Almost forgot ......

We won another award for The Old Rectory Gardens.

Once again we entered The Colchester in Bloom competition, last year (2012) you may recall we won a Special Contribution award so our aim this time was to try and go 'one better'.

I'm pleased to say that that's exactly what we did!

In our section of Residential Homes we achieved Second Place with a Highly Commended Award.

Two awards in three years makes it all worthwhile.

2014 is the year we try to achieve the Number 1 spot.

A BIG thank you to all residents, their families and friends and all staff for their words of encouragement and support.

The Colchester in Bloom 2013 'Highly Commended' Award for The Old Rectory

A few pictures of The Old Rectory 2013

April 2013

July 2013

July 2013

Standard Rose to remember our friend and colleague

 Helen Scott

The Colchester Band during the 200th Birthday Garden Party

200 Years Birthday Celebration at The Old Rectory

What a Great Day!

Saturday 29th June 2013 will be recorded as probably one of the best celebrated days in the history of The Old Rectory. The weather was terrific with bright sunshine and warm temperatures enabling this lovely old building to be shown in all her glory.

The morning began with a Service of Thanksgiving provided by the Reverend Teresa Wynne of St Leonard's Church, Lexden. Assisted by the Church choir this set the day off perfectly with our residents, families and guests gently assembling. The theme for the day was Edwardian and many guests and residents wore beautiful bonnets and dresses befitting the period.

The Reverend Teresa Wynne

The Old Rectory Manager Mrs McDonald welcomed everybody giving a special warm welcome to our 'Guest of Honour' Mrs Denise Sanford and her daughter Clare. As descendants of one of the original owner and occupiers of The Old Rectory (then known as Glebe House) Denise was able to make available some remarkable photographs of the house taken around the time of the turn of the 18th century into the First World War period. 

Denise's Great Grandfather Col. Henry Corse-Scott and his wife Emily and their two daughters occupied the house until it was eventually sold in 1946. In addition to the photographs Mrs Corse-Scott and her daughter Kitty were accomplished water-colour artists and together they painted some beautiful scenes of the house gardens which have been safely preserved by the family. With Denise Sanford's permission the photographs and paintings have all been included in a book produced by The Old Rectory covering the history of the building and its occupants.

Water colour painting by Kitty Corse-Scott

The Old Rectory's oldest resident Ivy unveiled the special commemorative plaque to mark the occasion which was loudly toasted with glasses of Champagne.

Food for the event was expertly prepared by The Old Rectory kitchen staff with the highlight being the strawberry cream scones which, not surprisingly, went very quickly!

The Colchester Band arrived for the afternoon and gave a superb polished performance. Feet were tapping and sporadic pockets of dancing broke out as everybody enjoyed the glorious occasion. The Old Rectory staff carers and domestics pulled out 'all the stops' to ensure that everybody was included (they worked so hard).

By mid-afternoon there was a break for a round of 'Happy Birthday' for the house and a release of balloons by children and residents, and then the band continued until the 'close of play'

The Colchester Band

Bi-Centennial Birthday Celebration date announced

The Old Rectory has been undergoing a major re-decoration inside and out. It's all being done in preparation for the Bi-Centennial Birthday celebration which I can now announce will be held on Saturday 29th June 2013.

The building certainly needed repainting on the outside and now looks really smart. The interior has had a makeover too, very much befitting it's noble past.

The gardens have not been neglected, new colourful shrubs have been planted and surrounded with a security netting to protect them. These should provide colour to the garden throughout the winter too.

Anti-Rabbit security netting for new shrubs

Bedding plants comprising of Marigolds, Salvias, Geraniums and Lobelia have been planted in the 'old' fountain. Seven new standard roses have also been planted. Some have not taken as well as expected despite good watering and feed. It may be that they will recover ready for next year which is a shame but, four out of the seven are growing nicely and should produce some wonderful English rose flowers.

One of the newly planted standard roses

Campanula's have been planted in one of the lawn beds. I believe it's a plant that rabbits don't like the taste of but having said that they have been having a 'nibble' but most of them remain untouched. If  the plants get the chance to develop and grow then they will self seed and become a regular feature.

The Birthday Celebration day is going to be an all day event and will have an Edwardian theme. Guests have been invited to join the residents and staff who will be entertained by a Church Choir and a Brass Band. There will be strawberries and cream available along with cucumber sandwiches, all very English! It should be a fantastic day with some surprises, we all have our fingers crossed for good weather.

It's been a while since I last posted but planning for the Old Rectory 200th Birthday celebrations are well under way.

No date has been set as yet but lots of ideas for the day have been put forward including an historical theme.

Update coming soon.

The Old Rectory July 202

    

The Old Rectory November 2012

The Old Rectory To Celebrate 200yrs

The Old Rectory will be celebrating its 200th birthday in 2013.

My history and geneology team have begun researching The Old Rectory's history from 1813 through to the present day. We hope to discover (and record) previous occupants along with any photographs which may have survived the long passage of time. It's an exciting journey and has already revealed some interesting facts from the past two centuries (wow). We hope to produce a booklet so that the story can be preserved for the future.

Eventually the results, and possibly some historic photos, will be published in this blog but not until all research is complete.

If you know of any previous occupants, have or know a story involving The Old Rectory's history or have any old photographs either inside or out which we could re-produce then that would be really useful for our research. 

You can leave a comment to that effect or you can contact me via The Old Rectory main office on +0044 (0)1206 572871

The Old Rectory 2012

Colchester in Bloom Competition 2012

Back in May it was decided that we ought to enter the gardens into the respected local Colchester in Bloom competition. I felt confident back then that we had a slim chance of  an award and so I made that my target and set about working the garden towards Judging Day on 10th July.

I knew that the rabbits would probably destroy my work and to some extent that did happen. But to overcome the problem Plan B kicked in and I started work at 5:00am on judging day planting out what plants I had left in the hope they would remain untouched until at least the judges had finished their visit.

The pictures below show how the garden was presented. It wasn't as stunning as I wanted it to be, the wet spring had also played a part but at least I had some colour. Within 24hours all the plants that you can see (except those in the round brick 'fountain') were eaten. We lost over £100 worth of plants to our furry friends - I was gutted.

However to end on a happy note,I was invited to attend the award ceremony for The Colchester in Bloom Competition on Sunday 9th September at The Visual Arts Facility in the town centre. I’m pleased to say that although we didn’t win the category outright we were presented with a Special Contribution Award acknowledging the work and effort within the garden. I accepted the award (which was presented by the Mayor of Colchester Mr Christopher Arnold) on behalf of our care home and I shall have it framed for display within the Old Rectory.

It would be right for me to thank my managers past and present for their support and encouragement the award is also for them.

Now I'm looking forward to next years competition, the planning has started :) 

The Old Rectory Colchester in Bloom 2012 Award