December 2016

A small community orchard has been planted by the Village Association as part of the 'Groomsport in Bloom' initiative.  Three of the five trees planted are native Irish varieties that would once have been common throughout the island. Of the three, Irish Peach and Ross NonPariel are desert apples whilst the third variety - Ecklinville is a cooker. It is believed to have been first grown near Portaferry some time before 1800. Two 'John Dowie' crab apples have also been planted to assist pollination and to provide flowering interest. More details are here. The site is on HE land on 'The Hill'.

Chair of the 'Groomsport in Bloom' sub-committee, Roy McWhinney, said that, "We are delighted that in 2015 and again in 2016, Groomsport was awarded 2nd prize in the highly competitive 'Ulster in Bloom' competition. Planting the community orchard is one of the developments we hope will enable Groomsport to retain, or improve, its place in the competition".

Gary Hilliard ( NI Housing Executive), Alan Crawford (Groomsport Garden Nurseries) and Tim Stapleton (Hedged About) were involved in sourcing and planting the trees and gaining planting permission. Alan Crawford said that "There is an increasing interest in growing native varieties of apples".

As always, Groomsport Village Association are encouraging everyone to continue to improve the village, in as many different ways as possible.

Roy, Hollie, Summer and Ellis McWhinney presented Storehouse North Down with Christmas selection boxes and treats, on behalf of the members of Groomsport Village Association (GVA).

The committee hope that these treats will bring some Christmas cheer to children and families throughout North Down, who might have otherwise thought they were forgotten at this special time of year.

Storehouse North Down  serves those families and individuals throughout the North Down Area who are in need of support. It partners with over 40 churches and 35 different charities and agencies throughout Bangor & North Down. Through these partnerships, Storehouse forms connections with those people most genuinely in need - often through no fault of their own, who find themselves caught in cycles of poverty that seem impossible to break.

If you want to help Storehouse North Down and those most needy in North Down please see their website: www.storehousenorthdown.com or contact by telephone at 07526 541168.

Santa  arrived on Friday 2nd December 2016. Full details and pictures are available here.

Thursday 8th December 2016