Brownies made sure Stone was blooming beautiful!

Whisper it quietly, but it seems that spring may finally be here, and thoughts are turning to gardens and the blooming colours of spring and summer. DAVID LEECH looks back at the creation of a beautiful garden in the town last year by local brownies for Stone in Bloom – and how they overcame the theft of two of the garden’s colourful characters…

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hroughout last spring and summer the garden was a lovely and refreshing “hidden gem” of colour and beauty and I walked by almost every day on my way into town and often found Helen Whetnall and Dawn Groom and a group of brownies working hard and having fun working in it.

The garden was created by 2nd Stone Brownies and was between Lichfield Street and Abbey Street. This beautiful garden was judged and admired by senior Heart of England in Bloom judge Roger Bache, who said the garden typified the wonderful community spirit of the residents of Stone. The Brownies were thrilled that all their hard work, carried out during the previous weeks had been admired and commented upon in such a positive manner.

Most people are familiar with the story of the Owl and the Pussy Cat “that went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat. They took some honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a five pound note.” But how many people in Stone are familiar with the mystery of the “Owl and the Wooden Toadstool that disappeared one day, causing hurt and disappointment only to return (with no five pound note!) the very next day”?

Brownie leader Helen Whetnall says she was devastated last July when she went to water the garden one evening only to see an empty place where the Owl, Toadstool and even “Agnes” the Brownie Scarecrow had sat. But all’s well that ends well, since the Owl and Toadstool were discovered wrapped up in a brown paper bag on a doorstep of a nearby resident.

But what about Agnes? Well, it seems she went to watch a local game of cricket! She was discovered sitting near the pavilion of the Stone Cricket ground just along the road, looking a little dishevelled after her ‘night out’ but none the worse for her sojourn!

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I wondered why they had chosen to include an owl and a toadstool. Was is a random choice or was there some specific reason? I was told that the garden, which featured a pond as well, represented the main parts of the traditional Brownie story, that goes something like this:

Some curious children are trying to find a Brownie as told to them in a story. They visit a wise old owl who tells them how to find a Brownie by saying the following rhyme and then by looking in the pool of water. The children turn around 3 times and recite the following rhyme, trying to work out what the missing last word is:

“Twist me and turn me and show me the Elf,

I looked in the water and there saw ……?

The last word is obviously “myself”

“It used to be traditional for Brownies to dance in a ‘fairy ring’ like the rings of toadstools that are sometimes seen,” Helen told me, “Thus a toadstool is also part of our tradition. All of these items form a very real part of the Brownie enrolment ceremonies carried out to this day and are also utilised during normal Brownie meetings.”

And what about ‘Agnes the Scarecrow’? She was named ‘Agnes’ after the sister of Lord Baden Powell, who helped her brother start the Guides and Brownies.

On a final note, during the summer months it was said that if you looked very carefully, on a moonlit night you might just see the Owl, the Toadstool and Agnes, “dancing to the light of the moon” – just like the owl and the pussycat!