Anyone been to this show yet? Any recommended areas to see? Lots of
inspiration?
I'm thinking of going tomorrow and wondered if it was any good!
Thanks

On Thu, 12 Jun 2003 10:26:36 +0100, "Jo" wrote:

~Anyone been to this show yet? Any recommended areas to see? Lots of
~inspiration?
~I'm thinking of going tomorrow and wondered if it was any good!
~Thanks
~
~
I'm going tomorrow too.

I'm hoping it won't be too much of a letdown after previous years.
Last year was distinctly worse than the previous as a lot of the
little companies which sell useful things had been forced out by costs
and management. (A stall inside costs a minimum of £3.5K, outside
£1.5k) I was told this by a stallholder who said they couldn't afford
to do it again and they just couldn't break even.

For instance: 3-4 years ago you couldn't move for little stalls
selling things like bottletop waterers, cane tops, string, strimmer
lines, basic tools... last year it took till nearly closing to find
one stall who sold bottletop waterers. And that was the one who told
me why. It's not that we all have them... but you'll find car sales
(!!), big ride-on equipment manufacturers, DIY stores...who can all
afford the outlay and detract from the 'feel' of the original show. I
remember seeing Alan T walking alone through the exhibits smiling at
folk, and being left to his browsing. Now it's a rugby scrum and you
don't see the poor bloke for minders. I guess the organisers have
succumbed to big business and the lure of Profit.

I looked on their website earlier and they have got rid of the chairs
in the celebrity theatre (no more having a rest, which means I
probably won't see anyone as I've got a bad back and can't stand
easily) and there is no GQT this year (boo, hiss).

By going to the exhibitors' site I managed to find a map but nowhere
does it tell you who is there ('a list will appear' it says, but
that's NBG if it's not there before you go!)

Practical stuff: Get there early or you get stuck on the access roads
or wind up in a car park miles away. Parking is £6 on top of the £15
door fee and you will need cash for it! This makes it as expensive as
Chelsea. There are cash machines there but have a 50:50 chance of
being in use. At 5pm the place goes dead and you can't even get a
coffee easily.

I'm going cos it's a day out, I may just buy a few bits and bobs (and
order some seeds and plants) and it's an excuse to chat to my Dad. The
latter makes the trip worth it, but I'm biased!


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Jo say...
Anyone been to this show yet? Any recommended areas to see? Lots of
inspiration?
I'm thinking of going tomorrow and wondered if it was any good!

Say hello to the nice people by the Warwickshire College "Evolution"
garden and admire my black paintwork on the spiral wall.

I'm going on Sunday, cos they sell the plants off cheap at the end.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#92: The prison in Prisoner: Cell Block H is actually shaped like the
letter 'W'.

Oh dear replying to my own posting :-) but I have to report back...

I had a marvellous day out with Dad and Aunt. A lot of the little stalls
are now outside with the effect that a lot of folk went out and relieved
crowding inside. I hate to think what would have happened had it rained.
But it didn't, it was glorious and so everyone had a good time.

I didn't get all of my shopping list but there were more little stalls than
last year. I saw the one who'd moaned at me previously about the costs and
they were outside so I guess they thought they'd have another go!

There were several car stands as suspected, and no seed firms when there
used to be. But I guess at this time of year it's pointless as folk have
all their seeds anyway. No Unwins and new sweet peas, no Suttons and
childrens' plants. And no Waitrose! Wail! No complementary tea and cakes!
Theatre now non-ticketed and non-seated and so everyone ignored the
presentations. I felt sorry for the guy we looked at, but none of us could
hear as the sound was terrible and hearing aid loop for Dad was
non-existent (come on, BBC! You can do better!)

Icecream was a rip-off - £1.60 for about half a tablespoonful. I complained
about one scoop that was even smaller. Take sandwiches.

Marquee lovely. Lots of plants. I found a decent looking but reasonably
priced (£15 for an 18" high) acer shirasawanum aureum which I've been after
for years. Yeehah. Another pot appeareth in the back garden... and my
fourth acer Managed to 'accidentally' buy both Aunt and Dad some plants
before they could get their cash out. Hee.

Used the plant creche for the first time. Very good.

And got home to find no hot water. Oh well.

Oh don't park in the east car parks. They are furthest away and the buses
half the frequency of the north (which are *very* close to the halls and
had the biggest queue!)


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

On Thu, 12 Jun 2003 18:18:15 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

Say hello to the nice people by the Warwickshire College "Evolution"
garden and admire my black paintwork on the spiral wall.

As seen, albeit briefly, on GW last night. How did it do in the
judging? I could see the card in the background, but we weren't told
what it said!

--
Cheers, Serena

Sometimes I sits and thinks ... and sometimes I just sits. (Punch cartoon)

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Serena Blanchflower say...
On Thu, 12 Jun 2003 18:18:15 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

Say hello to the nice people by the Warwickshire College "Evolution"
garden and admire my black paintwork on the spiral wall.

As seen, albeit briefly, on GW last night. How did it do in the
judging? I could see the card in the background, but we weren't told
what it said!

I wondered that. I'll find out tomorrow when I go. It;s a shame our
study tour was this week or we would have been able to do more of the
building and manning the garden.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#97: Marie Antoinette did not say "Let them eat cake". She said "Cake's
far too good for peasants" - why else do you think she was guillotined?

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Fenny say...
Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Serena Blanchflower say...
On Thu, 12 Jun 2003 18:18:15 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

Say hello to the nice people by the Warwickshire College "Evolution"
garden and admire my black paintwork on the spiral wall.

As seen, albeit briefly, on GW last night. How did it do in the
judging? I could see the card in the background, but we weren't told
what it said!

They got a silver. It looked an awful lot better with the plants and
everything in than it did when we were lining the pond with sand. All
the people I spoke to said that they liked it.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#65: The Duke of Wellington never wore wellington boots because he
didn't like the colours they came in.

On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 19:57:51 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

They got a silver. It looked an awful lot better with the plants and
everything in than it did when we were lining the pond with sand. All
the people I spoke to said that they liked it.

Congratulations!

--
Cheers, Serena

Sometimes I sits and thinks ... and sometimes I just sits. (Punch cartoon)

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Serena Blanchflower say...
On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 19:57:51 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

They got a silver. It looked an awful lot better with the plants and
everything in than it did when we were lining the pond with sand. All
the people I spoke to said that they liked it.

Congratulations!

Ta, I'll pass it on. I just daubed black paint on the wall and mixed
some concrete :-)

I can say with absolute conviction that my design for next year's
Chelsea will not make the grade, even if I manage to explain the umratic
theme.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#79: Liverpool got its name because it used to be surrounded by a pool
of livers.

On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 21:54:30 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

I can say with absolute conviction that my design for next year's
Chelsea will not make the grade, even if I manage to explain the umratic
theme.

g I'm not sure if explaining the theme would be a help or a
hinderance in this case

--
Cheers, Serena

Sometimes I sits and thinks ... and sometimes I just sits. (Punch cartoon)

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Serena Blanchflower say...
On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 21:54:30 +0100,
(Fenny) wrote:

I can say with absolute conviction that my design for next year's
Chelsea will not make the grade, even if I manage to explain the umratic
theme.

g I'm not sure if explaining the theme would be a help or a
hinderance in this case

It's OK. They already know that I am a) a TA listener and b) barking.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#91: Kylie Minogue's real name is Engelbert Humperdinck (now you know
why she changed it).