Old Rectory, Bolnhurst,Bedford, MK44 2ES
Email:admin@stableschristiancentre.co.uk
Tel:01234-376237
Reg Charity No.327398
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Our 2024 season is now well under way and we have had amazing support from new and established customers. We continue throughout the summer and autumn, opening on the first Saturday in the month until October, between 2 and 4.30 pm.
Whether you are an old friend or a new customer, you can
look forward to a warm welcome.
Remember to save the dates in your diary and we hope to see you then
for our usual range of delicious cakes and drinks.
Click here for all Coffee Shop dates in 2024.
News Article
The Centre and the work featured in a Bedordshire Life magazine article. Click here to read
Our shop is open during Centre opening hours (most Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.30 and 3.30) or at other times if you phone beforehand to arrange. Please browse (and purchase!) our range of preserves,herbs and craft items. Some details have changed, so please ensure that you refresh the page you are viewing to get the most up-to-date information. If you are coming from a distance, just ring us to make sure.
Activities News
2024 April-June
Despite it being slow to warm up, this was the
beginning of our busy season in the garden and plant departments.
Hoses
were repaired or replaced ready for when it stops raining!
Cuttings were taken from established plants as quite a
few cannot be easily grown from seed.
These are anxiously checked week by week for signs of root
growth.
Another batch of sunflowers were sown by the Tuesday
team.
Logs were cleared from the fallen trees and brought
back to base on the trailer.
Meanwhile indoors team members were proud of their achievements in cat toy making, flower pressing
– and cooking muffins!
2024 February-March
The winter storms brought down several trees, and the post for our hanging sign – the latter was reconstructed by some friendly volunteers.
Aconite and snowdrop sales continued and the teams dug
these out from the woods for potting up.
And of course pancakes were made, tossed (with varied
success!) – and eaten!
2023 December - 2024 January
Our Christmas sale was held on a day of freezing fog so we were very grateful to our many customers who ventured out to support us and spend their money. Thanks too to the volunteers who help to run it – and especially to longstanding volunteer John who so faithfully carries out welcome and car parking duty whatever the weather!
The Tuesday team had some fun designing their own photo frames to take home for Christmas – just the right size to hold the photos of the sunflowers they had each grown in the summer.
In January it was time to dig up aconites and snowdrops
– here are some of the team potting up a batch for sale.
Back in the warm a kitchen group were busy packaging
and labelling up another batch of preserves to restock the shelves.
And a craft group enjoyed trying out a new gadget
kindly donated to the charity – and proudly displaying the result!
2023 October - November
Autumn brought with it many outdoor jobs of clearing
and raking. Trees in the
apple orchard were all pruned hard and
th resulting branches chopped and cleared for bonfires.
After our final coffee shop of the season in October
the kitchen and craft departments got busy making gifts for our own
and other Christmas sales, stocking up on cat toys, lavender goods,
felted scarves as well as preserves selections.
In November we said farewell to Peter who has moved to
Rutland. We gave him a
memento of the many activities he has been involved in over his time
at the Stables, and wished him well in his new endeavours.
2023 August - September
A very exciting day was spent in August when Dudley,
one of our trustees and also a scientist, brought in some laboratory
equipment, and each group had the opportunity to discover the world
of tiny creatures hiding in our woodpiles and gardens.
First they went bug hunting and collected their
samples.
Then they came indoors and learned how to process
these, examining them with magnifying glasses and through the
microscopes.
It was a whole lot of fun and we were very grateful to
Dudley for giving up a whole day to join us.
(We think he enjoyed it too!)
There was also time to process an urgent order for five bags which were taken out to South Africa as gifts by one of our staff. Here are the team proudly displaying their work in making these.
2023 June - July
A very busy time was had harvesting and processing
catnip, lavender, daisies and strawberries.
The fruit cages were netted to keep the birds from the
ripening currants, and the leaf mould containers rebuilt.
The herbs and wild flowers were potted up and cared
for. This included
regularly immersing them in water during the hotter weeks.
A less exciting but necessary job is the monthly extra
kitchen cleaning – but many hands make light work as the teams get
stuck in.
There was still time for the sunflower competition –
much enjoyed by everyone.
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