The Thurston and Ixworth Flyer April 2023 edition
Welcome to the April 2023 edition of The Thurston and Ixworth Flyer. In this April edition of the Thurston and Ixworth Flyer we have news and updates from local clubs and community news.
The Orchids of Holy Island
There is to be a major exhibition of paintings by Reinhild Raistrick SBA Fellow at the Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds
on 29th April to 4th May 2023.
Part of the exhibition will feature the rare and special orchids growing on this unique island off the coast of Northumberland. It is
accessible at low tide via a causeway. Over the past five years Reinhild has been involved in painting and recording all the known ten species.
She has worked under the guidance of the Warden of this National Nature Reserve. Working in situ she was able to illustrate each rare plant
growing in its own environment. The flowering time of these unique plants varies from May through to the end of July. Hence the long time
taken to complete the set. However each year meant another welcome stay on this very beautiful and iconic island.
One of the orchids Epipactis sancta is endemic to Holy Island and grows no where else, which makes it a very rare plant. After the exhibition the paintings
will be housed in the permanent archive collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Reinhild is a Botanical Artist and runs courses in Botanical Painting at Cambridge Botanic Gardens. The exhibition will also feature some of her other current work. These together with Orchid Prints will be for sale.
Bury WI
Our speaker for March was Roger Pugh, whose talk was intriguingly entitled ‘The most secret place on earth’. This turned out to be nearer home than we thought, as Roger told us the story of the world’s first tanks, developed during the First World War, and tested and trained at Elveden Suffolk. Twenty five square miles of Lord Iveagh’s estate were transformed into a replica Western front battle field for this revolutionary new weapon ,in what was then the most important military installation in the world.
Using slides, Rodger gave us an insight into these machines and the conditions endured by the young men who operated them. Next month will be Easter themed, with craft and an Easter bonnet/hat competition. Isabel Glasscock Bury W.I.
C