Green Wave – Preston Park, Brighton
Of all the events we go to, it is without fail that we get at least one request to attend another show, and this is how we picked up the invite to the Green Wave (July 5-6th).
It was the first time that this show had been held. The purpose of the event was to promote local green businesses and to show the public what they can do to reduce their impact on the planet. There were various stands ranging from food stalls, clothing, recycling and many more, including the Tottington Woodlanders. The site had been divided up into zones and we had a prime site near the entrance, in the Earth Zone. We tried to have a theme with our stand, selling goods either made from wood or mostly recycled items or environmental products like the bird feeders. The idea was to show that you could have decorative items like the various flowers we produce from tin cans, power cables and wood or that you could use a bird feeder to help the bird population to survive, I had also been talked into producing some kind of entrance arch-cum-sign, which got me thinking. So after a lot of sketching and pondering I came up with the idea to combine some of our wood, recycled pallets and other recycled bits and pieces (mostly the waste from the flower production). Between Jo and myself we made two signs spelling out Earth Zone in cables, wire and tin cans, which also were decorated with butterflies and flowers. I might be a little biased, but I think these signs looked very good, and so did most people.
On Saturday, Jo and i were joined by Geraldine, our Low Weald Ranger and Maggie and Dave. As with most of the recent events an early start was the order of the day and we arrived about eight o’clock Once the stall was set up, my next task was to put up the two signs, and knowing that I needed to sink the posts about two feet into the ground I came tooled up. With the help of the team we managed to get both signs up and secured.
The weather forecast for the weekend had not filled us with joy as both days were down to be wet and windy. Rain is one thing, but the wind just makes everything really hard work. Leaflets blow about; the shelter moves and needs lashing down. However, Saturday was far from wet and windy – blowy and very sunny was a better description. There was a steady trickle of visitors but not the numbers we had thought there would be. Whether this was the first sign of the credit crunch, or the fact that there was the British Grand Prix and tennis at Wimbledon or perhaps a combination of factors I don’t know. However, we did manage to make some products which helped our stock levels; the sales weren’t bad, there was some interest in our display and what we do and we also had some fun.
Sunday started fine but overnight the wind had got stronger and was still blowing, the sky was not blue and clear like Saturday, I doubt you could have anything more different from one day to the next.
On Sunday Brian, Jo and myself left early so we could get the stall set up, however we didn’t have the shelter to put up as this was left up overnight (we hoped). When we arrived it had just started to rain a little but the sight that greeted us was of many gazebos in ruins or many shattered pieces as the wind had done its best to scatter them around. We were very lucky as our heavy metal shelter was still standing and all that was required was to lash it down using some old computer cable and some of our wooden tent pegs.
It was amazing how many of the stall holders called upon us for some help, whether this was to borrow a hammer or mallet, or in some cases make use of the good old fashion sturdy wooden tent pegs that Brian has been making at recent shows. In fact I exchanged some manual labour and tent pegs for a buzz ball (quality chocolate, fruit and nuts in a ball and packed full of energy), needless to say their gazebo stayed up for the rest of the day.
From the start the weather just went downhill, the wind got up and down came the rain which was being blown across Preston Park horizontally. A few hardy souls braved the elements to come out and have a look round, including some people from Storrington who are looking to set up a group to manage some land in Ashington, so we were able to relay our experiences both good and bad to them. It is very satisfying when you are able to help other people who are thinking about getting involved in similar activities, as hopefully they can learn from us.
The team on Sunday did the Woodlanders proud as we stuck it out right to the end which in fact was the right thing to do as late on in the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun came and combined with the wind it helped to dry things out before we packed away. Now those who had been paying close attention to the early evening local news on Meridian TV on the following Tuesday would have seen a fleeting glimpse of Brian and yours truly working away. Well, I am reliably informed, but I was busy elsewhere and never saw it. No need to worry, we will not be letting our new found fame go to our head, however if anyone wishes to buy a pint for a couple of TV stars then we wouldn’t wish to offend them.
Needless to say when we all arrived home I could imagine that sigh of relief could be heard in Brighton and never has a warm bath and hot dinner in July been so welcome before.
By Chris Burchell-Collins
