Spring Has Sprung in the Garden

Spring has sprung and the gardens are full of horticultural promise.  This is one of the most exciting times of the year it has to be said - not that other times are dull by any means.  But it is now that we starting to sow seeds for the vegetable garden and for selling.  We are also fine tuning the vegetable garden beds after the garden volunteers have mulched and, weeded and edged them.  They have been rotovated and raked and now are being warmed up with fleece soon to be sown and planted.

During the winter months the Garden Volunteers have done much clearing cutting back and grubbing out.  These are essential annual tasks and if we do a bit each year soon we shall get the woodland under control which will allow for more diversity and in turn support more species.  Nettles and brambles are good for wildlife but not when they are taking over everywhere.

We will soon be putting the fantastic brush wood that was produced from coppicing the hazel in the woodland to good use.  Brushwood is ideal for staking the herbaceous perennials in the knot garden as attractive structures can be built without the need for string.  I am running brushwood staking practical workshop on 15th April 2016 1.30-3.30pm – see the What’s on guide.

We have nearly finished putting up wire supports along the inside of the Walled Garden and planted the fruit trees that are to be trained.  The next task is to neaten up and cut out wall borders, some with the idea to plant up, and some more narrow ones just for the trees.  The trees are still very young and will be headed back and this coming growing season shall produce the first branches for us to train.  The apples and pears will be espaliered and the peaches, cherries and plums will be fan trained.  There are also some climbing roses and other ornamental climbers to go in too. 

I’m looking very forward to seeing these fruit trees as well as the orchard that was planted by garden volunteers, mature.  We would have seen this from day dot – a very satisfying horticultural thing. 

Without our army or garden volunteers we wouldn’t be anywhere near to improving and developing the gardens at Fulham Palace and so we are very grateful.  Thank you for your time, enthusiasm and commitment.

 

Lucy Hart

Head Gardener

 

New What's On - Out Now

Just to let everyone know that the May issue of “What’s On” is out and can be found in the usual places throughout the Palace. A busy month of educational talks, storytelling, and interactive fun culminates in a Tudor inspired Fun Day on the last day of the month.

Here’s a link to the “What’s On” webpages. Don’t forget that as s volunteer you get a discount when you click on the “buy tickets” option. 

Nancy Lyons

Volunteer Communication Assistant 

A Year as a Garden Volunteer

It’s been a year since I started volunteering in the garden at Fulham Palace. Recently I thought back to my first day as a volunteer. Being shown round the garden by Chris R, my steel toe capped boots spotlessly clean and very little knowledge of any plant names at all. Iris unguicularis. What did he say? ! That was the name of the pretty, purple flowering Iris, Chris pointed out to me. Could I remember it long enough to write it down? (No as it happens). It did however spark an interest in botanical plant names which has stayed with me and although my knowledge barely scratches the surface, I do feel I have learnt about many plants and my confidence as a gardener has gradually increased over the months. 


My admiration for the Fulham Palace Garden Apprentices has grown; for instance they have to learn 15 or more new plant names every couple of weeks, as well as any new plants that they have to learn for their college courses. I am happy if I can manage to learn one new plant during the course of a week! Give it a try.
It has been memorable how our visitors notice changes being made to the garden and their enthusiasm for Fulham Palace is infectious. Sometimes though we have to explain that various things are not allowed within the Fulham Palace grounds; such as cycling, ballgames, dogs (with some exceptions) and tree climbing; often the chance to interact then turns into a lovely discussion of the ancient trees within the grounds or horticultural techniques and I am delighted when I can pass on any knowledge I have acquired.


For some time, we have been anticipating the arrival of new fruit trees which will be planted around the walls of the walled garden. All the holes have been dug and the preparation work finished. It was then with great anticipation and excitement that a call came over the radio announcing the arrival of all the fruit trees one recent Saturday. It was lunchtime, but no matter! We strode to the front gate, wheelbarrows in hand, wondering what would greet us. As it turned out, all of the precious plants were carefully wrapped up and parcelled in boxes. We loaded our wheelbarrows and slowly walked back to the walled garden. Once there we removed all the packaging and checked that everything was in order, before carefully placing the plants, which have been container grown, ready for planting. It really is fabulous to know that people will be able to enjoy those plants for generations to come.


It has been an interesting year, lots of fun and laughter and some hard work. Lots to learn and lots to do. Seeing the garden go through an entire year and looking at it now, in better shape I think than it was last year, I am proud of my contribution, small though it has been. I still polish my boots, which keep me warm and dry, though they are now well worn and I miss the Iris unguicularis, which had to be sacrificed for the new fruit trees, but I am excited about all the things to come, as the next 12 months unfold. I hope you get a chance to visit us soon and enjoy the garden as the year opens out and the flowers begin their magic. If you are thinking of volunteering, well, after a year I can’t recommend it highly enough.


Happy gardening.


Paul Russell                                                                                                                                                                                    Garden Volunteer
 

Your Help Needed - How could the arts and culture be better in Hammersmith & Fulham

Hammersmith & Fulham Council are currently seeking feedback on a arts strategy for the borough. They have missed Fulham Palace from their list of cultural sites, so we would like to ask you to complete the survey and  state how outrageous this is please. For all the information see below: 

 

"How could the arts and culture be better in H&F? We’d like your views

Hammersmith & Fulham is home to a vibrant arts and culture scene. But we want to make it even better.  We’d like your views on our plans to make that possible, which are set out in our new draft Arts Strategy. The draft strategy is available to read here<http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Images/LBHF_Arts_Strategy_DRAFT_tcm21-200513.pdf>.

There are three core themes: destination, creation and inclusion.

Destination: To enhance the contribution of the arts to the local community and economy by developing Hammersmith & Fulham as a thriving borough for the arts and promoting it as a creative and exciting place to live in, do business in and visit from within London, across the UK and overseas.

Creation: To enhance the experience of living and working in the borough and boost the local economy by stimulating artistic achievement and supporting adults, children and young people from a wide range of backgrounds to create, produce and perform excellent art of all kinds.

Inclusion: To ensure that residents from diverse backgrounds get more opportunity to enjoy and participate in a variety of types of art which challenges and inspires them and promotes their health and well-being.

We’ve been talking to lots of local arts organisations already. Now we’re keen to reach as many people as possible, whether you’re involved in producing art of any kind, or you just enjoy listening, watching or viewing.  We know that time is tight. Consultation happens all of the time and lives are busy. But we’d really appreciate your response by 29th February 2016.

To take part:

•       Our online survey is at https://lbhf.citizenspace.com/environment-leisure-and-resident-services/arts-strategy-2016

Come to a consultation meeting:

Please do encourage other people you know to have their say too."

 

Volunteer Opportunity - Bookkeeping Volunteer

We are currently looking to recruit a new Bookkeeping Volunteer to support, Mehala Manimohan, our Finance Officer. 

This is an internal recruitment, if you are interested please contact Mehala by emailing mehala.manimohan@fulhampalace.org before Friday 26th March

 We are hoping to meet with potential Bookkeeping Volunteers on the Friday 4th March to discuss the role further.  

Role Summary:

The role of the Bookkeeper Volunteer is primarily to assist the Finance Officer in ensuring the charity’s financial systems, payments, and reporting of financial information to appropriate users. In return you will get coaching and mentoring from a qualified accountant who has got more than 10 years of experience in all aspects of accounting and book keeping. This volunteer role creates an ideal opportunity for gaining experience of the financial systems in a busy well established charity whilst also developing existing skills. This opportunity will also help to improve your accounting skills and day today financial management skills. 

Main activities/tasks:

·         Introduction to coding and processing of supplier invoices in Sage.

·         Introduction to raising invoices in Sage.

·         Introduction to Credit control, Sales and Purchase Ledger Management.

·         Introduction to Journals, Nominal Ledgers and Bank modules in Sage.

·         Processing Receipts and Payments.

·         Monitoring and closing purchase orders.

·         Introduction to budget monitoring.

·         Dealing with financial paperwork and filing.

·         Introduction to year end accounts preparation.

Relevant experience/skills:

·                     Knowledge of simple book keeping.

·                     Willingness to deal with paperwork and filing.

·                     Numerate and ability to understand basic accounting and budgets.

·                     Computer literacy preferably Excel and Word.

Training and support:

Volunteers will be given a full induction to Fulham Palace, and training and support to carry out the role. Volunteers will have a named supervisor who will provide support and help.

 

Start of Season Meetings

Daffodils by Matthew Bruce (2) Smaller.jpg

The dates for this years start of season meetings are now up on the calendar, you can sign up directly by clicking here, if you have any problems you can also contact Fran Riando, Volunteer Development Officer by clicking here. 

For those who may not have attend a meeting before, the start of season meeting is an important opportunity for all volunteers to be updated about what’s going on in the organisation, take part in training and to meet with other volunteers and staff. 

These sessions are interesting and informative, we encourage all volunteers to try and attend one. They will help you make the most of your experience volunteering with the Palace. 

We want as many volunteers to attend as possible so we offer 3 sessions at different times, the content will be the same in all.   

Fran Riando

Volunteer Development Officer

Discover our historical replica costume collection with a BAFTA award winning costume designer

Fulham Palace’s fascinating collection of costumes will be the subject of this talk by Esther Dean on Monday 8th February at 2pm. The afternoon will also include the opportunity to inspect and handle the costumes – and to try some of them on.

Esther is herself a retired professional costume designer who now volunteers at the Palace. Her work was credited for many TV series, including two for which she received a coveted BAFTA award: Hard Times in 1978 and The Jewel in the Crown in 1985. For the highly successful The Jewel in the Crown she was also nominated for an Emmy.

The collection includes very precise child size replica costumes as worn by important characters associated with the Palace, including Henry Vll, Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth l, and several Bishops. These prove very popular during school visits for historical role playing sessions.

Also included are old theatrical costumes from the former ILEA collection, some of which have interesting histories in their own right. Additionally, our sewing group volunteers have created children’s costumes for our Viking, Roman and Stone Age museum drop-in sessions.

This is a rare opportunity to learn about the collection from an expert, and as well as seeing the skilled craft work close up, there should also be lots of photo opportunities!

£5 for Fulham Palace and Bishop’s Park Volunteers

Booking recommended, click here to book

Looking to book onto a volunteer slot? Please click the blue button below.

Volunteer rotas