Een tuin show revisited in Loire Atlantique
Op 20 september, hebben we besloten om opnieuw een tuin show jaarlijks gehouden in een klein stadje genaamd Saffre. Dit is ongeveer een 20 minuten rijden ten zuiden van ons in de richting van Nantes. De show wordt gehouden op het terrein van een oud kasteel dat, hoewel het is te ver gegaan voor complete restauratie (gewoon te duur, Ik denk), de gemeente heeft het herstel van het dak, gemaakt het gebouw veilig en is het gebruik van de gronden als een park voor de lokale bevolking. The whole project only started in 2000 but already the place has the feel of always being there as a public garden. Most of the work was and continues to be, done by volunteers with great emphasis on children’s participation and ecology.
The garden festival is held over 2 days, has a few plant vendors, children’s shows every few hours, talks and lectures about gardening and ecology (in French of course), a bar and food outlet, and concerts with live bands on the Saturday night.
This year they also had a forge set up with displays of blacksmithing. There were 2 blacksmiths demonstrating their craft, one an expert in tool making and the other an all rounder but with a penchant for decorative ironwork. He told us that his last three pieces were based on Scottish Celtic knot designs which he had researched at the British museum in London. The designs looked deceptively simple but taking into account that you are working with a heavy metal bar around 4 meteres long, working out the sequence of overs and unders takes some doing. In this case he explained that the work took him and his assistant 2 days but was 3 months in the planning. He also undertakes a lot of restoration work locally, in Nantes and Paris. We were very impressed with his album of previous work and wished we had the kind of cash it takes to commission a piece from him.
The show also had a local bakery using organic flour selling delicious breads and pastries, a book stall and a display of gates and fencing made from – guess what? Old pallets! Well, Ian shot off back to his car for the photos I’d taken of his chicken coop and play house and spent a happy time sharing pallet thoughts with the people on the stall. They were well impressed.
It was a lovely return visit and we’ll probably go again next year but we had to finish this day out with our usual crépe/galette feast at Guenrouet. Read more about the wonderful places within spitting distance from our gites on our gebied Pagina.
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Een tuin show revisited
Een tuin show revisited in Loire Atlantique
Op 20 september, hebben we besloten om opnieuw een tuin show jaarlijks gehouden in een klein stadje genaamd Saffre. Dit is ongeveer een 20 minuten rijden ten zuiden van ons in de richting van Nantes. De show wordt gehouden op het terrein van een oud kasteel dat, hoewel het is te ver gegaan voor complete restauratie (gewoon te duur, Ik denk), de gemeente heeft het herstel van het dak, gemaakt het gebouw veilig en is het gebruik van de gronden als een park voor de lokale bevolking. The whole project only started in 2000 but already the place has the feel of always being there as a public garden. Most of the work was and continues to be, done by volunteers with great emphasis on children’s participation and ecology.
The garden festival is held over 2 days, has a few plant vendors, children’s shows every few hours, talks and lectures about gardening and ecology (in French of course), a bar and food outlet, and concerts with live bands on the Saturday night.
This year they also had a forge set up with displays of blacksmithing. There were 2 blacksmiths demonstrating their craft, one an expert in tool making and the other an all rounder but with a penchant for decorative ironwork. He told us that his last three pieces were based on Scottish Celtic knot designs which he had researched at the British museum in London. The designs looked deceptively simple but taking into account that you are working with a heavy metal bar around 4 meteres long, working out the sequence of overs and unders takes some doing. In this case he explained that the work took him and his assistant 2 days but was 3 months in the planning. He also undertakes a lot of restoration work locally, in Nantes and Paris. We were very impressed with his album of previous work and wished we had the kind of cash it takes to commission a piece from him.
The show also had a local bakery using organic flour selling delicious breads and pastries, a book stall and a display of gates and fencing made from – guess what? Old pallets! Well, Ian shot off back to his car for the photos I’d taken of his chicken coop and play house and spent a happy time sharing pallet thoughts with the people on the stall. They were well impressed.
It was a lovely return visit and we’ll probably go again next year but we had to finish this day out with our usual crépe/galette feast at Guenrouet. Read more about the wonderful places within spitting distance from our gites on our gebied Pagina.