Cardiff Bonsai Club
Federation of British Bonsai Societies affiliated

 

 

We meet on the third Wednesday of every month

at Bethel Church Hall, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 2XH

at 7.30 pm

 

E-Mail: mail@cardiffbonsai.org.uk

Site last updated 31st Dec 2011

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Club Profile

 

 

History

The first attempt to start a club  in Cardiff was made by a Mr Colin Eyres in 1981. There is, in the club library a copy of a leaflet  on bonsai which was taken from a British Bonsai Association club booklet, with a sticker on it saying Cardiff Bonsai Society, Chairman Founder and Editor, C.Eyres, with the address 70 Coed Cochwyn, Llanishen, Cardiff. The club petered out, due to lack of support, but there was still a need for a club this side of the Bristol Channel.

The next attempt was made by Carl Terry and John Sanger, in association with the Majoes. Notices were posted in garden centres and put in the local newspapers, and the first meeting was held in the Beulah Church Hall, Rhiwbina in Sept 1989. 20 members were signed up. Dan Barton was invited to talk in Nov 1989, and there was almost immediately a membership list of 54 people, many of whom are still members. The club's instant success proves that there was a need.

There have been quite a few fluctuations to the fortunes of the club, based mainly on the number of members. Other clubs started in South Wales, and the membership was split, dropping the number of members in Cardiff to about 20, and making it more difficult to survive. In 1993 problems started to occur, because the regular monthly meeting place in the downstairs hall at Beulah was wanted by an aerobics class who met every week. As a result Mick & Barbara introduced us to the Bethel Church Hall in Whitchurch, and we have been pleased to meet there since June 93.

Fortunes and membership continue to fluctuate, but in the year 2000, Cardiff, together with Swansea, Brynglas and Glyderi Bonsai Clubs, Cardiff Bonsai Club hosted the Federation National Event at Margam Park. This was a huge undertaking that took over quite a few weekends as club members worked together making the stands for the major display in the Orangery. It was a great opportunity, and we are grateful to Margam Park for offering such magnificent facilities.

                  

Every year we have managed to have at least one well known bonsai person to demonstrate, interspersed with other talks and demonstrations, workshops, slide shows, and a wide range of bonsai related subjects, aimed at both beginners and those with more knowledge.

We aim to have one show every every, which recently we have been holding at Dyffryn Gardens in the Vale of Glamorgan.  This is a superb venue for an exhibition, and it gives club members the opportunity to display their trees once a year, and to enjoy a weekend together in these wonderful surroundings. We also hope it will attract other bonsai enthusiasts, or beginners who would like contact with other like-minded people.

 

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Meeting Place

We meet at Bethel Church Hall, Whitchurch. This is near the junction of Church Rd, Old Church Rd, Penlline Rd and Merthyr Rd, noted for the Plough Inn. There is a public car park adjacent to the hall. 

CF14 2XH

The hall is set back from the main road, If you manage to find the public car park, the hall will be obvious. There is a gate to the hall directly from the car park.

If you are travelling from the M4, you go off at junction 32, and follow the signs for Whitchurch, which is the exit after the A470 South. You keep straight on this road and turn left into the car park at Whitchurch. If you get to the traffic lights with the Plough pub on the corner, you have just missed the car park.

Route from M4

Link to street map (Detail map of area)

Map of whole area (even shows where Cardiff is!)

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Programme

 2012 Programme

JANUARY 18th

Bring & Buy & Quiz

FEBRUARY 15th

David Jones of Walsall Studio Pottery - talk & pots to buy

MARCH 21st

Re-potting workshop

APRIL 18th

Pot making with Barry Aitkin of LlanoverHall

MAY 16th

Workshop & Show preparation

JUNE 20th

Walk in Bute Park with Malcolm Frazier to see specimen trees

JULY 18th

Bonsai Clinic

AUGUST 15th

Workshop

SEPTEMBER 19th

Demo by Andrew

OCTOBER 17th

John Trott of Mendip Bonsai

NOVEMBER 21st

Glaze pots created in April

DECEMBER 19th

AGM & social evening

 

 

 

 

Special Events

3rd, 4th & 5th June 2012 Cardiff Bonsai Club Show at Dyffryn Gardens
26th &27th Aug 2012 Bonsai in Wales at Tredegar House, Newport
   
   
   

Anyone is welcome to come along for any event or club evening, without prior notification.

Currently the cost of attending a normal club evening is £1 for members, and £2 for non-members.

Please note that there may by changes to the published club program. 

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Shows

2012 

BONSAI in WALES at Tredegar House, Newport, 26th & 27th Aug 2012

Check out the website www.bonsaiwales.org.uk

This show will be a showcase of Welsh bonsai and also include examples of some of the best bonsai in the UK

A show of this quality comes to Wales once every 10 years, don't miss this one, put on by an organizing group in Wales,

and supported by Fobbs, the Federation of British Bonsai Societies.

 

2012 Cardiff BONSAI Club Show - 3rd, 4th & 5th June at Dyffryn Gardens

3rd, 4th & 5th June at Dyffryn Gardens

St Nicholas

10 am - 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday 

In the marquee as usual

We hope to welcome all our usual visitors and many more as well.

 

 

Spend some time in a piece of horticultural history, an enchanting grade 1 Edwardian garden set in the heart of the countryside, yet just minutes from Cardiff, and see the site of the earliest bonsai collection in Britain outside London. See some of the best trees in South Wales, on display in this magnificent setting, and enjoy a weekend in Wales, at this important bonsai event, hosted by Cardiff Bonsai Club

Directions:

Exit Junction 33 from the M4 on to the A4232 (signposted Barry). Exit first slip-road, signposted Barry onto the Culverhouse Cross Roundabout. Take the 4th Exit A48 (signposted Cowbridge). In St. Nicholas village turn left – Dyffryn Gardens is on your right approx. 1.5 miles down the lane.

Admission charges:

Normal Dyffryn Gardens charges apply, no extra charge for Bonsai

Adult   

Family (2 Adults & 2 concessions)   

OAPs/Children/Students   

Disabled   

Under 4/Carers  Free

For more information telephone 02920 593328

URL http://www.dyffryngardens.org.uk

Photographs of our club shows are added to the gallery, and can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.  

 

 

 

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Library 

 

BOOKS
Adams Peter    Deciduous & Coniferous 
Adams Peter  Flowering Bonsai
Adams Peter Successful Bonsai Shaping
Ainsworth John  The Art of Indoor Bonsai
Barton Dan  The Bonsai Book
Busch Werner  Bonsai From Native Trees 
Chan Peter The Art of Growing & Keeping Miniature Trees 
Chan Peter  Complete Book of Bonsai
Chan Peter A Guide to Bonsai
Constable John Landscapes In Miniature
Crespi Luigi Bonsai, A Comprehensive Reference 
Kawasumi Masakuni  Introductory Bonsai 
Kennedy Alex Floral Treasures of Japan
Koreshoff Deborah Bonsai, Art & Science 
Kimura  The Bonsai Art of Kimura
Lewis Colin  Step by Step Bonsai
Lewis Colin  Bonsai Survival Manual
Murata Kenji Practical Bonsai for Beginners
Naka John  Bonsai Techniques 1
Naka John Bonsai Techniques 2
Norman Ken The Essential Bonsai 
Ortho Books Creating Japanese Gardens 
Owen Gordon  The Bonsai Identifier
Pessey Christian Introducing Bonsai
Pike Dave Bonsai Step by Step
Resnick Susan Bonsai
Richie Donald   Essentials of Bonsai
Rivera Felix          Suiseki
Samson & Davies Suiseki Views
Seike & Kudo Japanese Touch for Your Garden
Sunset  Bonsai Culture & Care
Tomlinson Harry  Complete Book of Bonsai
Vertrees JD Japanese Maples 
Webber Len Bonsai for the House & Garden
MAGAZINES
Bonsai Today - from Issue No 1
Bonsai from No 35
World of Bonsai
The Art of Bonsai
Bonsai Clubs International
SMALL BOOKS & PAMPHLETS
Busch Werner Garden Guide Bonsai
Bromage Dennis   Create Your Own Bonsai 
Eyres Colin Cardiff Bonsai Society 1981
Florida Bonsai Florida Club
FOBBS Handbook 1994
Hughes K & M   Bonsai for Garden & Home
Kennedy Alex  What are Satsuki
Lesniewicz & Kato Practical Bonsai 81
Lesniewicz Paul Indoor Bonsai
Lewis Colin Practical Bonsai
MacDonald  Encyclopaedia of Trees 
Nat Bonsai Soc   Bonsai - The Why and  How 
Press Bob  Field Guide to Trees
Rogers Alan  Bonsai (Wisley Handbook)
Southworth John Bonsai DIY
Swinton Anne  Garden Guide Bonsai
Yoshimura Yuji Modern Bonsai (History)
Yoshimura Yuji  Air Layering 
Yoshimura Yuji    Is It Art? 
VIDEOS/Now converted to DVD
Beautiful Trees – Paul Goff
Bonsai Design – Forest Style
Cement Fondu – Rockmaking
Container Choices
Design & Styling
Enjoying Bonsai - Keith Howard
Ezomatsu – Spruce Forest 
Goyamatsu – White Pine
Indoor Bonsai – C Dalampira
Introducing Bonsai - Simon Bundred
Keepers of the Art
Kuromatsu – Black Pine
RHS – Bonsai
Repotting
The Magic of Naka
Westonbirt Arboretum – R Lancaster
White Pines – Dan Barton
Wiring – Kobayashi
The Growing Art Of Bonsai

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Membership Details

The cost of membership is £15 per person or £20 per couple. There is an additional  charge per club meeting of £1, and £2 for non-members, which includes tea or coffee and biscuits. There is a club newsletter, and members are informed about bonsai events and other bonsai matters, including cultural advice. If you want to become a member contact any committee member listed in the contacts, or send an E mail: 

 

 

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Trees

Click on the photo to enter our Gallery

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Links

If any of these links don't work, please excuse us, we will check every now and again. and we would appreciate an E-mail to let us know. 

FOBBS (Federation of British Bonsai Societies)

BTA Bonsai Traders Association

BCI (Bonsai Clubs International)

BCI Calendar of Events

Bonsai in Wales  -  New link

Craig Coussins

Suiseki

Talkbonsai

Royal Horticultural Society

The Bonsai Guide

Artistic Bonsai Circle

Bonsai in Europe

Dragon Bonsai Society

Glynderi Bonsai Society

 

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Contacts

 

Chairman - Peter 02920 707605 & Emerson 01874 754462

Secretary - Anne 02920 484892

Treasurer - David

E-Mail: mail@cardiffbonsai.org.uk

 

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