Ayr Bonsai Club Winter Image Show

I drove north west today to attend the Ayr Bonsai Club Winter Image Show in the picturesque village of Alloway (birthplace of our national poet Robert Burns) on the Ayrshire coast. This is the second year this small show has been staged in the wood panelled hall where the club meet. In one year the standard of the trees displayed  has gone up  considerably and it is attracting contributors from many parts of Scotland and the north of England. The hospitality of the Ayr Club was excellent and a good day was had by all

I was honoured to be asked to assist Robert Porch with the show critique, which meant that I was given the opportunity to get a really good look at the trees but it did not leave me much time for photography. The doors opened to exhibitors at 1.00 pm for set up and the displays were being disassembled by 4.00 pm. I think there is a case worth considering for making this a whole day event in the coming years.

Here are some of the pictures I managed to get in the closing minutes. Apologies for the picture quality

A view of the interior of the hall

This large juniper tanuki belonging to Dougie Smith of Wattston Bonsai will be at the Noelander’s Trophy next month

 

Another nice juniper with a good nebari and lovely movement in the trunk

Chuhin black pine with great nebari

European Larch

Fiona’s exposed root pine

Jim’s Large Japanese Maple

The Ayr club meet in Alloway village hall on the second Sunday of the month. They have a very lively programme this year which includes visits from Tony Tickle and Rob Atkinson. I will certainly try to get along to some of these events.