CANWOS is a large-ish society with about 150 members. Membership is from a wide area; Anglesey to the Pennines, Stockport to South Wales, although the majority are probably Cheshire-Shropshire-Wirral-N.Wales and the fringes of the Manchester-Stockport conurbations. We must overlap the catchment of another excellent orchid society, the North of England Orchid Society with whom you should make contact ( some of our members are of both.)
The Society meets monthly on the last Friday in the month (an exception is December, when there is no meeting). We meet at St Mary's Church Hall, Handbridge, Chester, which is about a kilometre south of Chester Cathedral as the crow flies. However, it is on the south side of the River Dee. Meetings are officially from 8.00 to 10.00pm but an earlier arrival is recommended in order to park easily and have time to look at the plant table.
Activity in the meetings varies; there are lecture-discussion meetings by invited guests, there are in-house members' evenings. Always, there is member involvement and meetings are never passive.
Almost always there is a discussion of some plants from the plant table and opportunity over a mid-break coffee and biscuit for member conversation. There is usually a raffle for surplus plants, books, fertilizer, compost etc.
There is a boxed library that is available to established paid-up members. It contains a wonderful selection of books - some now out of print - on the history of interest, cultivation and identification of orchids.
Members are a mix of beginners and experts coming from as far afield as Anglesey, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Shropshire and grow orchids on scales from a windowsill to purpose-built orchid houses. Some have facilities big enough to have member's open days from time to time.
CANWOS often has a display stand at major orchid shows such as Northwich, Harrogate, Worcester and displays at Chester Zoo and many garden centres.
If you have a 1/50,000 OS map of Chester and Wrexham you will find St Mary's at grid reference SJ 406 655 in the west of the district known as Handbridge. St Mary's is a prominent building with a tall spire and a driveway immediately to its west meanders to the carpark behind the Church Hall.
From the EAST and SE you will use the A51 'Chester Road' to the west (which is joined by travellers from the SE) at Vicar's Cross large roundabout, take the middle lane and go straight on at the lights into Chester.
Note the one-way system near the motorcycle dealer (get into the right lane) and then continue to traffic signals with an obvious left slip lane (this is about three km from Vicar's Cross roundabout).
Go left and follow the tortuous route past the park (left) the amphitheatre (left) through various pelican lights and then through the Roman Wall (the arch is rather later than Roman here!).
At the next traffic signals make a left turn down to the River Dee, across the single-track bridge and up the opposite side. Bear right near the filling station and concentrate on the right side of the road for St Mary's (just past a possible left fork). The drive is immediately after the Church building.
If you come from the WEST you will arrive along the A55(T) and leave it as if for Chester or Wrexham at the junction with the A483. Go north along the A483 past small roundabouts and (about 3km from the junction) go right at the complex roundabout before the river bridge. This leads to St Mary's on your left. If you miss the turn, go over the Dee bridge, straight over the roundabout with the mounted horseman (pass the museum on your right)and turn RIGHT at the lights and down to the single-track bridge - then as above.
