Pershore College Wins Gold at Hampton Flower Show!

Pershore College have won a gold medal and Best Exhibit in the Plant Heritage Marquee at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.  To read more about it go to:

http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/news_releases/latest_news/_Gold_Win_at_Hampton_Show.htm

 

Banksy Exhibition at Bristol City Museum

 

The elusive graffiti artist Banksy has produced his largest show to date, featuring more than 100 previously unseen artworks. Unveiled by Bristol City Museum, the exhibition – Banksy versus Bristol Museum – was kept secret from council bosses and was installed in the council-run museum amid great secrecy. Banksy was previously sought for vandalism by the police and council in his home city of Bristol. He said: ‘This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off.’

Banksy claims that he has to maintain his anonymity for “legal” reasons. In the press release accompanying the exhibition, he said: “Maybe one day graffiti art will hang in lots of museums and be viewed in the same way as other modern art, although personally I hope it never sinks that low.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/jun/12/banksy-bristol-art-exhibition?picture=348798024

The exhibition runs until August 31st 2009, open daily 10am- 5pm; admission free.

For more information, visit www.bristol.gov.uk/museums

posted by Sophie

Display at Pershore to Celebrate Darwin Bicentenary

In recognition of the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth a display has been set-up at Pershore LRC to celebrate his life and achievements.  It focuses on two main areas: his voyage on HMS Beagle (1831 – 36) as a ‘gentleman naturalist’ and his life at Down House, Kent (1842- 82).  The significance of Darwin’s experience on the Beagle in developing his ideas of evolution by natural selection is well documented.  It was not until over two decades after the Beagle voyage, however, that the first edition of On the Origins of Species was published in 1859. What is less well known is the experimental work he conducted in the gardens and grounds at Down House.  This included trials on hybridising primroses and the pollination of orcids as well as observations on the variation in commonplace nature such as hedge parsley.  Whilst at Down House Darwin carried out an extensive corrospondence with many of the leading natural scientists of his time and such luminaries as Joseph Hooker (Director at Kew) and the geologist Charles Lyell, were frequent visitors.  Recent biographies, like Michael Boulter’s Darwin’s Garden (2008), have stressed the importance of Darwin’s work at Down to the development of mature scientific thinking.

     Darwin (paper in hand), Hooker and Lyell in the study at Down House

 

                                Conrad Martens’ painting of HMS Beagle

Books on Darwin at Pershore LRC

The following books are a selection of those on Darwin available at Pershore LRC: 

Darwin – A Life in Science (1995) by John Gribbin and Michael White –  This biography explores Darwins work as a scientist and traces the development of his ideas of evolution by natural selection.  His achievements are placed in the context of a man plauged by illness and personal tragedy.

 

Darwin’s Sacred Cause (2009) by adrian Desmond and James Moore – In this radical reinterpretation of the significance of Darwin’s work his commitment to abolition of Slavery, the ‘Sacred Cause’, is viewed as not as a moral stance but supported by his evolutionary theory.  Leading apologists for slavery had argued that different races ariginated as seperate species but Darwin rejected such spurious assertions by stressing the essential unity of all life. 

Darwin’s Gardem (2008) by Michael Boulter – A book that examines the importance of the botanising and experimental work that Darwin did whilst living at Darwin House to his scientific theories.

 

 

Evolution – second edition - (1999) by Colin Patterson – An introductory text on modern evolutionary theory written for the non-specialist.  Clear, concise and well illustrated.

 

Pershore College Open Day

 

 

 

6th June   10am – 5pm

Lots of activities and demonstrations for the whole family to enjoy including:
Produce and plant sales, public dog show, horticultural demonstrations, dog agility, classic car displays, fun children’s activities, Gardeners’ Question Time, Birds of Prey demonstrations, tractor and trailer rides, laser clay shooting, floristry demonstrations, employers and networking area and much more!

Refreshments are available.

Tickets are £5 per car or £2 per person

 

www.warkscol.ac.uk/pershore 

 Posted by Alison

Free English Classes

Do you know anyone for whom English is not a first language who might be interested in free English classes? 

The classes start next Monday and will be held every afternoon (except Friday) 1.30-3.30pm for the next five weeks.

Classes are taught by trainee teachers under the supervision of an experienced tutor and are at two levels Elementary (Entry 1-2) and Upper Intermediate (Entry 3 / Level 1).

If you know anyone who might be interested they should telephone 01926 884211, email jmeakin@warkscol.ac.uk or pop into the languages department (RLS).

posted by Sophie

Bronze medal for Warwickshire College at Chelsea

Warwickshire College staff, Tony Davy from Pershore and Mike Roberts from Morton Morrell, have designed an award winning garden at Chelsea this year.

Go to www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/shows/chelsea2009/courtyard/warwickshirecollege.asp  to read more

Congratulations to Lorna!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Lorna- the librarian at the Leamington LRC- who is today celebrating having worked in the LRC for 20 years to the day!

posted by Sophie

So what do you think of the new LRC intranet pages?

Pershore LRC Seed Exchange

 Have you got any packets of seed surplus to requirements? 

Or any partially used packets of seeds that you would like to exchange? 

A seed exchange is being run at Pershore LRC giving the opportunity for students and staff to swap seeds as part of the ‘Grow Your Own Vegetables’ campaign.  Third year horticulture student, Jason Daff, started the scheme by kindly donating the surplus seeds from his final year investigation.  Jason is pictured above with LRC staff member Peter Parkes.

Posted by Peter 

Copyright

Copyright protects written, theatrical, musical and artistic works as well as film, book layouts, sound recordings, and broadcasts.

You will normally need permission to use someone else’s copyright work but in certain very specific situations you may not.

Have a look at this website from the government’s Intellectual Property Office for further information:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm

Posted by Alison

Thank You from Leamington LRC!

Leamington LRC would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of those who contributed to raising funds for Comic Relief by taking part in our literary quiz. With your help we raised a total of £35.50. The lucky winner of the giant Easter egg was Thea Philcox.

posted by Sophie

POLL RESULTS

We asked if you thought whether the LRCs should have separate study areas for HE students.

There were 69 votes in total:

61% voted for ‘All students should have equal access to facilities’

39% voted for ‘HE students need space to work without being disturbed’

Thanks to all those who participated, either by voting  and/or commenting. 

The information we have gathered will be used to inform future decision making.

Sustainable landscape construction – new book at Pershore

Sustainable Landscape Construction – A Guide to Green Building Outdoors    

J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig

This is a great book on sustainable design and construction. It covers 10 principles of sustainable landscape construction: keep healthy sites healthy (preserve topsoils and existing trees, minimize construction damages, etc.), heal injured sites, favor living, flexible materials, respect the waters of life (understand, protect and restore wetlands, restore rivers and streams to full health, collect and conserve water, reuse gray water, etc.), pave less (reduce paving, reduce runoff from paving, use porous paving, etc.), consider origin and fate of materials (Use local, salvaged or recycled materials, avoid toxic and non-renewable materials, etc.), know the cost of energy over time, celebrate light, respect darkness (lighting efficiency and light pollution control), quietly defend silence (various ways of noise control), and maintain to sustain (alternate to mowing, bio-based maintenance products, etc.). Each principle is demonstrated with case studies and followed by resources for further studies.

Posted by Alison

LRC Quiz for Comic Relief!

The staff at Leamington LRC have compiled a literary quiz in support of Red Nose Day this Friday. Quiz sheets are priced at 50p and are being sold at the LRC main counter. Completed quiz sheets should be returned to the LRC by Friday 20th March. The first correct entry form picked out on Monday 23rd will win a giant Easter egg and all proceeds go to Comic Relief!

posted by Sophie