district of the city of
Chandigarh in Northern India that green spaces are the lungs of a city. Perhaps one
day The Storey Gardens will become a link in a chain of green spaces around the City
of Lancaster, giving everyone more room to breathe.
Newsletter
It is planned to bring out a monthly Newsletter – I am happy to edit it but have no
graphic skills. I invite anyone and everyone to contribute thoughts, ideas, comments
etc; I will be happy to hear from them. If they can add in illustrations etc I’ll be even
happier. In case anyone who looks at the masthead thinks I am underselling myself, let
me confess now that the artist’s hand was that of Thomas Bewick. Please send any
contributions or offers to co-edit to me at sueandmart@o2.co.uk
The next Newsletter will be issued during the last week of March – copy to reach me by
Friday 22 March please.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of The Friends of The Storey Gardens will take place at 6.00pm on
Tuesday 26 March, foregathering in the NICE Bar in The Storey Institute. An agenda
will be sent out in advance – please let Annie know if you want specific items on the
agenda.
Sue Widden
Newsletter Editor
sueandmart@o2.co.uk