Eye - 12 July 2019

From Bury St Edmunds to Seaford

Glimpsing a garden

Wildlife, organic gardening and Friendly music greeted visitors to Bury St Edmunds Meeting House during the town’s recent ‘Hidden Gardens’ day.

The annual event, which is held in aid of the local hospice, saw twenty-eight gardens throw open their gates, including the Quaker Meeting house.

Local Friend Metford Robson told Eye that: ‘Visitors were encouraged to pass through our wildlife area, with its Quaker gravestones, followed by the area cultivated by organic gardeners and a group with learning difficulties, prior to entering our courtyard garden (which justifies our inclusion as a “Hidden Garden”) and then to pass through the Meeting house.’

He added: ‘The event has been enormously popular for a good many years. Although the Meeting house is not in a prime position, we hoped that this and our not particularly advantageous place in the pecking order would not make visitors less likely to make their way to us… we need not have worried as, at the end of the day, our handheld counter indicated we had hosted no less than 517 visitors, which, while not quite a record, did leave us with a feeling of quiet satisfaction.

‘In addition to the basic attractions, we had a very well filled plant stall, refreshments and, above all, our entirely in-house sextet recorder group “The Quavers”, who sent our guests on their way with a spring in their step.’

Although horticulture motivated many visitors, Metford suspects more than floral interests were cultivated on the day: ‘It can safely be said that the great majority of them knew nothing about the Quakers, but many stopped to read the sign, which explained why the design of our gravestones was rooted in our testimonies to simplicity and equality, or spent time in our Meeting room, still set out for our usual Sunday Meeting for Worship, where they took the opportunity to ask questions and read the leaflets and other literature that we always have to hand.’

Was it all worth it? ‘Bearing in mind that several of us had been involved with an adjacent street fair on the day before, it was certainly a busy weekend, but if Business Meeting agrees, we will certainly welcome another few hundred guests in 2020. It is too good an opportunity to miss.’

Seaford’s celebration

Friends in Seaford celebrated the recent renovation of their peace garden on 29 June.

The garden is in a local municipal park and sixty people gathered to mark its new lease of life with music, featuring Norman Baker and Duncan Campbell performing gentle blues and jazz.

Tony Webster, of Seaford Meeting, told Eye that the Meeting worked with the town council to establish the garden in 2010: ‘[Friends] hoped that, as an oasis of calm, it would become an area where peace could be both celebrated and created – in, of course, as quiet a manner as possible…

‘The garden was designed by Lindsay Thomas, with sculpture and benches by Christian Funnel. Stone inscriptions, which included the words of George Fox, were designed and carved by Jo Sweeting. It became a place to pause and [take a] moment for peace, it is much used by local people.

‘Sadly, the garden became neglected despite a maintenance agreement with the local council. A full restoration became necessary and a group of volunteer gardeners worked under the guidance of Lindsay Thomas. Friends are grateful to the town council for its renewed commitment to continue to keep the garden in good order.’

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