Lovely lunch on 13 October, enjoying the last of the warm weather!
It really was a sizzling summer and as we headed into autumn the weather remained warm and dry, right up until 22 September, the Saturday set for our harvest feast.
The date coincided Car Free Day and Capital Growth’s Urban Harvest, and to celebrate both of these along with our feast these we worked with Lambeth Council and CCMAC to organise the closure of Windmill Drive on Clapham Common to create an extra-special community event.
But it poured. Some might even say it was a washout. But undeterred by the dampness of the day the event went ahead and lots people came along and took part.
Car free Clapham Common!
Despite the damp weather, the event was opened by Cllr Claire Holland, Lambeth Cabinet Member for Environment and Clean Air, seen below (top letf) trying out a smoothie bike.
A soggy but fun #carfreeday in #clapham. Thanks to @BandstandBeds @clphmcommonMAC @CarryMe_Bikes @peddlemywheels @CycleConfident @limebike @clairekholland @cllrhaselden pic.twitter.com/URz4dFUXD5
— Lambeth sustransteam (@Lambethsustrans) October 2, 2018
There were all sorts of cycling activities along Windmill Drive, including a bike powered PA system for the singers appearing during the afternoon, a petting zoo with reptiles including a cute chameleon, a cane toad, which is a bit of a pest in Australia – and venomous! – and a python. A bit scary for some so we decided to grow our own.
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Great welcome at @BandstandBeds, what a feast on offer #urbanharvest2018 #pumpkin #allshapesandsizes pic.twitter.com/KSl4AcuRNn
— Capital Growth (@Capital_Growth) September 22, 2018
And of course dozens of visitors came along to our garden to enjoy the delicious food made from our home-grown produce, and in all a lot of fun was to be had.
We managed to raise over £550 towards our polytunnel pathway fund. Special thanks to everyone who donated prizes to our raffle. Special thanks to everyone who donated raffle prizes or came along and supported the event – and our wonderful volunteers!
The following Saturday the sun was back out and we began start planning our Halloween Happening for Saturday 27 October… But on the day temperatures plummeted. Brrr, it sent a chill down your spine beyond spooky!
Lots of activity ‘happening’ in our garden this morning setting up for our Halloween event.
Lunch at 1pm on #ClaphamCommon! pic.twitter.com/pONEFrNLBS
— Bandstand Beds (@BandstandBeds) October 27, 2018
Luckily, warm soup and hot curry were on the menu, along with some sumptuous home-made cakes, so we managed to survive the cold and our spirits weren’t dampened. This time the rain held off! We built scarecrows, potted scary peashoot heads and decorated ghoulie ginger biscuits.
Halloween party at Clapham Common, bandstand beds pic.twitter.com/PMjLOFsU8N
— Ben McSharry (@BenMcSharry2) October 27, 2018
Thanks to the efforts of our intrepid member it turned out to be another fun and successful event in our garden. And this time we raised over £200 towards our poly pathway fund.
Now the dark evenings up us our Wednesday sessions have stopped, and the with the colder weather coming our 55+ Monday sessions will soon come to an end, until the beginning of next year.
Meanwhile, we will continue to meet on Saturdays and our memories of a wonderful summer, and hours and hours of happiness in our garden, will help us through the dull days of winter!
Bandstand Bed Association (BBA) is a completely volunteer led community organisation and all money raised at our events goes to keep our garden sustainable. If you would like to make a donation to help keep our garden growing please click on this link.
If you would like to become a member of Bandstand Beds you can join here.
For more information about BBA email ccbandstandbeds@gmail.com