2023 Fundraising Events

Visit to and Guided Tour of the Brading Roman Villa – 16th May 2023

Today Brading Roman villa welcomed a group of members to enjoy a guided tour of the wonderful historic remains.  We were greeted with cake and refreshments in the glorious sunshine sitting on the cafe deck followed by a wonderful tour Which was not only informative but amusing. 

Members were then given the freedom of the grounds on such a beautiful day to enjoy for the remainder of their stay.

 

Spring Walk with Toby – 26th April 2023

Dry but Chilly
 
Toby, Head Gardener, greeted a full party of 30 members for our ‘Walk and Talk’ and we moved off for a quick inspection of the fallen Cedar of Lebanon.
 
Next, we sauntered off to the Terraces, with the tulips of red, pink, and yellow standing to attention. Toby explained about how a traditional ‘ribbon’ layout was adopted by the crew of gardeners… bright and colourful.
Our walk resumed from the Lower Terraces via the Grand Walk, where we spotted hosts of purple orchids. Then, on to the wooded area near the Ice-house where we saluted an array of primroses, white wood anemones, and wild garlic. At Swiss Cottage Toby pointed out a quince tree starting to blossom and beneath, in the meadow grass, snakehead fritillaries, a lovely sight at this time of year.
 
Passing through the Rhododendron Walk we aimed for the beach, where a glass of Raspberry Spring Spritzer and tasty nibbles awaited the remaining ‘Hardy Souls’ in the Exedra. Thank you, Toby.

Victoria and Albert’s Influence on East Cowes and Whippingham
Talk by Sarah Burdett – 19th April 2023

Sarah Burdett gave a very interesting talk about the impact that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had on East Cowes and Whippingham and in particular on the architecture and the very many houses that still remain in the area today. Over twenty of us enjoyed the talk and I think we all learnt something new about East Cowes!

Floral Arranging Workshop – 31st March 2023

On 31 March we held the first of our fundraising events in the newly revamped Education Suite at Osborne where members enjoyed a demonstration of flower arranging by Sue Swaby.  Sue, who is responsible for many of the amazing floral decorations in the House, showed us how to create a simple, yet effective, arrangement using tin cans, hessian and spring flowers.  Some very impressive arrangements were subsequently created by members in a relaxed and sociable environment.  A special thanks to Gill Jackson for her help in the organisation of the event and for her delicious coffee and walnut cake!  Sue has agreed to run a Christmas wreath making workshop for us in December, which we are sure will proved to be very popular.

Visit to Carisbrooke Castle – 8th February 2023

It was a pleasure to meet some new members and see some more familiar faces at Carisbrooke Castle. It was a beautiful frosty day with blue skies and those of us that went up onto the ramparts had glorious views. We had a very informative talk about the castle and enjoyed looking at the many fascinating items in the museum.  Sarah, one of the EH volunteers then talked to us about the donkeys and showed us the well house. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning there.