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Mortimer Fun Day Back for 2025

After a seven-year hiatus, the ever-popular Mortimer Fun Day will return on Saturday 05 July. 

The event will be held on Mortimer Fairground and will be hosted by Mortimer Village Partnership (MVP) and Mortimer Music Live (MML). 

For those new to the village, this event has been a beloved tradition for over a decade.  During the day, entrance will be free of charge to all.  Any help you can give in running this event would be really appreciated,  follow this link:  Click to View Volunteer Opportunities on SignUp

 

Image of a dinosaur for the Mortimer Funday activities

 

You can expect exciting arena acts including a walkabout dinosaur and a thrilling parkour demonstration (see below) alongside local dance, singing and acrobatic groups.  

Classic summer fete activities including coconut shies and welly-wanging will also be happening! Local clubs and societies will be running these activities, giving them a chance to fundraise while connecting with the wider community. And, of course, no Fun Day would be complete without a Beer Tent, offering local beers and a selection of refreshing summer drinks.   

@pedal V Parkour' arena act to perform at Mortimer Fun Day 2025

The schedule of arena events for the afternoon will be roughly as follows:

12.00   EDCDance (Mortimer school children)

12.30   Bezerkaz Circus

13.00   All Stars Theatre Academy

13.30  Dino invasion

14.00  Pedal Power v Parkour + BMX

14.45  Stagecoach Burghfield Common

15.20  3-7 year old Fancy dress parade with prizes ('Heroes & Everyday Heroes')

15.30  Dinosaur Invasion

15.55  Raffle Draw

16.00  Pedal Power v Parkour + BMX

16.40 Ta Da's

In the evening, the fun continues with a special ticketed music event brought to the village by MML. 

 

 

Mortimer Gardening Club - What to do in the Garden in April

April is the busiest time in the garden, but don’t panic, take things one step at a time and you’ll get it all done. It’s important to take a few moments to sit in the sun, listen to the birds, and admire any colour you have in the garden. Make a note of any gaps in your spring planting to order any bulbs in the autumn for next year.

Start to direct sow hardy annuals, eg marigolds, poppies, dill, cerinthe, nigella, etc.

Harden off seedlings that have been started off indoors on warm still days. Place them outside during the day, but take them in again late afternoon, and do this for about a week or so. This way they will get used to the cooler conditions before being planted outside. Start planting out half-hardies, eg cosmos, in sheltered spots at end of the month.

Sow perennials – these could include hollyhocks, delphiniums, Linaria purpurea 'Canon Went' and echinaceas. Fill a seed tray with peat-free compost and dampen with water. Sow seeds spaced at least an inch apart in a grid across the compost surface. Then scatter (or sieve) a fine covering of compost over the seeds. You don't need to water again immediately. Place in a light, cool spot, eg a window ledge or, if you have one, in a propagator in a cold frame, greenhouse or polytunnel with basal heat.

Later in the month, thin out hardy annuals sown in drifts or rows to allow plants to reach optimum size.

Pot cuttings of tender perennials, eg pelargoniums, arctotis, verbenas, penstemons and argyranthemums, taken late last summer or autumn. They'll be well rooted now and will benefit from some fresh compost and more space for root formation before planting in their summer position.

Plant out sweet peas – two plants to each upright. Dig a good, deep hole and fill the base with farmyard manure. Tie them in to the base of the arch or frame and water them in well.

Create new plants from last year’s pelargoniums – take cuttings now and they’ll be ready to be replanted in a couple of months and be in full flower in four.

If you have bought dahlia tubers, now is the time to get them potted up. Follow  instructions carefully and you will have wonderful flowers to cut all through the summer months.  Finish planting summer-flowering bulbs.

Please join us for our next meeting on 24th April.  John Negus talk on ‘Summers Bounty’.