REPORT ON QUESTERS VISIT TO COATES ENGLISH WILLOW FARM

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A group of 14 Questers visited the Coates English Willow Farm and production facility at Stoke St Gregory near Taunton on Monday 23 September 2024. The journey was made in the Unity minibus with the ever supportive and able Robert Kemp as our driver. The weather was not helpful as Robert had to contend with periods of heavy rain for large parts of the 1 ¾ hour journey each way. However, as always, he delivered us safely there and back again afterwards.

It was an early start and the minibus got underway from the meeting point at Wickes on schedule just before 08:30. Fortunately when we arrived at Coates there was little or no rain. A tea/coffee break was enjoyed at the Lemon Tree café before our guided tour started at 11:00.

     

Roxanne was our guide for the tour which started in the shop where she gave a brief history of the Coate family which has been producing willow since 1812. Through marriage they combined with the Boobyer family to establish the present company which grows and processes willow and makes furniture and many other items of woven basketwork for the past 200 years. Roxanne also explained the planting process and how the willow is grown and harvested. She then went on to explain how the three primary colours of willow are produced.

     

We then commenced the tour of the processing and production facilities to see how the various steps are undertaken. The tour included see how artist’s charcoal is produced and learnt that Coates produces 80% of the world’s artist’s charcoal. The tour ended by viewing the weaving process where 5 weaving craftspeople were producing willow woven products. A large part of this wok nowadays is the production of willow coffins and several designs were being produced in the weaving rooms.

     

After the tour was completed we returned to the Lemon Tree café for lunch. Members had been asked to place their order for lunch in advance so the service was quite quick and food good.

After lunch most members watched a video which shows the entire willow process from planting to final weaving which served to reinforce the information from the tour. This was followed by a visit to the willow museum which was very interesting and showed the huge diversity of uses of woven willow over the past 200 years. Many members ended the visit by purchasing items of basketwork from the shop.

Our return trip was again quite wet but Robert handled the drive with skill and professionalism. We were safely returned to Wickes car park again at around 16:45 as scheduled.

Thanks to Chris Coffin for organising the outing which was enjoyed by all of us. Unfortunately, he was not able to join in on the trip itself.

Cecil Rose

Questers visit to Boscombe Down Aviation Collection

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QUESTERS VISIT TO BOSCOMBE DOWN AIRCRAFT COLLECTION :

04 SEPTEMBER 2024

   

Sixteen Questers gathered at Old Sarum Airfield to view their collection; it was emphasized that it was not a museum because we were encouraged to touch the exhibits and sit in the cockpits of some exhibits.  The group initially listened to a lecture from one of the managers explaining the origins of the collection which all required the provenance of being the actual planes tested at RAF Boscombe Down for aspects of aero safety, flight development or type approval for the services. This activity started at Boscombe Down airfield in 1939.

The collection started when old planes which had completed their test programmes were placed in a dumping area which was periodically cleared by scrap merchants, and this practice was stopped by a far-sighted senior officer who could see that these planes would make the basis of a unique collection.  The collection is entirely maintained by volunteers who (mostly) have had many years’ experience of working at Boscombe Down either flying or maintaining/modifying some of the planes. The collection covers (mostly) the development of jet powered flight. It follows that they had a comprehensive knowledge of the collection.

   

Mention should also be made of the mechanical skills of some of the volunteers who have fully renovated some of the exhibits, constructed a replica WW1 era DH 2E and constructed the nose cone of a WW2 Lancaster bomber, amongst  other projects.  The collection also included quite a few RR engines and other component parts.

This is a gem of a collection dating from the period when British companies led the world in advanced powered flight; and really needs to be seen to be appreciated.

   

Norma Bryan

 

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The Group met at 10:15 a.m. on 9th September with the theme ‘Summer Events’.

Only 5 people attended John Clark being absent. Rosemary Crumplin was welcomed back from her recent cruise around the British Isles and the Azores.

With such a small number, it was surprising that a unanimous vote for best picture was given to Anjie Sargeant’s ‘Andover Carnival’.

 

September’s Theme is ‘Autumn Colour’.

John Hawke stated that this theme should not restrict itself to foliage changes but the use of the ‘golden hours at sunrise and sunset of any subject.

Anjie Sargeant showed her photograph album from her recent holiday based at Lake Como with many stunning pictures.

 

Some camera issues were discussed including the use of menu settings for digital  zoom and minimising noise when using it.