CARLISLE Bonsai club is looking to branch out and encourage new members to get involved.
The club, which was set up in the early 1990s, has found a new home at Harraby Community Centre and is now looking to expand.
One of the Carlisle Bonsai Club founders, Tony Robinson, discussed what sparked his love for the trees more than 30 years ago.
He said: "I got a birthday present off my mum and my sister of a small Bonsai tree and as soon as I got that it caught my imagination and I have loved them since."
After receiving the gift that sowed the seeds of his love for Bonsai trees, an advert in the News & Star alerted Tony to a community of enthusiasts in the area.
He said: "As it turned out, the week after I got it, I saw an advertisement in the News & Star of two or three of the founding members were trying to start a club in Carlisle and they were looking for people to go down."
Monthly meetings of the founding fathers of the Carlisle Bonsai community at the Pirelli Social Club kick-started the club, with Tony dedicated to the community every since.
He said: "We just love them, if you like something so much, it is just something you could never stop doing.
"It is more than a hobby, it is a bit of a lifestyle."
However, over the years the growth of the club began to 'peter out' as members drifted in and out.
Stints at the Morton Community Centre followed by the blow of Covid-19 forced the club to adapt, and with its roots now firmly planted at the Harraby Community Centre, Tony is hoping the club can begin to grow once again.
He said: "There is no other clubs anywhere near. The nearest ones are Scotland, in Glasgow and all the way down to Yorkshire, so there should be the potential to get a really good club up here."
Tony also encouraged anyone with an interest, whether experienced or not, to get involved at the club.
He said: "You can learn an awful lot about Bonsai in a very short time.
"It is not rocket science, but there are certain things you need to know and you don't have to be particularly green-fingered.
"It's more art and you learn the two parts together, the art part and the horticultural part.
"We all started with little sticks in pots."
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