Garden and pool open for charity

The former owner of Manor Nurseries in Angmering has organised a family fun day and summer craft market to raise money for St Barnabas House hospice.

Her husband, Robert, received visits from the hospice’s community nurses before he died of bowel cancer in 2015.

Anne, 79, said: “I took a bit of interest in St Barnabas and kept in touch. I had some counselling there later on, which was very good, and I thought it would be a nice local charity to support.”

The Honey Lane Family Fun Day is on Sunday, July 16, from 11am to 5pm at Tree House, Honey Lane, Angmering. Entrance is £2.50 for adults, £1 for children, under-fives free.

There will be a barbecue, cakes and refreshments, craft stalls, a tombola, children’s games and a bouncy slide.

The indoor swimming pool will be open for the day and there will be an opportunity to see and hold birds with Owls Out and About.

Blue Dawg Entertainments will be running a photo booth with movie characters including Belle from Disney film Beauty and the Beast and Darth Vader from Star Wars.

Anne has been a horticulturalist for most of her life, as was her husband. They previously owned two local nurseries and a garden centre.

Anne is very proud of her beautiful garden, which is more than 40 years old and boasts a number of special trees, including a giant redwood and gingko maidenhair tree.

Robert had bowel cancer for five years and most of the time, he went up to London for treatment.

“The last time we went up they wanted to do an operation and put stints in around the obstruction,” explained Anne.

“He had the operation, which wasn’t successful, so they did another operation that wasn’t successful.

“He was in there for over a week and then he came home and had another fortnight before he died in Worthing Hospital. He was desperate to come home but I really wanted him to go into St Barnabas.

“The St Barnabas nurses were seeing him and he was going to come home on the Monday but unfortunately he died on the Sunday, so he never made it.”

The family owns Fresh Acres Nurseries in Walberton and Manor Nursery in Runcton. Anne still works three days a week, as her son, who was running the business, had a stroke.

She said: “It’s quite a lot for me really but I’ve managed. In a way, I quite enjoy it because I’ve always loved the nursery. My father started it.”