Appreciation, Acknowledgements and Attributions
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We have been bowled over by the extraordinarily kind and generous support of so many photographers and artists. Each and every one has helped us bring Waterfurlong to life for visitors from around the globe. We would also like to thank the experts in everything from the medieval history of Stamford to heritage fruit who have given us their time and expertise.
OUR HOME PAGE
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We must start by thanking our cover-girl and youngest gardener, Flora Henchy, and her dad Rob who took the lovely photo.
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We stumbled across Khun Jeremy's photograph of Waterfurlong with the mist settling and horse-chestnut in bloom and knew it would be perfect for our home page. Jeremy could not have been kinder or more obliging. Jeremy now lives in Thailand but grew up in Stamford and returns regularly. He styles himself an 'amateur' photographer and only took up the hobby in earnest in early 2016, but his exquisite work is amateur only in the sense he does not earn his living through it. 'In Thailand I am referred to as "Khun" Jeremy although my name is simply Jeremy. Khun is used when addressing seniors in much the same way as 'Mr' is used in other cultures.'
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Here is 'Inspired', another stunning photograph from Jeremy's Flickr portfolio. Do check out his work.
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'Stamford is without doubt one of the finest medieval towns in the British Isles but despite its many reminders of a long and illustrious history, for me it will always be the ancient trees standing alongside or within view of the church spires that most define its character and beauty.' © Khun Jeremy. All Rights Reserved.
STAMFORD
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We wanted to do our beautiful town justice on the website and local photographers have been fantastic. Special thanks go to Gary Curtis, whose photos appear on several of the pages and to Sarah of ThisEnglishLife, for her stunning photo of the River Welland. Find Gary's work on his blog The Old Building Appreciation Society or via his Instagram page
and Sarah's work via her Instagram. A particular mention must go to Kent-based artist Peter Gander, who not only allowed us to use his map of central Stamford, but customised it to show Waterfurlong Gardens! Thank you so much, Peter. Do visit Peter's website to see his artwork and bespoke maps.
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Chris Hunt, Chairman of Stamford and District Local History Society, and John Hopson, Honorary Archivist for Stamford Town Hall have both assisted with our research and particular thanks goes to Professor Alan Rogers, an authority on medieval Stamford, who has advised us on the hamlet of Bradcroft and is being generous enough to work with us on researching its history.
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Special mentions also go to Shelagh Caudle of medievalrecipes.com for advice on medieval bread-making, Brien Walker of Snow Walker Surveyors, who has provided a wealth of information on medieval water-mills and Professor Abigail Woods of Imperial College for permission to quote from her research on Victorian veterinary surgeons.
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Several organisations have given us access to old photographs of Stamford and our gardening predecessors and particular thanks go to the Laxton family for photographs of Thomas Laxton.
APPLES
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We would probably be none the wiser about our Waterfurlong apple heritage without the advice and unfailing help of Denis Smith of the Stamford Community Orchard Group. Thanks are also due to Steve Oram, Orchard Biodiversity Officer for the People's Trust for Endangered Species, who has provided us with continuing support and guidance about managing a traditional orchard.
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Alan Buckingham is one of the UK's leading garden photographers and I'm not sure where the website would be without his generosity. He is one of the few people to have taken professional images of an enormous range of heritage apples and apple blossom and has been kind enough to allow us to use whichever we have needed.
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A man of many talents, Alan is also a freelance writer, editor and author of the excellent 'Allotment Month By Month: How to Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg', 'Allotment Through the Year' and the Dorling Kindersley 'Grow Vegetables' and 'Grow Fruit' guides, all available on Amazon.
Alan is a long-time plot-holder on the prestigious Royal Paddocks Allotments near Hampton Court Palace. He says that every summer he proves himself incapable of heeding his own advice and consequently grows far more fruit and vegetables than he and his family could hope to eat. Should he ever be given the opportunity to have his time again, he would happily swap his career in publishing for one as a head gardener.
Where we lacked decent photographs of our own and Alan could not help us, the lovely owners of specialist heritage fruit nurseries came to the rescue and a special thanks goes out to Derek Tolman at Bernwode Fruit Trees, to Nick Mann at Habitat Aid, to Kevin O'Neill at Walcot Organic Nursery, to Keeper's Nursery and to R V Roger, both for the images and for the much-appreciated words of encouragement.
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Artists Janis Goodman, Andrew Hutchinson and Victoria Brown have also been kind enough to let us use their gorgeous artwork. Janis is a Leeds-based print-maker and Josie Beszant from The Gallery in Masham has produced a book 'Roofs and Branches' to showcase many of Janis's etchings.
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Yorkshire-born Andrew is a wildlife artist and naturalist who uses his skill as a painter to bring to the attention of a wider audience the beauty of the natural world around him.
Victoria has recently completed a Blossom Project arts residency in Chaddesden, Derby and at the National Trust's Hardwick Hall, supported by the Arts CouncilEngland.
FLORA AND FAUNA
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When it came to finding beautiful images of our flora and fauna, we have received help from photographers not just in the UK but across the world - from Bob Jensen in California's amazing capture of a rhinoceros beetle to Anne Sorbes in the French Limousin's delicate photo of bladder campion to Bert Willaert's multiple award-winning image of tadpoles taken whilst snorkelling in a canal in his native Belgium.
Scientist and photographer Bert Willaert's underwater photo of common toad tadpoles seemingly flying across a bright blue sky won first place in the 2015 Royal Society Publishing photography competition, launched to celebrate the power of photography to communicate science. © Bert Willaert. All Rights Reserved.
A heart-felt thank you to each and every one of our contributors and advisers. Without you this site would not be possible.