This show was a joint venture between Brighton & Hove Council and the BBC, to coincide with the very successful TV programme, SpringWatch. Given that the first show, in this three week long series, on a bank holiday Monday attracted 4.4 million viewers, I guess this really should have been a good pointer as to the likely attendance. Also, for the whole week leading up to the show, of which Stanmer Park was one of 15 nation-wide, the programme carried adverts for all the events which slowly induced a little bit of panic in me but as always TW rose to the challenge.
Given that we had to endure what could really only be described as a miserable May on the weather front, I was hoping for a better June and so it duly arrived in time for this weekend.

An eight o'clock start was the order of the day which enabled us to get set up in good time, before the crowds started to pour in, and yes they did pour in. By early afternoon, some places had run out of food and it was taking an hour to get in and parked. Final attendance was reckoned to be 15,000.

I had decided not to pole-lathe but to make various items including bullrushes (or more correctly reedmace), flowers – both wooden and from drinks cans, plant labels and bird feeders. I got to a point where as soon as we made a flower or bullrush, it was put out and was sold. At this point I started to take orders. I do recall that even trying to take any lunch was almost impossible for the team manning the sales table, but at least a few of us did manage to enjoy a refreshing beer brewed by a micro brewer/from Battle in East Sussex.

There was a mixture of stands all there to promote the environment and show the public how they can do their bit to preserve the countryside or green space. Combined with a farmers' market, this made for a fantastic day. The samba band Carnival Collective rounded off the day by working their way round the whole arena playing some music which suited both the weather and atmosphere. After such a rewarding and successful day I have already put our name down for next year, so lets hope it goes ahead and make sure you come along.

- Chris Burchell-Collins