February typically marks the end of winter, and leads us towards spring. This transition from the snow and cold of winter into the new shoots of growth in spring is something which is reflected in a wide variety of material held at the archives.
William John Bankes was as aware as anyone about the transitional nature of the month. He designed a series of 12 door panels representing each month of the year to sit in the Spanish Room at Kingston Lacy. Whilst the winter months are less detailed, the panel for February blends snowdrops, lovebirds, and a reference to Valentine’s Day with images of children throwing snowballs and a snow-laden pine tree. You can find out more about the panel on the Bankes Project website.
Trees, as well as flowers and plants are always a good way of showing the change of season. In the collection of material relating to Stewarts Garden Centre of Ferndown there is a wide range of material of catalogue’s for the spring months, as well as offering a ‘special spring discount’. This particular example shows the roses recommended for spring planting in 1954 (D-STW/A/6/1/127), and features some wonderfully named plants, including ‘Speks Yellow‘ (Deep colour. Long stems and buds); ‘The Doctor‘ (Stain pink; a large and very fragrant flower); and ‘Zephyrin Drouhin‘ (Silvery pink. Very early and long flowering. Thornless, delightful as a hedge.) In the collection there are over 250 catalogues for different times of the year showing the changes in seasons as well as taste over the course of the 20th Century.
Of course, it’s not just plants who awaken from winter around this time of year, animals are also re-emerging after the long periods of cold. In a diary kept by Lilian Mary Garneys Bond in 1907 there is an enclosed list of species she was able to observe in the spring of that year (D-2624/D/3). This includes animals such as butterflies, moths, thrushes and house martins; as well as the leaves of various trees and plants.
Besides this list of flora and fauna, Lilian’s diary is pretty interesting too. On Shrove Tuesday on 12 February, Lilian wrote
C. and I called for Mr and the Misses Clarke [in] the morning and went to the Rifle Club practice. M. joined us there. M. drove with Mrs Bianeard [in] the afternoon and C. and I went to the Palace to watch the crowd from the Verandah. Found Mrs and Miss Hall there. Mr Sloggett dined here and went to the dance at the Casino Maltese with us.
Fine – one or two heavy showers. Warm.
If you aren’t able to visit the palace and dance at the Casino Maltese though, spring typically means one more thing… cleaning.
In these letters from 1953, St. Mary’s Church, Puddletown is in need of a good old spring-clean, and two local companies (Arthur Parsons and Sons; and S.E. Payne – both of Puddletown) quoted to clean the whole church – including the windows (PE/PUD/PCC/5/8). We don’t know if S.E. Payne being £10 cheaper than Parsons and Sons won them the job, but there is a rather enigmatic note in the file from the Secretary of Puddletown Parochial Church Council noting:
“Do you wish to answer Parsons’ letter, or shall I?”
Spring is, indeed, the time of new beginnings, cleaning out the old, and starting afresh; and if you wish to see some of these documents, and more, they are in our February display. Of course, if you want to know more about any of the collections, please get in touch with us.