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The Flora of Huntingdon Racecourse
The Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust invites you to come and visit this little-known Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Huntingdon Racecourse, Brampton, on Sunday 31st May starting at 10.30am.
The walk will be led by Pat Doody, who is the Chairman of our local group and has a particular interest in wildflow-
er meadows. Unimproved grasslands of this type are rare, particularly in Cambridgeshire, and we are lucky to
have this opportunity to visit this site. The racecourse is renowned for the Green-Winged Orchid, and we hope to
see many other meadow flowers as well.
Everyone is most welcome to attend. Please follow Trust signs from the entrance to the Racecourse off the A14/
B1514 junction. GR TL 208719. There is no need to book and no charge, but donations are welcome. For more
information please contact Tim Fryer on 01480 457795.
Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Registered Charity No: 1000412
THE FRIENDS OF BUCKDEN TOWERS
A big thank you to Ian Carter for preparing the questions and taking on the question master role at the
Quiz Night on 6th March. The event was enjoyed by all and raised £196.00.
People sometimes ask what FOBT does. We are a registered charity whose purpose is to raise funds
to help maintain the fabric and furnishings of the buildings on the site. We contribute a regular monthly
sum to the owners for this purpose and get involved in specific projects such as the refurbishing of the Friends
Refectory and the outside toilet. Currently we have committed to paying for new curtains in the Kings Room in the
Great Tower, which will have been hung by the time you read this and are looking at the possibility of having the
floor in that room repaired or even replaced.
We are also considering paying for the replacement of the viewing platform arbour in the Knot Garden as it is
coming to the end of its life. Costs for this have yet to be established. We are completely independent of the own-
ers but of course liaise closely with them about maintenance issues.
Dates for your diaries:
AGM: 8th May at 8.00 p.m. at The Towers. There will be a talk by Father Angel. Anyone interested in joining FOBT
is welcome to attend.
PLANT SALE: 16th May 11.00 to 3.00 at the Towers. This is always a great event with lots of interesting plants
for sale.
MIDSUMMER AT THE TOWERS: 20TH June 7.00 to 11.30 p.m. This promises to be a really wonderful evening’s
entertainment. Tickets are still available. Please contact Mike Allwright at The Towers off on 01480 812227 for
tickets.
Coffee Morning at the Methodist Chapel on 3rd July.
Red Cross Week 2014 May 3rd to May 9th
This is the week when local people knock on your door and ask you to help the Red Cross continue its work locally
and internationally responding to Crisis.
Locally the Red Cross helps people leaving hospital, people needing an urgent wheelchair or walking frame, peo-
ple who need help to get to hospital or in an ambulance to get to a grandchild’s wedding. To the Red Cross every
crisis is personal, however large or small. There are volunteers in your community always available to help others
with first aid or to teach child care, or to respond late at night with essentials for people whose home is on fire.
In major emergencies the Red Cross is there with boats in floods, distributing food and clean water, manning res-
cue centres for foreigners imported as slaves, or British people stranded abroad, separated from family or waiting
for news of an air crash. In the ongoing and terrible war zones of Syria, burying the Ebola dead in West Africa,
manning refugee camps for Somalis in Kenya, providing clean water and sanitation for African villages, and cele-
brating the life saving success of concrete hurricane shelters in Bangladesh, Red Cross volunteers are always
available around the world. Very recently 5 volunteers have been killed in the Yemen.
Every Crisis is personal and the Red Cross needs your help to help anyone who asks for our help, Locally or Inter-
nationally. Please give as generously as you can!
THANK YOU..... Hilary Gillam, 01480 810314, 07876 443062,