All the talks are held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in TADWORTH ( unless advised otherwise ) They are either held in the Main Hall or in the smaller meeting room ( where numbers are limited ) All talks are £3 for members and £5 for non members

14 November 2026 Elizabeth Mooney - Edibles Self  Sufficiency in a small space  10.30 Meeting Room

A little bit of information provided by Elizabeth

I have worked at Wisley for 6 and a half years so 7 by the talk. I am part of the edibles team, working mainly in the world food garden. I am a specialist in annual vegetables but also have a strong interest in perennial veg, and am writing a dissertation on them for the RHS Master of Horticulture programme, which I will have qualified from by the talk. I am a co-author on the recent RHS book on veg growing and a regular on the RHS podcast.

Elizabeth has provided a brief summary of the talk

A few years ago I took the decision to try and be self-sufficient in fresh fruit and veg from my 13x18m allotment and have been managing it ever since. Growing your own brings benefits including fresh and nutritious food, environmental sustainability, and much enjoyment, and while you do not have to be self-sufficient in order to receive this, for me it maximises them. I will talk a bit about why I am self-sufficient, the crops I would not be without, and how I achieve it, particularly through winter and the hungry gap.

See March issue of the Garden Mag for an article by Elizabeth about her allotment a fascinating read plus Winter Squashes in this months.

13 February 2027 Kayleigh Sinclair Death in the Garden 10.30 Meeting Room

Kayleigh is a passionate student of Herbology who has been studying the subject since the beginning of 2023 and the founder of the Historical Herbalist . Based in the South East, she has a background in Horticulture, dating back to 2007 including a period at Wisley. Her focus is on plant lore and superstition, how it interweaves with the botanic aspects of plants, and how the use of medicinal plants has evolved through millennia with humans. Kayleigh often delivers talks on the subject at The Royal Horticultural Society, bringing focus on this unique subject to a wide range of people. She is an expert on famous physicians and herbalists such as Dioscordies, Culpeper, and Maud Grieve. Kayleigh’s love for Herbology began as a young girl exploring the heathlands and meadows around her home. The different plants she encountered and the stories and superstitions associated with them fascinated her. Kayleigh is also a consultant in physic gardens and herb gardens, providing her valuable insights to local charities.

We have organised a visit to Gatton Park RH2 0TW on  15 February 2027 to see the flowering of snowdrops , starting at 10.30 , a guide will show us around and enlighten us with the history of the garden etc . The cost is £14 per person and includes the important refreshment's , tea, coffee and cake.

Gatton Park is a beautiful historic parkland with Edwardian gardens in Reigate, Surrey. Stretching 260 acres, the estate lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is home to the Royal Alexandra and Albert School. Gatton’s awe-inspiring views were designed by renowned English landscape architect, ‘Capability’ Brown in the Eighteenth Century. The Japanese garden, rock garden, pleasure gardens and parterre were added by Sir Jeremiah Colman, of mustard fame, who owned Gatton in 1888.

Stunning displays of snowdrops during February

The rock garden was constructed in 1912 by J Pulham & Sons.

They transformed an area of the park which was a sloping lawn and shrubbery into a dramatic rock escarpment with naturalistic pools. A mixture of hoggin and stone paths weave their way through the rock giving visitors opportunities to view the plants up close.

Pulham & Sons were experts at creating artificial rockwork which blended with the surrounding natural rock. At Gatton the Pulhamite is a decorative inner wall within the main lily pond. The great rocks which make up the face of the rock garden and the surrounding ponds are Kentish Ragstone and sandstone. It was described in The Journal of Horticulture and Home Farmer of November 6th 1913 as ‘a rockery cascade’, planted with ‘Heaths, alpines, bog plants and aquatics’. Such was the beauty of this garden that Queen Mary would visit at peak times of the year.

The garden was lost in the 1950s when regular maintenance ceased. This remained the case until June 1996 when the Gatton Trust began restoration work. The snowdrops that were present in this area before the restoration appear to have been unaffected by the work and flower in profusion every February.

If you are interested let us know and more information will be provided nearer the time . We need 12 people to run the tour .