National Begonia Society, South Coast Area

South Coast Area News
2008 EVENTS SOUTH COAST AREA SHOW Saturday 2^nd. & Sunday 3^rd. August Judge: Alan Harris SCHEDULE PICTURES OF 2007 SHOW MEETINGS Sunday 27^th. April 2.30pm - Spring Meeting Sunday 2^nd. November 2.30pm - Autumn Meeting Show & Meetings are held at Portchester Parish Hall. 100yds up Castle Street, from A27, Portchester, Hants.
We are shocked and saddened to report the death of Pete Spreadbury, only 3 months after his wife passed away. Pete was a prominent and active member of our local group for many years, he will especially be remembered for the hours he and wife Irene spent tending our sales table at the Southsea Show. As their children grew up they too came to help, making the sales area very much a family affair. Pete and Irene were also keen exhibitors. Our sympathies go out to the family.
2007 EVENTS SOUTH COAST AREA SHOW Saturday 4^th. & Sunday 5^th. August SCHEDULE RESULTS PICTURES MEETINGS Sunday 22^rd. April 2.30pm - Spring Meeting Speaker John Chiswell. Sunday 4^th. November 2.30pm - Speaker John Chiswell. Show & Meetings are held at Portchester Parish Hall. 100yds up Castle Street, from A27, Portchester, Hants.
We are sad to learn of the death of Irene Spreadbury after a long illness. Irene, known to us all as Rene, was a very active member at the Southsea Show for many years. In addition to exhibiting her particular like was caring for the charity pool and sales table. Our sympathies go out to husband Peter and family.
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Autumn Meeting. Sunday 4th. November 2007 A disappointingly small attendance of 28 members came to our Autumn Meeting. It is of some concern that, in common with other local Specialist Horticultural Societies, our numbers are slowly dwindling. On a more positive note Area Representative Dave Coates announced the dates for next years events and thanked everyone for another successful Show. Although local entries were minimal we just about managed to stage a very presentable display. John Chiswell was the afternoon's main speaker giving the second part of his excellent presentation on begonia culture. This was preceded by the presentation of Show Trophies by Society Archivist and Judge Dave Staines. Many thanks to the wives who provided and served free tea and cakes. Also to those who donated raffle prizes. Report and pictures by the Editor.
Dave Coates Area Rep..	Brian Simmons.	Bill Squibb	Mrs Shirley Howe.
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Spring Meeting. Sunday 22nd. April 2007 32 members and friends attended our Spring Meeting. This was a slightlly disappointing figure possibly due to the exceptionally fine afternoon and the fact that Dave's notes did not appear in the current Society bulletin. It is a worrying fact however that our Area is in decline, the majority of members now attending are from well outside local boundaries.. Those who did attend included Chairman Len Gill and Archivist Dave Staines with his wife Mag. John Chiswell (currently featuring on this website) was the afternoon's main speaker, his talk illustrated with slides. Unfortunately the second half of his excellent narration was brought to an untimely end by an electrical failure. However John has now promised to return in the autumn. The Meeting also included a demonstration by Dave Thomas of his method of exterior shading panels made from louvre blind strips. Report and pictures by the Editor.
John's illustrated talk. .	My wife Chris on tea duty. .	Len wins a raffle prize. .	John & Dave answer questions.
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2007 SHOW The Show at the Parish Hall, Portchester, Hants will, after all, be held at our traditional date - the first weekend in August, Saturday 4th. & Sunday 5th. As previously reported it was to have been two weeks earlier, unfortunately the hall's administrators had made a mistake and double booked the hall.
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	Autumn Meeting 2006 Sunday 5th. November. Our speaker for the afternoon was Central Area Representative Andrew MacDougall. Other prominent Society members were National Cut--bloom Champion John Chiswell and Society Archivist Dave Staines. Dave Coates opened the well attended meeting by welcoming Andrew and after the usual announcements invited him to present the Trophies from our Area Show. The Meeting then continued with a very interesting talk supported by slides. Andrew is an extremely accomplished and natural speaker, he covered the entire season plus many additional slides of Rex, Species and Hybrids. altogether a very enjoyable afternoon.		Dave Coates (right) introduces Andrew MacDougall. PICTURES LEFT Andrew presents trophies to Top: Bill Squibb Bottom: Roy Seare.

Mrs Doris Hilton, wife of South Coast Area founder member Pop Hilton has passed away aged 100 (almost 101). Pop died over 20 years ago but Doris continued growing begonias until very recently. It was their experience in staging displays of begonias that established our activities at the Southsea Show. Our sympathies go out to daughter Beryl and family.
Autumn Meeting. Sunday 6th. November 2005 Definitely one of our most successful meetings in recent years, with over 50 members attending from a wide area. At the end of the afternoon an extremely pleased Dave Coates ( Area Representative) stated that in his opinion the downturn in recent years has now been reversed and the future looks very positive. The success of our new Show, new members, and the promise of several more exhibitors next year all contribute to a bright outlook. Dave opened the meeting by summarising our year's activities and thanking everyone involved for contributing to an excellent Show, he then invited National Secretary Alan Harris to present the trophies. Our speaker for the afternoon was East Anglian Area Representative and Membership Secretary John Taylor. John's illustrated talks are always very informative, clear and entertaining. The first half dealt with begonia problems and then following our usual tea break he continued with slides of his recent visit to New Zealand. Report and pictures by the Editor.
The Parish Hall Portchester.	Bill Squibb An abundance of trophies.	Mrs Audrey Brown receiving the Novice Cup.	John Taylor, guest speaker.
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August 2005 - Our new Show a great success - Report & Pictures