Over 70 people packed the Villages Hall, Bishampton to hear Christine Walkden’s fascinating, witty and amusing talk about her life and times, on Wednesday March 5.

Everyone was spellbound as Christine related the variety of jobs she had had as a modern day horticulturalist starting at the age of 10 when she eagerly volunteered to look after some embryonic plants for her school and was rewarded with three blooming specimens. From that point on she was hooked.

She told the audience that, unlike her parents who had no interest in gardening, she quickly developed a passion for growing things. Her first efforts involved taking up successive paving slabs in the back garden to experiment, from there moving to the very small front garden of her parents’ home, and then quickly working on no less than 53 neighbours’ plots in return for pocket money. She explained how she then discovered the whole new world of allotments, and had to get her mother to sign for her first plot from the council local as she was under age. Armed with a “loan” off garden tools from the local ironmonger and valuable tips from neighbouring allotment owners, she quickly turned a neglected allotment into a productive area and then went on to acquire another nine.

Christine related how she had never liked school and was struggled academically. Nevertheless she became very adept at keeping books on the sale of her produce, including the turnover and profits which she made, and this helped her acquire college places despite her lack of qualifications. Being so young and female in what was a very male-orientated field, she found it very challenging but her determination and passion helped her succeed in following the career path she had set her heart on.

Her first job was with a local parks and cemeteries department before going to the Lancashire College of Agriculture. Christine explained how she had not been readily accepted by the male team and had been set to work digging graves which they wrongly assumed would be too onerous for her. Instead she actually found it fascinating to discover the different layers of soil as she dug deeper, and the difference in soils at different cemeteries, prompting her to get a book on the subject to find out more about it. She eventually gained the respect of the men who worked with her through sheer hard work and stickability.

Following this she worked at two experimental horticultural stations, one in Warwickshire, where her first task was to grow 10,000 identical groundsel plants on which to test pesticides, and the other in Yorkshire, working with rhubarb and red beet to make them disease resistant. Christine described how she subsequently got a job at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, looking after the growing side of the seed physiology unit before moving to Dobies, Carter, Cuthbert and Dom Seedsmen in Llangollen as a Technical Advisor. One of the most valuable lessons she said she had learned from this was to listen to people. She then moved to the Rhondda Valley to set up a training workshop for the Manpower Services Commission, where she helped to transform the lives of previous offenders by getting them involved in horticulture.

Following a spell at Pershore and Writtle colleges, she became a lecturer in Horticulture at Capel Manor in Enfield. A move to the Baby Bio Company pbi came next where she was an Advisory Manager for the garden products division.

Christine related how she eventually decided to go freelance working as a plantswoman and horticulturist, lecturing nationally and internationally. Amongst numerous TV and radio appearances, she has presented BBC’s Gardeners World and two series on BBC 2 TV ‘Christine’s Garden’, writes books and articles and leads garden tours and field trips throughout the world. One of the highlights of her career she remembered was broadcasting from Buckingham Palace garden.

Her presentation was extremely well received by all and will be a talking point for some time to come as a lesson to all on how determination and passion can win the day.

The Club’s next event is the Spring Show on April 2 –for details and to download a programme please visit www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk. Hard copies available in the Bishampton Village Stores or by emailing info@bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk