This has not been at all a “Happy New Year” for yours truly. Not only our Chairman, but also some members of our gardening team, have resigned. The saying that all bad luck comes in threes proved true as the early start to the Winter in late November prevented the final clearing up of summer plants and the last bulbs being planted. Once the snow had gone I tried, in vain, to prise the plants from the roundabout mangers but they were still deeply embedded in ice. Hopefully everything will have been removed by the time The Beacon is pushed through your letterbox.

          Suffice to say that if no new volunteers came forward before the start of our busiest season, I fear that the past hard work of so many people will be in vain – anyone who has a garden knows the constant effort put into it to keep it looking beautiful. I am therefore, as always but more desperately, appealing to anyone who can spare just one hour per week to contact me (no digging involved). If  Pickering in Bloom crumbles, then your Council Tax will have to be stretched further to pay for a contractor to do the work.

          We will not be entering Yorkshire in Bloom this time for obvious reasons, but hopefully the “In House Garden Competition” will take place in July. More news of that in due course.

          The Brownies will continue to tend the small garden at the bottom of Hall Garth this year but, as yet, we have no-one lined up to take over the top shrubbery vacated by the pupils of St. Joseph’s R.C. Primary School. I personally think that this area just cries out to be paved, with more seats and maybe a couple of picnic tables, as it is such a popular area with both visitors and residents to rest, chat or enjoy a picnic lunch. Dedicated remembrance” seats could be installed – I was reading the plaques on the seats along Whitby pier this week, and thought it was a lovely way to show how much  places meant to people and, at the same time, provide the funds for the seat.

          Also, from a gardening point of view, the very large tree there shades plants from the sun and drains moisture from the soil, therefore necessitating constant watering during hot weather.

          As I write this we are enjoying the fourth consecutive sunny day and, although much appreciated, it does show up the damage done to my own garden. Unfortunately due to only being into the first month of this year, there will surely be more winter weather to come, so I am resisting pruning everything in sight to make the garden tidy and will patiently wait until I know it is safe to do so. There are actually bulb tops and buds showing, so it is cheering to know that, as usual, Nature can be cruel but also that Spring is just around the corner.

 Eileen Blakeley.