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East Meets West

On Sunday 5th of July 2009 27 members of the East Midlands Koi Club made a return visit to the Birmingham & West Midlands Koi Society. Having previously had their club come over to our neck of the woods just the month before we knew we were going to have great time and be well looked after by these fantastic people, and they didn't disappoint.


East Midlands Koi ClubWe got up bright and early to catch the coach at 7:30am in Derby and then 8:15am in Burton. And guess what? the coach was early! Now you don't hear that very often.

Anyway we headed over to Brum and the first stop for breakfast, which was Tom and Janice Nicklin's. The first thing that hits you about this place is the magnificent view across the West Midlands, must be stunning at night with everywhere lit up.

The next thing you notice about this garden is the steepness of it, and as you climb you way down the garden to the very bottom you soon realise that Tom is nuts about his koi, having no less than 6 ponds in total.

Next up was Tony and Mandy Barker's. A very striking pond with some lovely planting and a nice waterfall. This was home to some very nice koi including some lovely Kohaku's and a very nice Yamabuki. One of our members taken with a particular plant around the pond asked 'what variety of plant is that?' only to be told 'Mind your own business', how rude! But that infact was the name of the plant. There was also a nice array of bonsai set around the pond and garden too.

Not long after being here the sun came out and we got a little dehydrated to refreshments were called for.

Next stop on the trip was Eric and Marlene Littlewoods. Now when you pull up at the front you are entering what appears to be a very normal house, but as you walk through the house and into the garden you soon realise that you are walking into something very special.

This garden which appears at first to be fairly small and amazingly well planted, is actually massive. It goes on and on and is almost three separate gardens in one. And with over 200 acers in the garden, covering some 133 different varieties, you just can't help fall in love with the place whether you are a keen gardener or not. Eric has also just rebuilt his pond and gone from liner to fibreglassed pond with bottom drain.

After wandering round this spectacular never ending garden for over an hour poor old Colins little legs couldn't take any more so he decided to have a lie down and do a spot of sunbathing instead.

 

 

The fourth pond that we visited belonged to Joyce and Robert Williams. The pond is set in beautiful landscaped gardens of approximately 1/3 acre which is part of the National Garden Scheme, so something very special. Although if you check out the pictures below you will see they have a problem with moles!

After checking out the pond and gardens it was time for a spot of lunch. This mean't for most of us some food, but for one it meant more liquid refreshments, no guessing who lol.

Pond number five saw us arrive at Chris and Shirley Penn's. Again another lovely garden with some stunning planting. This garden has a twist though, as they own the house next door and have removoed the fence to allow the two gardens to be used together as one. Once you step into the neighbouring garden you will see an avary containing some beautiful paraquetes (spelling?). Here you can see a pic of two which looked as if they had flames painted on their feathers, stunning.

True to form, Phil couldn't last the whole of an EMKC event without nodding off and took a quick nap as we made our way over to the final pond of the day.

Ok so the last pond on the trip, pond number 6, belonged to Terry and Anita Acton. Terry is a retired clock builder and the first thing you notice about Terry's build is the attention to detail and high quality of finish. Something of a perfectionist that comes with being a clcok builder I guess and Terry's enginerring skills were very apart when you saw the extravagent design to open the filter house. Since Terry retired he has now taken up Bonsai and appears to be doing very well in his new hobby too.

Well after a great day looking at some superb ponds and gardens we hoped back on the coach just before the rain came pouring down. We briefly had to stop off at the local Tesco's Express to pick up some more wine and beer (yes we ran out) before making our way over to the village hall where a fantastic selection of meals had been laid on for us by the good ladies of the Birminham and West Midlands Society. We really were spoilt for choice with a selection of curry, chilli, pies, potatoes and veg to choose from. There was plenty of food for all and most made their way up for second helpings before having pudding, greedy lot!

 

Next up we had a raffle, and Colin won and chose a hair clippers set. We were all speech as to what he would use them for until Mushio suggested he needed them for his back, sack and crack, what ever that meant.

Well we had a truly fantastic day, the weather was great, the company even better and as you can see for yourself the ponds and gardens were amongst the best you will see. A big thank you needs to go to the Birmingham and West Midlands Society for making us feel some welcome and looking after us so well. Also to Roger who spent the day on our coach guiding us round the area without any incident.

I cannot recommend highly enough to other clubs the Birmingham and West Mids, they certainly deserve the title of the UK's Second Best Koi Club (second only to our good selves). Thanks again guys and we look forward to meeting up again at the shows.

Darren Turner - EMKC & BKKS Member

Some more pictures of the day below: