Protect Painshill from A3 Land Grab

Highways England are proposing a number of changes to the M25 & A3 roads which will have a major negative impact on Painshill (Grade 1 listed 18th century landscape garden). Highways England’s proposed preferred development will ‘grab land’ from Painshill, meaning areas of the landscape will be lost forever under the development of the ever increasing road network.

Painshill Park Trust is calling on Highways England to reject its current ”Preferred Route” and return to the project design phase so that the safeguarding of the historic Park can be included in the design criteria.

Michael Gove, CEO of Painshill comments; “Painshill is one of the most important, significant and historic landscape gardens in the country. After 35 years of restoration, we’re calling on members of the public to support and help protect this much loved part of Britain’s Heritage from the A3 road development.”

Members of the public are able to sign and support the petition if they believe Painshill should be protected from the development of the A3 so it can continue to be enjoyed by future generations.

Why we need help
Painshill Park Trust seeks to safeguard parts of the much loved landscape garden, and protect it from this road development. Highways England’s preferred development will take large parts of land that runs past the Gothic Tower (built 1750’s) and destroy a high number of trees from the ancient woodlands.

To read more and sign the petition please visit >>> www.painshill.co.uk

Tags: painshill, petition, A3, road development

Delight in the joys of spring and treat Mum to an inspiring day out at RHS Gardens and Partner Gardens this Mothering Sunday

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 March 2018 At the four RHS Gardens and dozens of RHS Partner Gardens around the country, there are plenty of ideas for spending quality time with Mum in beautiful surroundings this Mother’s Day. Seek out cheerful signs of spring around the gardens, take part in inspiring workshops or indulge in the sweet tradition of tea and cake and give Mum a day to remember.

At RHS Garden Rosemoor, mums can enjoy a special Afternoon Tea on Saturday 10 March, including cakes, sandwiches and a traditional Devonshire cream tea, served to a table in the small Garden Room. The Garden Room will also host a demonstration of paper flower-making and everyone can take home a free gift of a beautiful paper peony. Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea is £20 per person and must be booked ahead online. On Sunday 11 March, the award-winning Rosemoor Garden Kitchen will be serving its famed Sunday Carvery menu, packed with the finest locally-sourced and homegrown produce – booking is advised.

Don’t miss one of the biggest celebrations of spring-flowering plants at the Spring Flower Competitions on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 March, with classes including camellias, early magnolias, rhododendrons, daffodils and hyacinths. Enjoy a sensual feast of colour and scent examining some of the finest specimens from growers across the country before taking a stroll around the garden to see Rosemoor’s own camellias, rhododendrons and daffodils bringing the garden to life.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr will be a welcoming sight, awash with beautiful spring colour as many varieties of early-flowering bulbs including daffodils, tulips, muscari, hyacinth and iris burst into flower. Stop by Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms for lunch to enjoy home-cooked dishes with a Swiss influence, or a traditional afternoon tea of sandwiches, cakes and pastries for £19.95 – or for £27.95 add pink Champagne to make it an extra-special treat for Mum.

Over in Essex at RHS Garden Hyde Hall, explore the garden as the spring season bursts into life before rewarding mum with a delightful afternoon tea for £12.95 per person (booking essential) on Sunday 11 March. Alternatively, book Mum onto the ‘What Now? Your Garden in March and April’ workshop on Saturday 10 March and inspire her to get into the garden. RHS experts will guide attendees through staking, planting, lifting and dividing of seasonal plants with practical techniques demonstrated in the garden from 11am to 1pm.

Meanwhile, at RHS Garden Wisley the Terrace Room will open specially for Mother’s Day, with either a two-course lunch or a sumptuous afternoon tea available at £25 per person (book in advance by emailing preferred time and numbers to wisley@companyofcooks.com), including a complimentary gift for Mum. A walk around the garden to see the beauty of early spring blossom and bulbs in flower is the perfect way to work up an appetite.

In addition, Saturday 10March sees the Orchid Society of Great Britain Spring Show in the Glasshouse Gallery at Wisley, where experts and growers will be on hand with advice and quality orchids to buy. A treat for any orchid fans, this show offers an opportunity to learn about more unusual species and see beautiful displays created by OSGB members.

Elsewhere around the country, many RHS Partner Gardens have exciting events planned for the Mother’s Day weekend, and RHS members can visit for free on selected days. On Saturday 10 March at A Weekend for Mum at Penshurst Place in Kent, kids can make special cards for Mum, and adults can learn to make scented gifts on Sunday 11 March. In Norfolk, Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden’s head gardener Ian Guest will take families on a guided tour of the garden after which each mother will receive a primrose.

On the outskirts of London, take a stroll around the grounds in search of spring beauty at Osterley Park before tasting wines, juices, jams and curds in the Brewhouse coffee shop. Meanwhile, at Compton Acres in Dorset both RHS Members and mums can enjoy the gardens for free, and there’s a potted plant gift for every mum who is treated to Sunday lunch.

Other RHS Partner Gardens open for free to RHS Members on Mother’s Day include:
• The Dorothy Clive Garden, Shropshire
• Tatton Park, Cheshire
• Kilver Court Garden, Somerset
• East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens, Norfolk
• Larch Cottage Nurseries, Cumbria
• Tylney Hall, Hampshire
• Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire
• Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire
• Godinton House and Gardens, Kent
• Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
• Scone Palace, Perthshire

For more information about Mothers day and other events at RHS Wisley please visit >>> www.rhs.org.uk

Tags: What's on, RHS Garden Wisley, RHS, Mothers Days

SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHDAY BASH RETURNS FOR 7th YEAR!

Now in its 7th year, WILL’S BIRTHDAY BASH is Guildford Shakespeare Company’s annual celebration of William Shakespeare birthday, 23 April 1564. Will’s Birthday Bash has always been a sell-out event, and once again the award-winning theatre company have lined an exciting programme to mark the occasion, kicking off with their 7th SONNET WALK WEEKEND (21-22 April). Akin to a treasure hunt, the Sonnet Walks take audiences on a mystery walking-tour where walkers will encounter Shakespeare and his characters in the least likely of places. In previous year years, the especially designed route has included the roof of House of Fraser, a fortune teller in Rack’s Close, a prisoner in the Castle Keep, and last year St Catherine’s Ruin and a field of sheep!

This year, GSC are very excited to announce a brand new venue for the walks – the historic West Horsley Place. The Grade I listed manor house and surrounding estate were inherited by Bamber Gascoigne, who has set up a charity, The Mary Roxburghe Trust, to rescue and restore West Horsley Place and to establish there a vibrant centre for the performing and visual arts and for the teaching of crafts. The incredible house and grounds will be taken over by actors for the weekend, allowing audiences to discover not only fabulous speeches and sonnets from Shakespeare, but also this magnificent home once visited by Elizabeth I.

The Bash continues with a special staged reading of Shakespeare’s THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN, on Wednesday 25 April. Based loosely on Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, this collaboration with John Fletcher is pure Jacobean drama with dark sibling rivalry, unrequited love and deception…it also includes a group of amateur actors (harking back to the successes of Dream?) and... wait for it... a baboon! Following the sell-out staged readings of Pericles, Cymbeline and Henry VIII, join us for another of Shakespeare’s rarely performed plays.

The final event in the Bash is GSC’s flagship youth theatre, the GSC YOUNG COMPANY, second public performance (29-30 April). Devised, written and performed by their group of 12 – 16 year old aspiring actors, the performance is based on the three Shakespeare plays GSC staged last year, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The two Gentlemen of Verona. The play cleverly intertwines story lines from all three plays, and includes new characters inspired by the originals. “That was the most inspiring evening” Audience member 2017

Tickets for Will’s Birthday Bash go on sale 19 March (Priority Booking opens 12 March). www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk Tickets £10 - £16.

Tags: What's on, Guildford Shakespeare Company

A walk in the park!

Sarah steps-up for wildlife with two gruelling challenges. With many people struggling to keep their New Year’s Resolutions and be more active in 2018, 23-year-old Sarah Locke, from Henfield, has put her money where her mouth is and will take on two epic physical challenges this spring, in aid of Horsham-based international wildlife charity Born Free.

Sarah, who works as Executive Assistant to Born Free’s President, Will Travers OBE, will fly to Tanzania in early February, along with her younger sister Annabel, 19, and 13 other climbers, on a mission to conquer Africa’s highest peak - Mount Kilimanjaro. The trip, organised by the XP Club, a private members’ organisation which encourages entrepreneurship and achievement, will involve a gruelling seven-day trek through five different eco-systems including rainforest, alpine and glacial terrain, before they reach the summit, some 585 metres above sea level.

Sarah says: “I’ve always loved hiking and have climbed quite a few mountains in the UK. I have actually hiked the UK’s three highest mountains; Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis - not that they’ll be anything on Kilimanjaro of course!

“Now Christmas is officially over, my training has stepped up a bit! I think I’m most nervous about the altitude as it’s quite hard to prepare for and difficult to predict! Plus, the temperature is going to be a lot chillier than anything I hiked in before so I’m having to stock up on lots of warm gear.”

After returning from Tanzania, Sarah will have just eight weeks to step up her training for the Virgin London Marathon on the 22nd April. Having already completed several half marathons, including Brighton, Conwy and the Great North Run, Sarah has some distance running experience under her belt, but is not underestimating the challenge.

She says: “I do enjoy running once I’m out there but a full 26 miles will take some serious training. Plus running without the companion of my springer spaniel, Bilbo, is something I'll have to adjust to!

“What with both challenges being so close together, I can’t work out which I’m most excited for. Kilimanjaro will be such an experience, but once it’s over I think the marathon will catch up with me very quickly, so I’m trying to stay as prepared as I can.”

Sarah’s sponsorship money will go to two of Born Free’s partner projects. The first is SeaSense in Tanzania, which protects endangered marine turtles when they hatch from their nests and have to make the dangerous journey to the sea. The second half of the funds will go to a community-based programme in Kenya. Born Free engages communities with the local wildlife by supporting infrastructure improvements, providing educational resources, and tackling issues such as lack of renewable energy and clean water.

Born Free’s President, Will Travers OBE, who has himself successfully climbed Kilimanjaro twice, said: "When Sarah reaches the top and looks down from the Roof of Africa to the world spread out below, she will understand, as I did, why protecting the natural world and all life on earth is a mission to embrace for all time.”

To sponsor Sarah. Please visit: www.justgiving.com

To find out more about the work of the Born Free Foundation, go to: www.bornfree.org.uk

To find out more about the XP Club visit: www.thexpclub.com

Tags: Born Free Foundation, Virgin London Marathon, Kilimanjaro, Mount Kilimanjaro

What is so personal and unique that no one else will have, to give to your Valentine.

The sense tour of the Burlington Arcade. The most uniquely perfect gift bespoke for the one you love, beautiful fragrance brands such as Frederic Malle, Penhaligon’s and Roja Parfums will take you and your loved one on a sensory experience to create an elite bespoke sent individual to your partner.

This is the ultimate luxury Valentines Day experience for the man or woman who has it all. The scent specialists at the stores will spend time with you and your Valentine getting to know their likes and dislikes, not only with scent but additional information helps these specialists craft a selection of scents to suit your preference may that be floral or aromatic, or a new blend of fragrances.

The specialist will see which scents trigger happy memories in your loved one and help them understand the ingredients which appeal to them, able to give them an insight into the world of fragrance. Ultimately to deliver a bespoke fragrance as a gift from you to your Valentine this special gift will stay with your love always, and the experience will be a treasured memory.

For more information please visit > www.burlingtonarcade.com

Tags: Valentine, Valentine's, luxury, Burlington Arcade

12th - 16th February 2018

Hundreds of families will be spending February half term on the factory floor in the recently completed Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. Inside the newly restored Bellman hangar, visitors will be able to clock in and don factory workcoats as they begin their ‘Brooklands Apprenticeship’. A series of workshops and interactives explore some of the skills used over the 80-year history of aircraft manufacture at Brooklands. On a new mezzanine level, the story of design at Brooklands is told and visitors can design their own military and civilian aircraft from different eras of aviation including those of the future. Leaving the Factory and entering the new Flight Shed visitors will see some of the Museum’s collection of complete aircraft, including opportunities to sit in the cockpits of the Hawker Hunter and Harrier, as well as displays on radar, ground-to-air radio and pioneering pilots.

The Museum’s collections of pre-war racing cars and motorbikes, the incredible Barnes Wallis ‘Stratosphere Chamber’ and the Brooklands Aircraft Park, featuring post-war aircraft including the Sultan of Oman’s VC-10 will all be open as usual. As well as this, there are racing and flying simulator rides in the 4D Theatre, special Kids Tours on Concorde and for children aged 5-11 years the chance to design your own sky scene in a special aviation-themed Family Workshop with the Brooklands Learning Team. The drop-in workshop is FREE to attend and runs from 11am – 12noon and again from 1pm – 3pm. All materials are provided.

However, if visitors really want to feel the wind through their hair, the Museum’s long-established and hugely popular rides in vintage-style cars* and on London Bus Museum’s iconic double-decker buses* will also be operating during weekdays in Half Term. Car rides take in the challenging summit of Test Hill and the Members’ Banking, the steepest part of the original Race Track, as long as it’s not too wet or slippery, from 11am–1pm and again from 2 – 3.30pm. London Bus Museum’s double-decker bus trips will run every half an hour from 11am until 3.30pm, except for a short break over lunchtime.

The Sunbeam Café is the ideal place for refuelling and add to this a visit to the Museum Shop to pick up a souvenir and you have the recipe for a perfect day out come rain or shine. And don’t forget to look out for the Museum’s larger than life mascot, Bertie Bear, who will be roaming the site looking for fans to have his photograph taken with!

Normal admission prices apply for half term week and are: adults £13.50, seniors £11.50, children (5-16 yrs) £7, family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children) £35. The half-hour Concorde Experience is £5 for adults, £3 for children, 4D simulator rides are £4 for adults, £2 for children. *A minimum donation of £1 per passenger is requested for car and bus rides. The main visitor entrance for the Museum is via Mercedes-Benz World, on Brooklands Drive off Wellington Way between Weybridge and Byfleet.

For full details of events, directions and general Museum information, please telephone 01932 857381 or visit www.brooklandsmuseum.com. The Museum is open daily from 10am – 4pm in winter. Last entry is one hour before closing.

Tags: Brooklands, Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Race Track, Flight Shed, Aircraft Factory