"It was early spring of 1986 when a gentleman living in Houghton Conquest, Mid-Beds, visited the Royal Horticultural Society Show at Westminster. He was captivated by the exhibition put on by the Alpine Garden Society and sought permission to set up a group in the Bedfordshire area.

By October Jeff Watts had organised the inaugural meeting, which fourteen people attended. This was held at the Wilstead Garden Centre and a committee was elected. The first monthly meeting was held on the 4^th of December 1986, when our speaker was Michael Upward, the AGS Secretary. The Group continued to meet at the Garden Centre until March 1988, when it became obvious that more space was needed. It was then we moved to the village hall at Wilstead. A monthly newsletter has been issued since mid 1989."

-Taken from the Members' Handbook of the Alpine Garden Society Bedfordshire Group that was published in the early 1990's.

1986 seems a long time ago as we are fast approaching our twenty-fifth anniversary! The Group's membership has steadily increased and we now have around thirty members who rejoin annually and new faces visit us every year. We still meet on the first Monday of the month, excluding January, at the Wilstead Village Hall, which was rebuilt in the past few years and now has facilities to accommodate the hard of hearing. The newsletter continues to be sent out monthly and gives details of Group meetings, Society news, dates for your diaries and much more!

We invite a range of speakers to talk to us throughout the year, with past talks including: "Discover the Wild Side of the Altai Mountains", "A Room with a View", "Pakistan, Desoai: A Place of Flowers", "Unfinished Business: Thirty Years on Greensand", "Flower Hunting in Iran", "Alpines through an Artist's Eye" and many more. Once a year we have a Members' Evening, which has included plant sales, Gardeners' Questions, quizzes and members' slides. The Annual General Meeting is held in October, during which the committee is elected, annual reports are given and presentations take place.

Annual membership costs £6.50 for singles, £10.50 for joint membership and £2.00 for students and juniors. There is a monthly capitation fee of £2 and this includes refreshments of tea and biscuits. Visitor's fee is £3 every month. The meetings run from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Although we encourage our members to join the Alpine Garden Society, it is not necessary to do so in order to join our Group. Meetings also include a raffle, access to our extensive library, a professional nurseryman and a monthly plant and artistic competition.

Currently our committee consists of ten dedicated members who meet four times throughout the year; before and after the show in March and the Annual General Meeting in October. New volunteers are always welcome.

The highlight of our calendar is the annual show, which is also nearing its twenty-fifth year. This always proves to be a great success and is an excellent opportunity for our members to show off their growing prowess. We have national judges at our show and they often comment on the extremely high standard of exhibits on display.

Our members boast an extensive knowledge of all things alpine and are more than happy to share their, knowledge, experience and expertise with anyone who asks. We pride ourselves on the welcoming and friendly atmosphere that we create at the Alpine Garden Society Bedfordshire Group and we hope to see you in the near future! 

Show Rota: Please put your name down and volunteer. Help will also be required setting up on the Friday before the Show, from 7:30p.m and packing away afterwards. We would also appreciate donations of refreshments, raffle prizes and plants for the members' stall. Please remember to double label any plants; one with your initials and the price and one with the name of the plant. The stall will be run on a 50/50 basis.

	12p.m. - 2p.m.	2p.m. - 3p.m.	3p.m. - 4p.m.
Entrance and Raffle (Two People)	David and Liz Livermore
Kitchen
Members' Plants Stall	Tony Hale	Tony Hale	Tony Hale

• Stewarding - Elsie and Sue
• Recording Results - Peter and Sally

NOTICE BOARD:

6th February	Photos from the latest Cyclamen Show and the Alpine House at RHS Wisley are in the Members' Contributions section.
3rd February	The Show rota is now online on this page and on the Annual Show page. The February results of the Monthly Competition have been added to the running totals.
3rd February	The date of the next committee meeting is Thursday 25th February. If you have anything you would like to be discussed please let Elsie know, or get in touch through the website.
2nd February	Dates of two Orchid shows are in the Gardener's Diary
2nd February	A discussion thread about the AGS Bedfordshire Group is now active on the AGS website. To access it, go to the AGS website - Online Discussion - Local Groups - AGS Bedfordshire Group. All contributions are welcome.
2nd February	Details of the March meeting have been updated.
29th January	A new article by John Morris, 'Saxes - Which, Where and How to Grow Them', has been uploaded into Members' Contributions.
27th January	The first installment in John and Jean Morris' new series, 'Around the Benches at Kentish Croft', has been uploaded in the Members' Contributions section.
23rd Januray	The Photo Gallery has been emptied as part of the work to renovate the website. Look out for the first set of new photos following the AGS South Wales Show!
22nd January	Members' results from the 2009 Online Show have been posted on the AGS National Shows page.
	If any member of the AGS Bedfordshire Group would like to receive the newsletter via email rather than Royal Mail, please let us know.	Elsie and Robert

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