On the very rainy Wednesday 16th October, seven students from the Gardening and CoPE programmes at Imberhorne, Mr Langstone, Mrs Daw and Mrs Cook embarked on the journey of a lifetime when they travelled to Westminster Abbey for the 2013 Harvest Service. This was by personal invitation from HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, whom in July, had met Charlotte Hawksworth (second from right, standing, below) – Imberhorne’s 2013 finalist for the RHS School Gardener of the Year. Charlotte had explained all the wonderful things we do at Imberhorne and this warranted us a place in the service.When we arrived after a long minibus journey from school we were greeted by many pages and officials trying to get everything ready in time. We unloaded the minibus, which was packed full of marvellous treats and produce, including two three-foot long leeks! So big was this so-called ‘Imber-harvest’ that it spilt over our dedicated slot on to some Brownies, and we hoped very much that they wouldn’t turn up. Of course they did and we had to live with the evil eye for the rest of the day. Naturally, they did not want to say that we had brought too much stuff to give to charity!There was a brief before the service when some of the Abbey servers instructed us what to do and where to go and when to do this. AND what to say and to sing and how to stand and sit. AND when to be silent and when to join in with the choir. Then the Abbey doors were opened for the other invited guests. This was the opportunity to speak to the real stars. Mrs Daw decided that it would be best to get some celebrities like Hairy Biker Dave Myres and actor Martin Clunes  to sign our programme and Countryfile’s Adam Henson also congratulated me on our leeks which became a rather focal point, with Newsround’s  Ricky Boleto using them as a prop for his report. Arguably the star attraction was Homeland actor Damian Lewis, who would treat the congregation with a reading. However, he was running late and our chance to meet him was shattered as the service began.The Duchess was to attend the ceremony and after she was to meet and greet all the invited schools and groups that had been asked to bring their own harvest. The service itself was magical and one song – sung entirely by the choir and accompanied by the organ – was particularly wonderful. After the service all the organisations lined up behind their harvest and waited for the Duchess’s comments. Unsurprisingly, we were the last to be seen, so had to stand around for a good thirty minutes! And, upon seeing that she was receiving gifts from everyone, we hurriedly selected the best produce – I suggested the giant leek (to attract media attention) but we settled with a bottle of Rosehip Syrup. This was my opportunity to speak to Damian and get a few autographs for friends, which turned into a ten minute conversation with him and Dave about the origin of the Hairy Bikers! Rowan Saunders said “I thought it was amazing how many schools and scout groups bought lots of produce to the Harvest festival. I also really liked the service in general and thought that the Duchess of Cornwall was quite friendly considering she had already seen a lot of Harvest boxes”.In all, the day showed what the gardening project has achieved since it started with two trees a few years ago. We hope that this is the start of even more remarkable things to come!Henry Grub, Year 11