Apologies, as we don’t normally publish personal opinion pieces on the blog, but here goes….
Tomorrow it’s time once again for the PDHS show. Usually the second major PDHS event, first Open Gardens then the Show, with summer sandwiched nicely between them. A chance to show off how kind the summer has been to our gardens, or how skillful we’ve been in mastering whatever the gods have thrown at us, after the early promise of open gardens. Sadly, as we all know, this year is a bit different. The cancellation of Open Gardens was a big blow to the PDHS and the village. You may have seen the note on the Show entry form “Prize money has been reduced to the loss of revenue from Open Gardens this year”. Open Gardens usually brings substantial revenue to the PDHS so this year they will be feeling the loss. But this doesn’t just affect the PDHS and their ability to run trips and events it affects the whole village. Over the years the PDHS have been extremely generous in sharing their funds with other organisations and groups in the village including this blog, so we will all be feeling the pinch. Speaking for the blog, we have annual costs for provision of web hosting, storage, etc which we would struggle to pay without the generous donations we receive from the PDHS.I’m sure other groups will be hit similarly.
So now it is our turn. Time to say thank you to the PDHS and give them our support, like they have supported us through the years, and make this the best show ever! Everyone with a garden, you have something growing you can enter in the show. Don’t worry if it wouldn’t win at Chelsea or Chatsworth, it’s just for fun and to support the PDHS, and you never know….
Then there’s the cookery section, we all fancy ourselves as the next Bake Off champion. Now’s your chance to shine and show off a little.
And for the kids, who can’t pick a jam jar full of flowers or take a picture of a tree?
So come on everyone it’s time to support the PDHS and thank them for what they’ve quietly done for the village over the years.
Steve J
I have been driving up and down the A515 most weekdays for around 12 years. From 1995 when we lived in Doveridge, near Uttoxeter to work in Buxton, and from 2002 when we moved to Parwich. The past month, I have witnessed more dangerous driving incidents than most of those 12 years put together. 
