00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, something
00:06really special is coming up in Fishbourne. Lovely to speak to Simon Cox, organiser of the event. I'm
00:11one of the organisers of the event and church warden, and it's the Fishbourne Garden Party
00:162025. It's an add-on to the Fishbourne Literary Festival. And you were saying it's a celebration
00:22of Fishbourne, but it's also a celebration of summer Englishness. It's at Fishbourne Church
00:28and Hall, Saturday, August the 9th, 10am to 4pm. Simon, what's it all about? It sounds
00:34great. There's so much in this, isn't there? There is, and thank you for interviewing me,
00:40Phil. My pleasure. After the successful Literary Festival earlier in the year, we wanted to do
00:46something a little different, but in the same sort of spirit. Yeah. So we were looking for
00:54a sort of English church fate type thing, or a garden party, something to celebrate and enjoy.
01:02So we struck upon a theme of garden because we've just been rewilding our churchyard and enjoying the
01:11butterflies and the bees and the grasses, and the whole churchyard is just lovely now. And that got
01:22us thinking, well, what could we do with our church and our hall? Of course, we wanted a little bit of
01:31a literary side to it to tie in with the Literary Festival. And we have two guest speakers. We have
01:39Elizabeth Sorday from Appledram Roses, who has been growing roses and propagating for over 35 years and is
01:47pretty much an expert. And there's a free talk by her at 12 o'clock. And then at two o'clock, we have
01:56Mike Gilson, who wrote Behind the Privet Hedge, which is a witty, funny look at social and political
02:09history of suburban gardens. So that sort of ties in with Fishbourne, if you like.
02:14And ties in with your theme for this year.
02:20And then, of course, we've got the traditional garden fate with cream teas, homemade rolls,
02:28homemade cakes. We have a Pimm's bar. We have a tombola. And then to bring in other dimensions of
02:38the community, we have local artists who will be selling their works like jewellery and paintings
02:46and ceramics. We've even got an award-winning garden designer appearing, which is, again,
02:53the garden theme. Fishbourne Gardener's Club, which is a local, they'll be there to talk about
03:01their club and all the activities they do. And Fishbourne, of course, very famous for the
03:08Roman Palace. We'll also be there talking about historical gardens. So something for everybody,
03:14hopefully.
03:14It all sounds great fun. And I think he used the word just now, gentle, lovely, gentle fun for the summer.
03:20Hmm. And free.
03:23Yes. Free, but in a good cause too.
03:28Oh, yes. Well, we're hoping people will buy a glass of Pimm's and a roll and a cream tea and
03:34enter the tombola and buy some of the artist's work. And all the funds that we raise will go to
03:41renovating the 900-year-old Fishbourne Church. And that work has started, by the way. So the
03:49Literary Festival has been part of helping fundraise that over the years. And at last we've begun. So
03:55if you do go into the church, it's not a bombsite. It's a very carefully managed project of repairing
04:01some bad leaks and cracks in the church.
04:04Fantastic. Well, a lovely cause. So it's the Fishbourne Garden Party 2025, Saturday, August the 9th,
04:1110am to 4pm, Fishbourne Church and Hall. It sounds lovely, Simon. And as always,
04:17really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.
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