Apr 12: Sarah Oldridge: History and work of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

In April we were treated to a delightful discourse on the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, given by Sarah Oldridge, who has worked at Kew for 23 years.

Sarah is the Adult Education Co-ordinator, a role that involves organising a series of events covering horticultural, botanical and craft related subjects, both at Kew itself and also at the ‘country branch’ at Wakehurst Place.

She started her career in The Herbarium where she took part in several plant-collecting trips in South East Asia. Now she also sits on the RHS education and training committee.

The name Kew derives from the French Quai, which itself comes from the fact that the park borders the River Thames, where barges and boats would arrive at the Royal Gardens for the Royal family and courtiers to stroll in the gardens, which then would have consisted of only 7 acres or so.

The current Royal Botanic Gardens now stand at some 300 acres, the terrain being composed in the main of river sand and gravel. Knowledgeable gardeners will recognize that this is a far from ideal soil on which to garden, being poor in nutrients and too fast draining. These problems are overcome with the addition of vast amounts of home-made compost!

The gardens originally consisted of two estates - Richmond and Kew separated by Love Lane. King George IInd’s Queen, Caroline, was a keen and inspired gardener. She had built several of the buildings that still stand today, including a couple of follies: The Hermitage and Merlin’s cave (complete with wax-work wizard models) and the Dutch House.

Her son Frederick, Prince of Wales, married the 17 year-old Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha; together they started an ambitious building programme, including the conversion of Kew Farm into the White House to a William Kent design.

Augusta in her turn, after the premature death of her husband, took up the reins of expanding and beautifying the Royal gardens, and in effect became the Founder of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. During her period several trees were planted that will be celebrated in 2009 as ‘Old Lions Trees’ including the first Gingko Biloba or maidenhair tree planted in the UK. She also presided over the construction of the first heated glass-house, which was heated by the simple expedient of banking up bark in deep beds behind the walls.

After Frederick’s death, Augusta was guided by his friends, Lord Bute and Sir William Chambers, in furthering the work of the Royal gardens as a scientific centre of excellence. She also employed William Aiton of the Chelsea Physick Garden to oversee the creation of her own Physick gardens at Kew, started in 1759.

During this period from 1761 onwards, several other buildings were constructed including the Aeolian Temple, on the one and only hill or tump on the land, and the Chinese Pagoda in 1762; others included the Orangery and Great Stove, and other more exotic but temporary follies, which were insubstantially built, often overnight!

This was a period of much long-distance travel, and the fashion for Chinoiserie and Arabian design was as much in evidence at Kew as elsewhere. It did not find favour with all observers though. Horace Walpole for instance, was less than enthusiastic about the Chinese Pagoda, perhaps due to its exuberant colouring and 24 wooden gilded dragons (not to mention the huge cost of it).

Frederick and Augusta’s son George III, known as Farmer George, and his wife Charlotte had 13 children, and used Kew Palace as their hospital wing. Under his patronage the two halves of the estate were at last united, with the removal of the walls around the two removed, and Love Lane closed.

King George employed Capability Brown to landscape parts of the gardens including the Rhododendron Dell, and the Laburnam and Hornbeam Allées, which were designed so that well-born ladies could take the air in the shade, to keep their complexions pale.

King George III was not only fond of gardens but also a dedicated experimenter in stock breeding, in particular of sheep, which were used widely to keep the grass down on the estate (as in other large estates across the land). Sir Joseph Banks arranged for a small flock of Merino sheep to be smuggled from their jealously guarded home in Spain to the delighted King George to use in his cross-breeding programme.

Sir Joseph Banks took on the task of superintendence of Kew, which was not only accumulating a world-wide collection and display of plant materials, but also led the way in the study and propagation of plants for economic use; these were used not only in Great Britain, but also in the far-flung colonies.

In 1820 George III died and his successors George IV and William IV, who had little interest in farming or gardens, allowed the Royal Gardens to become little more than allotments to supply the palaces with vegetables. In 1840, an enlightened government passed an act to bring Kew into public ownership. Sir William Hooker initiated the collection of what subsequently became 7 million dried and pressed specimens, an activity that continues to this day.

Queen Victoria was an active and good patron of the Gardens, and from 1851 to 1885 Kew Gardens enjoyed a golden age. The Palm House and Temperate House were built, and the Herbarium started. In due course Sir Joseph Hooker took over from his father, and William Nesfield and Decimus Burton took leading roles in designing the buildings.

During the period covering the two World Wars the gardens inevitably ran at a lower level of activity and investment, but never lost their world-wide renown for plant collection and preservation.

In 1965, in conjunction with the National Trust, Wakehurst Place came under the wing of Kew; this 500 acre estate now is home to the Millennium Seed Bank. This houses ,in carefully controlled stores, every British seed and also 10% of the world’s seeds, so far some 24,000 species. This acts as a vital genetic resource for the future.

In 1987 a vast new glasshouse was opened by Princess Diana, in memory of the founder of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Princess Augusta. This is divided into 10 zones, with state of the art computer-controlled climates. In the same year, Readers’ Digest donated 1.6 million crocus corms to the garden, a somewhat overwhelming gift, but one which now gives huge enjoyment.

Finally Sarah told us to keep on visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - they have 39 buildings and

600 staff to support in this garden of world-wide importance! Madelyn Meredith

Apr 27: the East Sussex branch of the Milestone Society met at the Greyhound: five members of the History Society attended and were treated to an odd slide show of milestones and tollgate cottages across the region, which had just come into the possession of the Milestone Society. This gift also included a photo album, containing a few photos of interest to Wadhurst - the old tollgate in the Lower High Street and the milestone by the Primary School: these we have copied.

Apr 28: Visit to Dover Castle and the wartime tunnels

To those who did not come on the trip to Dover, we have to tell you that WE MADE HISTORY ourselves that day! It could have been an organiser’s nightmare, but none panicked and I think we all got home smiling despite our disappointment.

How many I wonder could tell the tale that they were refused entry to a site in England due to an earthquake? We were leaving Wadhurst at the same time that Folkestone and Dover suffered the ’quake! On arrival we were told no one was allowed entry because the castle was being checked for structural damage and that the wartime tunnels, which we had specifically gone to see and had two guides booked for, were closed as they had definitely suffered damage, and that a specialist engineer was on his way to investigate. Just how disappointing was this news after having made a booking for that day, and time, five months previously. We were eventually allowed onto the site half an hour later but a decision was made to reconvene at 1pm to assess our options when the full story, hopefully, would be known on the tunnel situation.

It was obvious we would not need the 6 hours allowed for our visit without the conducted tours element, so when it was announced that it was not possible to see anything more we deviated on our way home to visit the RAF Memorial Site at Capel le Ferne just outside Folkestone. It certainly was the right decision and it is doubtful if any on the coach were not moved by the peacefulness of the area, or by reading the list of 3000 names engraved on the specially erected wall, and not least by the sculpture of an RAF serviceman looking outwards and upwards over the sea, nor the expression on the face of the sculptured Labrador waiting for his master’s return in front of the visitor centre. We did not get to visit the tunnels but this unscheduled stop made the day poignant. Rachel Ring

May 10: Geoff Hutchinson: Rudyard Kipling - his life & work

This talk was brought to life by Geoff impersonating Rudyard Kipling and using his writings to illustrate his life. As one poem says, he wished to be known by "the books he left behind".

Joseph Rudyard Kipling, born in Bombay in 1865, spent the first 6 years of his existence enjoying a happy life in India. But then he was shipped back to England and endured a miserable 6 years of brutal schooling in Southsea, before finishing his education at Westward Ho! On his return to India he joined the 'Military Gazette' where he eagerly learned much about Indian affairs.

In the heat of the summer, people moved to the cool of Simla, and along too went the eagle-nosed young journalist! The young unmarried men and many more married women produced plenty of intrigue which

inspired many of his poems collected as 'Departmental Ditties'. Several poems were published in his newspaper, conveniently filling up empty inches of column. We were treated to the 'Story of Uriah', 'My boy Jack' and also to 'My Rival', the lament of a 17 year old young lady.

At the age of 23 he returned to England, his life in India having shaped his beliefs that India needed firm government. In London he missed the Indian warmth and hated the decadence all around. His poem 'Tommy' reflects this.

He married Caroline and while settled in her native Vermont, USA, he produced the 'Jungle Books'. After vicious arguments with his brother-in-law which ended up in court, he was forced to leave the USA. With his wife and 2 daughters, he stayed first in Torquay and then in Rottingdean where his son John was born. He still had problems with the American press and copyright laws so in 1899, at the age of 33, the family returned to the USA. Tragically, his daughter Josephine, 7, died on the ship. Rudyard was eventually told the news when he had recovered enough from his own severe bout of pneumonia. We listened to a short story which he then wrote to help him come to terms with the tragedy.

When the Boer War started, he went out to South Africa to support the British. His articles published in the 'Times' made him a national figure and brought him unwanted fame. While there, he became acquainted with Lord Baden-Powell. On his return to Rottingdean he was exasperated by coach loads of people peering over his hedge hoping to see the famous journalist. One woman who had entered his garden to peer in the window, thought it very rude of him to draw the curtain! To escape, he and his wife looked for a new property and found 'Batemans' which they bought in 1902 for £9400. At this stage he started to discovered the delights of England, some of which are recorded in 'Sussex by the Sea'.

The next 12 years at Batemans passed happily. As he said, his wife Carrie did everything, leaving him time to do what he did best. He wrote in the mornings, using Indian ink, which his secretary then typed, as typewriters cannot spell! His writings included poems to introduce the children to the past. We heard the poem which includes "watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by".

As Lord Baden-Powell had used the Jungle Books for the scouts, Rudyard wrote the 'Boy Scout Patrol Song' telling scouts to Look Out! We heard a rendition of this to the tune of 'A Life on the Ocean Wave'.

In 1914, as he had feared, war came. His 18 year old son, John enlisted in the Irish Guards and was killed in his first action. His body was never found despite his father's best efforts. In 1933 Rudyard died, followed by his wife just 3 years later. The house, Batemans, was given to the National Trust. Joan Grace