LITHUANIAN HYACINTHS AT WATERBEACH
Open Days at Hyacinth National Collection Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire Saturday 31st March and Sunday 1st April 2007Between 11 am and 5 pm. This is a chance for those who missed previous opportunities to see Alan’s unique collection.
Long-standing British-Lithuanian Society member Alan Shipp is custodian of the UK National Collection of Hyacinths on his farm at Waterbeach, just to the north of Cambridge. Every year he has public Open Days during the week when the best display of blooms is anticipated.
Among the thousands of hyacinths to be seen at Waterbeach, there are around 50 ‘Lithuanian’ varieties. In March 1997, Dr Rita Raziulytė of the Floriculture Research Field Station in Vilnius, who also had a large collection of hyacinths, contacted Alan seeking technical information. Alan visited Rita in Vilnius and an exchange not only of information but plants was initiated. It turned out that in Vilnius there were many varieties thought lost and some that had never been seen in Western Europe. From those few plants Alan has developed others and he now has a good collection of these ‘Lithuanian’ rarities which he hopes to market in forthcoming years.
How to get there:
Drive via the M25/M11, or A1/A505/M11, turning off at Junction 14 onto the A14(E) heading for Newmarket then taking the second exit onto the A10 heading for Ely. 2 miles further on turn right into Waterbeach. Proceed through Waterbeach following Hyacinth arrows and road signs towards Bottisham Lock. After crossing the railway you will see the bulb field on your right.
Train service from Kings Cross to Kings Lynn, stopping en route at Waterbeach. From the railway station, go towards the village centre, then follow Hyacinth arrows and road signs towards Bottisham Lock. After crossing the railway you will see the bulb field on your right. For a visit to Ely and its Cathedral a further train can be taken.
For more information please contact Alan Shipp by e-mail on: alan.shipp@virgin.net,
or by telephone on: 01223 571 064; mobile: 07871 163 021.
Information was provided by British-Lithuanian Society
