News

September 2009

If you attended the Topsham Art Group exhibition in August, you may well have seen the beautiful Topsham Calendar for 2010. This has been produced by the Topsham Society in conjunction with the Topsham Art Group.  The front cover and each month of the calendar features paintings from members of the Topsham Art Group.  It was on sale at the Exhibition, but if you did not get your copy there, you can buy the 2010 Topsham Calendar from local shops or from Myra Green (873059).  Thanks again to Myra and to Roger Bishop and the Topsham Art Group for all the work they have put into the production of the Calendar, and to the other members of the panel who selected the paintings.  Particular thanks, also, to the artists who have contributed their paintings.

The winners of the Topsham in Bloom competition were presented with their awards at the Topsham Allotments and Gardens Association Annual Show on 23rd August.  There were 58 entries, a record, this year and the judges commented that the number and quality of entries was first class and a very positive reflection of the lively community spirit in Topsham.  On behalf of The Topsham Society, the organisers would like to congratulate everyone who took part and thank them for their help in making our town look more attractive.

The full results were:

Residential Front Gardens. Winner, The Lodge, Grove Hill.  Runners Up, 57 Victoria Road & 20 Ashford Road.

Residential Pots etc. Winner, 6 Victoria Road.  Runners Up, 7 Tresillian Cottages & 3 Pound Close. 

Community Groups.  Winner, Chapel Place. Runners Up, Grove House & Clara Place. 

 Shops etc.  Winner, The Wardrobe.  Runners Up, Suzanne/Footworks & Lloyds Bank.

 Non-Residential.  Winner, Topsham Bowling Club.  Runners Up, The Passage House Inn & The Lighter Inn

The Woodland Trust in partnership with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Register of the British Isles (TROBI) is establishing a database of all the ancient trees in the UK.  The Ancient Tree Hunt is a five-year project to find and map all the “fat”, old trees across the UK and is an important first step in monitoring and maintaining an important part of our ancient heritage.

The aim is to record at least 100,000 ancient trees throughout the UK by 2011.  This requires members of the public to find and collect the relevant information about each tree and send it to the Woodland Trust via the website.

Topsham and its environs is well endowed with trees of all ages and some of these may well come under the categories being recorded by the Trust.  These are:

Ancient Trees: in the third and final stage of their life, usually big and “fat” and of interest biologically, aesthetically or culturally because of their great age.

Veteran Trees: in the second or mature stage of their life which show specific features which are worth recording: hollowing, fungal decay, wounds, holes and large dead branches.

Notable Trees: those that are of local or personal importance, including specimen trees which will become the next generation veteran trees.

The details collected about the trees include their location, species, girth measurement and private/public accessibility.

The Topsham Society would like to help to contribute to the database by identifying local trees which should be included, collecting the data and sending it to the Woodland Trust.  If you know of such a tree, please contact Eliot Wright at eliot.wright@btinternet.com or telephone 01392 876674. More information is available on
www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk

GEOFF WILKINSON (879107)

Back to News homepage