Sadly John died on Friday 21st May 2010 after a brave fight against cancer.

John was our Treasurer for nine years and was a friend to everyone with whom he came in contact - he always had a cheerful greeting or bit of pithy advice, he was a great believer in doing things by the book and would read extensively and quote good advice. One memorable piece of advice was 'always plant with the green bit sticking up!'

John, like many of his generation, had been in the army and it showed in the tidy way he ran his plot and kept the Society's books. His military background came to the fore when we had to combine forces to fight the threat of builders on Binswood. Although a quiet man, behind the scenes he worked very hard helping to plan the campaign and encourage support for which we will always be very grateful.

Being a good allotment gardener he was a great re-cycler particularly with jokes and stories which he could re-tell many times and still make you laugh. It's good to think of John now, sitting in the sun, all planting done, all weeding done (before May 31st) and puffing his old pipe.

Our thoughts are with Sheila and the family at this sad time.

Friday 3rd June 2010 at St James Church, Old Milverton saw a great gathering come together to celebrate the life of John Shuttleworth.

He was appropriately walked to the Church by the Dene River Jazz Band - which John would have thoroughly enjoyed. Inside the church was packed to capacity with many standing, what a sign of the love and admiration for John.

We were very fortunate to have a fellow allotmenteer, John Carrier, take the service. Having known each other for many years at the allotments JC could bring that extra special touch to the service. He told us that John had the true Spirit of the Shuttleworths - always thinking of others and putting others first with many stories and recollections of John's busy life.

The hymns were in the gardening spirit with Morning has Broken and All Things Bright and Beautiful, finishing with Jerusalem, but also a wonderful poem by Rudyard Kipling and read by John's brother Peter and the poem is here for you all to enjoy as much as John did when he first heard it.

The Dene River Jazz Band marched him to his final resting place in the summer sun and we were all happy for him to be at rest while we all retired to the Village Hall for refreshments including cakes baked by Carol Griffin - it was like the AGM with John there in spirit.

THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN

By

Rudyard Kipling

Our England is a garden that is full of stately views,

Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,

With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;

But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,

You’ll find the tool and potting-sheds which are the heart of all

The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks,

The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you’ll see the gardeners, the men and ‘prentice boys

Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise;

For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,

The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,

And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows;

But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,

For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made

By singing: ‘Oh, how beautiful’, and sitting in the shade

While better men than we go out and start their working lives

At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.

There’s not a pair of legs so thin, there’s not a head so thick,

There’s not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick

But it can find some needful job that’s crying to be done,

For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,

If it’s only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;

And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,

You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees

That half a proper gardener’s work is done upon his knees,

So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray

For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away! 

And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away!