Shiten takes flight at Heathrow Show

Due to circumstances beyond our control the SBS’s roll-out was last weekend at the Heathrow Bonsai Show at Harlington in Middlesex. This is a delightful, relaxed and well attended Show with many different Bonsai Clubs, as well as individuals, exhibiting. As Gerry Anderson had unexpectedly gone up to the Wirral for a refresher course on “Advanced hub-cap robbing” it was left to me in Thunderbird 3 to fly the Shiten flag. Fortunately for me our “Stand by for Action (Man)” (and pilot of Thunderbird 2 with the larger trees and tables) was none other than UK New Talent Contest finalist, Maidstone Bonsai Society Chairman and all round good egg Jose aka Sam. 

Although we didn’t have the guidance of Sensei Storey I think we made a great team with Sam helping with the humping and bumping and leaving me to do the arty-farty stuff – all in all we were more than happy with what we achieved. So here you have it, Shiten is Go! Sorry about some of the photos but the hall was a bit narrow to get a nice panoramic shot. 

Thankfully, this year we were blessed with a sunny, if chilly, day unlike the cold and wet of last year. The organisers of the Show Mark & Ming put on a fantastic event year on year and it is proving to be very popular. They really look after everybody there and should be congratulated on putting together such a great day. Well done both of you (plus all the un-sung volunteers of course!) So if you ever get the chance, pay them a visit, you’ll be very glad that you did!

What’s in a name?

Shiten, (pronounced sch ten) means "branch" of a bank or group of shops, as we are branching off from mainstream clubs we thought this word was appropriate.  Also the anglicised spelling of the word gives any detractors an opportunity to say that we both, and our trees, live up to our name!

Since the “launch” of the SBS there has been some interesting alternative names being bandied about, here’s just a few:-

Secret Bonsai Society
Special Bald Squadron
Stupid Bloody Slackers
Storey Bashes Simon
Secret Bonsai Squirrels
Silly Buggers Society

…………. and the most convoluted,
Simon Haddon's Impeccable Tree ENsemble

Seems like some are having too much fun at our expense but what the hey, you only live once (although the evil one’s tend to live forever!)

2 become 1

Shiten Bonsai Society was born out of friendship, frustrations and failings - so here we are 2 slightly daft and aging Bonsaists muddling our way through life with little trees. Already seen in some circles as a “double act” we are here to enjoy the Worldwide Bonsai scene and maybe poke some fun at ourselves as well as our trees – we hope that you enjoy Bonsai from the daft-side! 

Who are we and why are we here? 

People have been asking the latter for years but we are just 2 ordinary blokes “doing our thing” really. Having travelled the length and breadth of the UK for many years, under various “banners”, the opportunity arose for us to fly solo without the aid of a Club or Society safety net, so we took it. One of our original incarnations was suggested as “Shiten Shohin Society” in deference to the quality of my trees and our joint appreciation of trees at the smaller end of the Bonsai spectrum but as we do grow larger Bonsai we agreed on the SBS. 

Our goal? 

Enjoy the hobby, the people, and learn a few things along the way. We have no egos or arterial motives just a shared passion for Japanese inspired trees and ceramics. Not saying we don’t “do European” but maybe we just enjoy the more relaxed, and maybe, more feminine approach – who’s calling who a big girls blouse?