PLANNED EVENTS 2024
Tuesday 30th April, Nightingale Tour, Shadoxhurst, 6.30pm start, need your walking boots. Drinks and nibbles at 6.30pm followed by an educational tour of the farm before searching out the singing nightingales.
Wednesday 12th June WKPS Annual General meeting @ Benenden Village Hall – Speaker Jeremy Hodgkinson “The Work of the Wealden Iron Research Group”
Thursday 18th July – The President’s Reception @ Boldshaes Garden, Gardens open to members with a tour at 5.30. Reception 6-8pm in the Barn.
EVENTS 2023
Wednesday 26th April Nightingale Tour, Shadoxhurst, 6.30pm start, need your walking boots. Drinks and nibbles at 6.30pm followed by an educational tour of the farm before searching out the singing nightingales.
Saturday 13th May Weald Woodscapes logging demonstration. 11am introduction from Frankie and meet the horses. 12 noon demonstration of extracting coppice with the horses in an ancient woodland, 1pm Sandwich lunch
Wednesday 14th June Annual General meeting at Tenterden Town Hall, speaker to be announced.
Saturday 24th – Sunday 25th June Wealden Literary Festival. This Festival goes from strength each year. Featuring an extensive programme for children, a commitment to the great outdoors, creativity and the local community, it is a must to visit. Talks and debates from an array of acclaimed authors and poets, with local artists and craftsmen displaying their skills or passing them down are just fascinating.
Tickets are now on sale www.wealdenliteraryfestival.co.uk
Friday 7th July Woodchurch Wines, vineyard tour and wine tasing, 1pm start for tour followed by the wine tasting and then cheese and charcuterie sharing boards
Saturday 28th October Wild Service Tree/Chequer tree 10.30am walk to view the beautiful Autumn colours of this amazing little known about tree.
Friday 8th September The President’s Reception, Boldshaves. This will be free to all members who have introduced a new member this year. The reception will also include a tour round the beautiful gardens for those that wish to have a look around.
ROUND UP OF EVENTS 2022
Wednesday 4th May Nightingale Tour, Shadoxhurst, a very successful, albeit wet evening. Despite the rain the nightingales still sang and we had a lovely tour around the farm.
Tuesday 7th June Wild Flower Meadows Tour, Sadly cancelled due to lack of interest
Thursday 14th July Vineyard Tour & Wine Tasting, Woodchurch Vineyard, Sadly cancelled due to lack of interest
Friday 23rd September Boldshaves Event, Woodchurch. The talk by Frankie, Wealden Woodscapes on the Holistic Management of Wealden woods and extracting timber from ancient woodland using her horses was very educational and delivered by someone who so obviously was passionate about the ancient woodlands. We had an amazing turnout and after the talk Peregrine hosted a tour round the garden and then we returned to the barn for drinks and nibbles. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.
ROUND UP OF EVENTS 2021
28th April Tour of Boldshaves gardens followed by a talk by Marian Boswall. Despite the awful weather this year, the evening managed to stay dry. Peregrine’s tour of the beautiful Boldshaves garden was, as always, both entertaining and educational. It is so good to hear how one man is dedicated to preserving and enhancing these lovely gardens and woodlands. The gardens are open to the public most afternoons, so if you missed this occasion do pop over, it is well worth the visit.
Marian’s talk was very interesting and enlightening and not what I expected, it was far more on an ethereal level and focusing on working with nature as opposed to just working with colours and structures. Thoroughly enjoyable.
5th May Nightingale Evening – As always Mike gave us a very interesting talk on the natural management of his farm and the fauna and animals that enjoy his land. The nightingale numbers were down considerably this year which Mike thought primarily due to the bad weather. We did have quite a walk round the farm, which was probably a little far for one of our oldest members, Betty Chantler, who, although in her 90’s, managed exceptionally well, she did say that she thought Mike’s promised ‘only a couple of miles’ was quite a few more! But at the end we were all thrilled as we heard four nightingales battling it out in song.
Wealden Literary Festival – WKPS had a stand at the Festival which seems to grow every year. The stands are all of the highest caliber and focus on natural arts and crafts and local producers. With lots of amazing talks throughout the weekend, the festival was well attended, and the weather held out until the Sunday afternoon. I do hope Peregrine’s beautiful lawns quickly recovered after the deluge and all the activity over them.
June AGM – Tenterden Town Hall, – only about 25 members turned up. The updated Constitution was approved and there then followed a talk by Alex Preston on the Wealden landscape and presenting it to us through its rich and varied bird life. He also explained that, as a relative newcomer to the Weald, three particular characteristics stood out in his view: the Weald reflects so much of our history; its villages are still – as yet – largely unspoilt communities; and the Weald is a homogenous whole, reflecting centuries of man working alongside and in harmony with the predominantly wooded Wealden landscape. It should continue to be cherished as a whole.
15th July Woodchurch wine tour – our inaugural tour of this small local vineyard. Graham took our party round the vineyard and educated us on the pros and cons of starting a vineyard. The half an hour tour ended up over an hour as our members quizzed Grahm on various aspects and his answers and stories amused us all. We then went back to the shop and restaurant and tasted the delicious wines, 5 in all, and mainly bubbles, my favourite! This was followed by a delicious platter of charcuterie, local cheeses with pickles and yummy bread and biscuits. A wonderful experience which we hope Graham will let us do again.
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EVENTS 2020
Sadly Covid-19 decimated our Planned Events. We were unable to hold any events in 2020.
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A ROUND UP OF 2019
Thursday 13th June, WKPS Annual General Meeting @ Weald of Kent Golf Club – Helen Whately MP gave a brilliant speech followed by a very interesting Q&A session. The notes from which are published in the August edition of Watch on the Weald
29/30th June, Wealden Literary Festival
Wednesday 27th February – A great talk by Alastair Fairley MA FRSA, Chairman of the Appeal Board, Rye Harbour Discovery Project at Sussex Wildlife Trust on how they are working to promote green and eco-tourism in the region.
Friday 26th April – We had a fantastic tour of Boldshaves Garden shown around by our President, Peregrine Massey, the hard work he has put into producing 10 acres of such wonderful gardens is amazing. This was followed by a very relaxed Wine tasting by Sedlescombe Master of Wine, John Brownsdon, themed French “Boozecruzes”.
Wednesday 8th May – Mike Bax gave us a talk on conservation and how they were managing the land to grow some beautiful wild flowers and a habitat that the nightingales are thriving in. We were definitely in luck and were surrounded later on by at least 4 nightingales singing for a mate. The event raised £50 for the Kent Wildlife Trust and £275 for WKPS.
Members should be aware that the WKPS general insurance policy does not cover members aged 80 or over. Such members should consider having their own insurance.