For the past fifty years and more, WilliamPodmore has been creating anddeveloping at Consall Hall a landscapegarden of stunning vistas on a site oncedisfigured by banks of pit spoil left behindafter many years of mining. Coveringseventy acres, and including six lakes, fourmiles of paths and a number of follies andessentially English in appearance, it is stilla work in progress, and WilliamPodmore, though now ninety, is stillactively involved in the management anddevelopment of this remarkable garden.

This year, members have visited twogardens where a similar vision is evident.In each case, members were privileged tobe taken round by the owners, who weregenerous in giving their time to explainthe history of the garden and plans for itsfuture development.

Wootton Hall, the home of the Hon. andMrs. Johnny Greenall, is, though modern,itself of great interest. The present Hall,built to the design of Digby Harris, whohas been described as “one of the mostaccomplished country house architects ofhis generation”, replaced an earliereighteenth-century house which had beenrebuilt in the 1850s.

The Hall is one of between fifteen andtwenty whose owners have so far takenadvantage of “Gummer’s Law”, aplanning law passed in 1997 and namedafter John Selwyn Gummer, then Ministerfor the Environment, which was intendedto allow houses of ground-breakingdesign to be built in isolated places. Ofthis measure, Gummer later wrote “Thecountry house is one of the great gloriesof England, and I was determined itshould continue”, though the number

built by no means matched the numberdemolished before and after World War II.

To one side of the house are the moreformal gardens, to the other Rousseau’sCave, where the French philosopher, bylocal accounts of the time a difficult andungrateful guest, wrote part of his mostcelebrated work, “Les Confessions” (Thestone façade and doorway are now atConsall Hall).

Work on reclaiming the gardens in thevalley below the house, which had beencolonised by dense bush and sycamore,began in 1997 and at an early stageuncovered the base of a concretefountain. A waterfall at the head of astream running through the valley hasbeen restored and the pool at the bottomdredged.

Staffordshire Gardens & Parks Trust

NewsLETTER

Newsletter of theStaffordshire Gardens and Parks Trust. Registered Charity No. 1013862.SummeR 2011 ISSue No. 44

Staffordshire is rightly known for its historic gardens, some, like Alton Towers, Biddulph Grange,Shugborough Park and Trentham Gardens, famous beyond regional and national boundaries. Butequally deserving of recognition are a number of lesser-known gardens still in process ofdevelopment which continue to provide the county with a reminder of the creative imagination,energy and dedication of owners whose work may not be so well known as that of such historicluminaries as the Earl of Lichfield and the Duke of Sutherland, but whose achievements deserve tobe more widely known and appreciated.

Published by the Staffordshire Gardens and Parks Trust. c/o South StaffordshireCouncil, Wolverhampton Road, Codsall, Staffordshire WV8 1PX. Tel: 01902 696000

Staffordshire - the creative county

continued overleaf

Rousseau's Cave Wootton Hall

The sides of the valley have been plantedwith a variety of spring bulbs, limes andrhododendron. Planting was hit by thedevastating frosts of last winter, theirmost notable victim being a rare WollemiPine – the ‘Dinosaur Tree” -, hopes forwhose recovery have not, however, beenentirely abandoned.

Immediately below the house is a morecontemporary garden designed by AngelaCollins, noted for her naturalistic plantingof grasses, whose work can also be seenat Cottesbrooke Hall.

The visit by members of the SGPT was,by one day, the first ever hosted by Mr.and Mrs. Greenall, a mere prelude to theexpected visit next day of two hundredmembers of the Ashbourne HorseSociety!

The gardens at Packington Hayes Farm,visited by SGPT members in June, are thecreation of Richard Barnes. Extending toeight acres and expanded over a numberof years, they include what is probablythe latest folly built in this country, aminiature sham castle, inspired by atower seen at Hampton Court (and now,following a disagreement with theplanning authorities, protected from anythreat of demolition by the presence ofbats), from the roof of which a panoramicview of the gardens can be enjoyed.

While there are more traditionalelements to be admired – an Italiangarden centred on a lily pondornamented with a lead Eros, flanked bya tapestry hedge and with an outdoordining-room at its head; a collection ofbeautiful trees, many rare and unusual,brought from different parts of the world,

they also display a strong element ofplayfulness.

As he or she walks around the gardens,the visitor encounters a number ofsurprises - here, two deer are lurking in acorner, there, a face peers out of a heapof leaves under a tree. Elsewhere, thevisitor will find an Easter Island head, alarge hand encircled by shrubs, a dinosauregg, a small terrier digging for rabbitsbeneath a sundial, walk through a moongate or stop in front of the remnant of anancient oak brought in from theneighbouring woodland to form asculptural centre piece.

All are, of course, artefacts, the productof Richard Barnes’s imagination and, insome cases, of his craftsmanship.One monument in particular catches theeye; the Pagan Sundial stands in themiddle of a large lawn, twin monoliths setslightly apart so that, at the eleventh hourof the eleventh day of the eleventhmonth, a shaft of sunlight shines betweenthem just as it does through the opendoorway in the Armed Forces Memorialat the National Arboretum.

The buildings - the Sham Castle, theoutside dining-room, the office (a replicaof the threepenny-bit house at CattonPark) - are all built using reclaimedmaterials, and other archaeologicaltreasures can be found elsewhere in thegardens - a pinnacle from a church inLiverpool, a window from a church inDerby, but, most notable, a pair of stonepillars from the Old Dockyard atPlymouth between which Drake himselfmight well have passed - all rescuedfollowing demolition.

The gardens are an arboriculturist’sheaven! Amongst the many species to befound in the arboretum, there areColorado Spruce, Cottonwood,Monterey Pine, Turkish Hazel, GoldenDawn Redwood, a Persian Iron Tree,Chilean Pine (better known as theMonkey Puzzle Tree), fastigiate yews, andten types of silver birch.

A collection of eucalyptus treescommemorates the presence at Fradleyof Australian airmen during World WarTwo, some of whom were befriended bythe Barnes family, though, sadly, the treeswere amongst those blasted this year by asevere frost in early May.

Water is another feature to delight thesenses; there are a number of pools,some with koi carp, a waterfall and alarge lake complete with temple.

Beyond the gardens is a wild-flowermeadow extending to four-and-a-halfacres, sown with sixty different speciesand untouched by herbicides.

All three gardens mentioned above areproducts of a creative imagination,tempered in each case by an individualpersonality, and driven by energy and adedication of which Staffordshire shouldbe proud, and all three owners deservethe fullest credit for their remarkableachievements.

WBS

It should noted that only the first of thesegardens is open to the general public.

Packington Hayes - The Pagan Sundial

Packington Hayes - Sham Castle

Four years later, over a thousand gardens opened,and, in the same year, the first handbook, whichbecame known as “The Yellow Book” because of thebright colour chosen for its covers, was publishedby “Country Life”.

In 1948, the NGS joined the National Trust inrestoring and preserving important gardens, andThe National Trust reciprocated by opening some ofits own gardens for the Scheme, as it continues todo to this day.

In 1988, The National Garden Scheme CharitableTrust was set up, with Queen elizabeth the Queenmother as its first Patron. Its present Patron is HRHThe Prince of Wales, himself an enthusiasticgardener.

In keeping with its original purpose of fundingnursing (even now, when that responsibility haspassed to the NHS), the Scheme’s principalbeneficiaries are macmillan Cancer Support; marieCurie Cancer Care; Help the Hospices; CrossroadsCare, which provides support for carers and thepeople for whom they care; and The Queen’sNursing Institute; though they also include,appropriately enough, The Gardeners’ RoyalBenevolent Fund.

more than £2.5m. is given to these charities everyyear and the Scheme is the largest single contributorto both macmillan Cancer Support and marie CurieCancer Care (£550,00 to each in 2011).

The first garden to open in Staffordshire wasShugborough (1927), at that time the home of the4th earl of Lichfield. This was joined the next yearby fifteen more: Betley Court; Bishton Court;Chartley Castle; Doveley’s (now part of a gardencentre); eccleshall Castle; Hales Hall, Loggerheads;Hoar Cross (now a health spa); Ingestre Hall (nowowned by Sandwell Council and run as an artscentre; maer Hall (where Charles Darwin proposedto emma Wedgwood); maple Hayes, Lichfield (now

a school for dyslexic children); Oakley Hall, nearmarket Drayton; Patshull Hall (now a weddingvenue and conference centre); Swynnerton Park;Thorpe Hall, Tamworth; and Wychnor Hall (now acountry club).

Over the next eleven years, their example wasfollowed by Swinfen Hall (now a hotel); Vale Head,Wightwick; Viewlands, Wightwick (later known aselmsdale Hall and now divided into apartments);Alton Towers (now the internationally-famouspleasure park); Chartley Hall; Himley Hall (nowowned by Dudley mBC and run as a conferencecentre); Sandon Hall; Little Wyrley Hall; Themount, Compton (now a hotel and a popular venuefor weddings); The Woodhouse, Tettenhall; TheWombourne Wodehouse; Heath House, Tean; andLittle Onn Hall (one of whose owners, mrs. JuliaCavendish, survived the sinking of “Titanic”!).

Of these, only one is open under the Scheme in 2011– The Wombourne Wodehouse, which first openedin 1936, – though the total number of gardens openin Staffordshire this year is sixty-seven, out of atotal of more than 3,700 throughout england andWales attracting a quarter of a million people eachyear.

The County Organisers are Susan and John Weston,whose own garden at eccleshall, which has featuredin BBC Open Gardens, “Staffordshire Life” and“The express and Star”, is open on Sunday, August28th, and monday, August 29th, between 1. 30 p.m.and 5. 30 p.m.

Susan and John are always looking for new gardensto take part in the Scheme. Size is not the mostimportant criterion; what interests visitors is thedesign of a garden and the range of plants on show.

If you would like to open your garden under theScheme, you should contact them by ringing 01785 850448 or contact them by email onjohnweston123@btinternet.com

The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927, when 609 private gardens

“of quality and interest” opened to the public at an entrance fee of “a shilling a

head”, a fee that was to remain unchanged until the 1970s. More than £8000 was

raised for The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

A Shilling A Head

This year’s Annual General meeting was held at The Wombourne Wodehouse, near Wolverhampton, and printed below is the full text of the Chairman’s Report presented by the Trust’s Chairman, Alan Taylor:

I am delighted to see you all

here this evening and would

echo our President’s thanks to

our generous hosts, John and

Caroline Phillips, who have

made it possible to hold this

AGM in such special

surroundings.

This is my fifth year as Chairman and somy fifth annual report to you on behalfof Council. I normally conclude mypresentation with a request for newvolunteers to join Council or assist theworking of the Trust in other ways. Thisyear I am doing it first and gentlyhinting that if anyone else thinks theywould like to have a shot at chairing theTrust after five years in post I will not inthe least be offended: please stepforward and have a go. Like a goodheadmaster I would say please staybehind at the end and speak to me orone of the other members of Council.

I must however start by offering ourcollective congratulations to ourPresident on his elevation to the Peerageas the Lord Cormack. This is a mostwell deserved honour for many manyyears of invaluable public service.Although the news has been in thepublic domain for many months nowthis is the first opportunity we as a Trusthave had to voice our congratulations toyou in person. I would take thismoment too, Lord Cormack , to thankyou, as always, for your very activesupport and encouragement throughoutthe year and for chairing the proceedingstonight.

On the business front I am pleased toreport that the Trust has enjoyed anotheractive year in 2010 - 11. Our Treasurer’sreport to this meeting indicates that ourfinances remain sound and that ourmembership numbers are steady andeven slightly increasing.

The highpoint of the year hasundoubtedly been the launch of theTrust’s website, giving our interests inStaffordshire’s past a very 21st centurypresence. The website has beenbrilliantly and professionally puttogether for us by Richard and Jackiemoseley, volunteers from among our

membership, to whom we owe a greatdebt of gratitude. The site containsinformation about the Trust and how tojoin; our current and future activities; anexcerpt from our inventory of siteslisting 181 gardens and parks in thehistoric county for which we hold themost information; links to other relevantsites, and so much more. Like all goodwebsites it is a work in progress so anymember with news, views orinformation they think might usefully beposted there are invited to contactRichard or Jackie. For those of you whohave not visited the website yet I doencourage you to as soon as you gethome tonight - I will give out theaddress at the end of my report.

On the planning side the Trust hascontinued to be consulted on a numberof draft local development frameworkdocuments by local authorities. We havehad little to say on them, as most havehad little or no heritage impact: we waitto see how the new government’sproposed changes to the planningsystem and its localism agenda willaffect our area of work. The biggest areaof work we have been involved in hasbeen commenting on a growing numberof applications for wind farms. As aTrust we have objected to a proposal forerection of two turbines at Whittingtonjust down the A449 from here which aswell as lying directly below Kinver edgewould fall right in the historic sightlinesbetween the grade II* registered parks atenville and Hagley. We will beappearing at the public inquiry into thisscheme at the beginning of August.more recently we have objected to aproposal to erect five turbines atBrineton near Church eaton whichwould be very visible from the Knollwithin Weston Park. This scheme toohas been refused planning permissionand we wait to learn if the developerswill appeal against that decision.

Our Archivist reports that the overalltotal of sites remains recorded on ourinventory unchanged at 441. We havealready been providing the uK Gardensand Parks Database(www.parksandgardens.ac.uk) withinformation on sites in the county; afurther 105 reports were submittedduring the year, some being new reports,others were revisions of reports which

were not selected for inclusion from theoriginal list submitted five years ago. Weneed to have words with the nationaldatabase, as their definition of‘Staffordshire’ seems to vary somewhat!Our own inventory continues to beuseful for both primary and secondarysources of information and recentrequests have included Brewood Hall,Shugborough kitchen garden and‘watch-towers within landscaped parks’.

The small group working on recreatingthe monks Walk garden in Lichfield hashad a successful year as the site is nowacknowledged by the Lichfield TouristBoard and included on the City GardenTours! Summer 2010 produced bounty… from potatoes, runner beans to exoticfruits – Quince and medlars and thevolunteers made ‘cheese’, jellies andjams and had an enjoyable tastingsession to compare the results. Thegroup has held weekend WorkingParties as usual and the BurtonConservation Volunteers continue withtheir valuable help when a thorough‘tidy up’ is needed and to help with theheavier jobs in the garden. The projectfor 2011-12 is to work on the ‘Physicgarden’ section of the herbaceous borderfor which a £500.00 grant fromGrassroots Grants was obtained towardsthe purchase of edging bricks and plants.

A very successful ‘Poetry evening’ washeld in June 2010 with strawberries andsparkling wine and the Lichfield poetsread their work while visitors were ableto relax and read poetry placed aroundthe garden space. This was so successfulit has been decided to extend the ideainto an ‘Open Garden event’ on Sunday17th July 2011 from 1.30pm – 5pm andthis will include stalls and live music inthe garden – so please join us. (I amasked to note that regular working partysessions are held on Wednesdayevenings – please come and join inanytime between 5-7pm. Bring yourown tools and outdoor wear. ). moreabout the site can be found on ourwebsite.

On the Activities side we followed uplast year’s very successful AGm at Sandon Hall, with a visit to TheNational memorial Arboretum atAlrewas , where members were givensome insights into its futuredevelopment. In September we had a

ANOTHeR ACTIVe YeAR

Joe Hawkins presents thePresident with a cheque

for £1731. 05, the proceeds of his epicsponsored walk.

Jim Earle, The Trust'sTreasurer, waits expectantly

in the background! The money will be spent on re-planting the areaaround The Shepherd's

Monument at Shugborough.

guided tour of the outer reaches ofShugborough Park by Joe Hawkins, theHead Gardener and a member of theTrust’s Council of management. Laterthat month, Joe embarked on an epic300-miles sponsored walk from Byer’sGreen, in County Durham, birthplace ofthe architect and polymath ThomasWright back to Shugborough, to raisemoney for new planting around theShepherd’s monument, originallydesigned by Wright. We had a mostentertaining account of that journey aspart of our Autumn programme. InNovember, members took part in a day-long visit to the Sugnall Walled Gardenorganised by The Garden History Societyand hosted by Dr. David and mrs. KarenJacques.

So far this year, there have been twovisits, both of which have attractedgroups of thirty or more members. Thefirst of these was to Wootton Hall, thehome of the Hon. and mrs. JohnnyGreenall, the second to PackingtonHayes Farm, the home of mr. and mrs.Richard Barnes. Both were first visits bythe Trust and, in the case of WoottonHall, the first ever received by mr. andmrs. Greenall, but, in the event, a mere

prelude to a visit by a party of 200expected the next day! The GroupChairman would like to express hisappreciation of the advice given to himby Dianne Barre in the choice of thesevisits.

Two issues of the Newsletter have beenpublished during the year giving a fullaccount of the Trust’s activities (for thebenefit of those members who could nottake part in these events!) and includingother articles of related interest, to whosecontributors the editor offers his gratefulthanks.

Although this report is supposed to be aretrospective over the past year I cannotresist the opportunity to advertise twoforthcoming events in July: a guidedwalk through Biddulph Grange CountryPark led by myself and a week of talksand a special tour of the gardens for ourmembers commemorating thebicentenary of the birth of JamesBateman, creator of the world-famousgardens at Biddulph Grange.

It is always my pleasure at the AGm tothank many people for theircommitment and hard work in

supporting the Trust and its activitiesover the past year.

As always our thanks extend to ourCompany Secretary, Hayden Baugh-Jones, and his team at SouthStaffordshire District Council for all theirquiet work behind the scenes runningthe day-to-day administration of theTrust; to the District Council for allowingthem the time to do this and forcontinuing to host our company address.To our Treasurer for his work inmasterminding our finances andensuring we remain solvent and prudentin our expenditure. my special thanksare due to all my colleagues on theTrust’s Council for their continued inputand support; and also to yourselves ourmembers without whose interest andencouragement we would not be able tocontinue. And finally as every year Icannot let the moment pass without avery special thanks offered to BryanSullivan, who tirelessly organises ourCouncil meetings, takes our minutes,produces the newsletter and organisesour varied and always interestingprogramme of events.

Alan Taylor

The Trust has a new website….As reported by the Chairman at the Annual General Meeting, the Trust’s new websitewww.staffordshiregardensandparks.org has been successfully launched. It can be found in all the major search engines, and, already, we have received several requests forinformation from the general public, all of which have been successfully answered electronically by SGPTmembers.One such request is ongoing concerning the greenhouse structure at Shugborough and has led to visits andintroductions.The website has also expanded to include archive material as well as more general information.The immediate objective of the website is to continue to integrate into the online Garden History andDesigned Landscape community.

One remarkable feature of The Wombourne Wodehouse is that it has never been sold since it wasoriginally purchased by a Mr. Cook in 1146; since then, it has either been inherited by a directdescendant or acquired through marriage, though, in one instance, ownership was gifted by SirSamuel Hellier, who died unmarried and without an heir, to a friend, The Rev. Thomas Shaw, thethen Vicar of St. John’s, Wolverhampton, who added the name “Hellier” to his own.

Known for centuries as “TheWoodhouse”, it has been known as“The Wodehouse” since the midnineteenth century, though thepronunciation remained the same.

Notable amongst its owners was theafore-mentioned Sir Samuel Hellier (1737 - 1784), who created alandscape garden ornamented withbuildings and monuments in the stylewhich was popular in the mideighteenth century.

These included a hermitage and atemple dedicated to the memory ofHandel, but were not wellconstructed and, sadly, none hassurvived to the present day.

Proud of his garden, Sir Samuelencouraged visits from people ofconsequence, but was dismayed bythe damage caused by the uninvitedvisits of the ‘rag,tag’ fromWolverhampton, who poached hisfish and damaged his trees.

In the past, John himself hadexperienced similar vandalism; onone occasion, three separate fireswere started over one Easterweekend alone, while, on another,six young oak trees were cut downto build a den. Thankfully, these days,boys are more likely to be sitting infront of a computer than rampagingthrough woodland damaging treesand disturbing the wildlife!

Sir Samuel was, like his father,passionate about music and collectedmusical instruments. The secondoldest collection in the country,those instruments that were not latersold are now kept at EdinburghUniversity.

The musical tradition was continuedwhen ownership passed to ColonelThomas Shaw-Hellier, commandantat Kneller Hall, home of The RoyalMilitary School of Music atTwickenham. During his time, manyof its present external features were

added by the architect CharlesRobert Ashbee, a leader in the Artsand Crafts Movement, having beenearlier archaicised by GeorgeFrederick Bodley, a former pupil ofSir Giles Gilbert Scott and a chiefexponent of 14th century EnglishGothic.

In the late 1600s, the garden wasquite simple, but has expanded overthe years and has been extended asfar as the A436 by the addition of adrive, causeway and lodge.

The kitchen garden was addedtowards the end of the eighteenthcentury. Surrounded by a twelve-feet-high wall, it still has its Victoriangreenhouses in which grapes,nectarines and tomatoes are grown.Every bed is surrounded by low boxhedging amounting to a total lengthof half a mile.

But the glory of the kitchen garden isundoubtedly the collection of iriseswhich John has built up. Collectedfrom as far as The United States andFrance, it now includes 180different kinds of bearded irises.

The Wombourne Wodehouse is atthe heart of an estate of 1000 acreswhose isolated situation isprotected by the determination ofSouth Staffordshire Council to keepWombourne separate fromWolverhampton, but it brings with itgreat responsibility, which thepresent owner accepts with anawareness of the importance of TheWombourne Wodehouse to theheritage of South Staffordshire.

The Wombourne Wodehouse - The Walled Garden

At the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting,John Phillips gave members a talk on the history

of the house and gardens.

The Chillington Aquatic Fete of 1836-two accounts

Mr. Gifford, following the custom adopted byhim for some years, gave on Friday in the raceweek his usual splendid Aquatic Fete atChillington. The weather favoured the company andthe routine of enjoyment provided by the liberal hostwas on the same bountiful and judicious scale aspreviously described except in addition to theexcellent Quadrille Band of Mr. Blythe of Stafford thefine band of the 7th Dragoon Guards was inattendance and played on the lawn and on the pool.The company assembled about two o’clock and thepool soon became absolutely alive with the numberof vessels gliding about in every direction, the wholefleet both of sailing and rowing boats being put into

immediate requisition. About five o’clock thedischarge of a cannon announced the serving up of asumptuous collation in the rustic Ball Room and theMarquees before the Temple… As the night graduallyclosed the guests drew to the ballroom illuminatedfor dancing and kept up the festivities till another daypeeped in upon them. A display of fireworks orderedby Mr. Gifford for the occasion was by someunaccountable negligence on the part of the artistvery imperfectly shown but some large rockets andcoloured lights fired from a raft in the centre of thepool had a very grand effect.

Staffordshire Advertiser: 27th August 1836

19 August Friday: An Aquatic Fete where all theneighbourhood were assembled. We dined at 5 ina large wooden room, erected in front of the GrecianTemple at the Pool. About 100 sat down. After somerowing about the Pool, the ladies danced in the saidroom. At 10 o’clock we ought to have had somefireworks but the artificer had got drunk and did notknow where they were. After some loudconversation with him on the part of the gentlemen,during which it was evident that he could not betrusted to let them off if found, they arrived in a cartfrom the hall and were soon fixed in the best mannerwe could, to several posts erected to receive them.A boat also with a platform on it was moored out inthe pool at a distance from the Temple at about 150yards, from which the rockets were exhibited alsowhite, blue and red lights. Scarcely had the rocketsbeen let off when the whole platform was seen in

one tremendous blaze, all the rockets having caughtfire and all the lights being ignited at the samemoment. Four men and a boy who were engaged onthe platform plunged into the lake screaming “Boats,Fire”. All the surrounding woods were exhibited asclearly as in perfect daylight. Nevertheless we couldnowhere discern the men. The boats however inabout 3 minutes picked up 2, much exhausted. Oneman though with heavy clothes swam ashore. Theboy who could not swim was found hanging on theside of the boat. consenting to have his fingers burnt,rather than run the risk of drowning. Ourconsternation and anxiety being over, we proceededto let off the remaining fireworks ourselves but withthe worst possible success. Dancing was thenresumed and we returned home at about 2 o’clock.

Lord Hatherton’s Diary, 1836

Provided by Dianne Barre and Sue Gregory, who comments: “This is what can happen when two garden historians compare notes on the same event!”

Plant Hunters’ Fairs in Staffordshire

Saturday, August 28th, and Sunday, August 29th (August Bank Holiday): Dorothy Clive Garden, 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.Special event price: £3.00 fair & garden (The Dorothy Clive Garden is on the A51 midway between Stone and Nantwich)

Sunday, September 18th: Sugnall Wall Garden, 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.Apple-tasting and drop-in garden problems clinic.Tea room using produce from the garden.Special inclusive event price: £1.00(The Sugnall Walled Garden is on the B5026 Eccleshall to Loggerheads road)

Date for your diary...

Photographic CompetitionHere is your opportunity to help us promote the beauty of historic Staffordshiregardens and parks. We are looking for images of historic Staffordshire gardens andparks to put onto our new display panels which will be used to promote the Trust inlibraries and at shows, events and displays throughout the region.

There will be two categories - under 16 and over 16, and we want to see images that showdifferent aspects of Staffordshire’s gardens and parks which give us a glimpse of these hiddengems. Gardens can be those open to the public or gardens that only you have access to, aslong as they are historic in context.

Photos should be recent, that is, less than two years old, and should fall within the “old”boundaries of Staffordshire.

Photos can be submitted as prints or digital images. Enhanced or digitally altered images maybe submitted but should be in keeping with the elegance of the theme.

Closing date for entries is 1st December 2011, and the winners will be announced in earlyJanuary 2012. Judging will be carried out by a sub group of the Council of Management. AllTrust members will be eligible except for members of the Council.

We are looking for a good number of images for our panels, so there are lots of opportunityto be a winner. We should also like to use the photos as a Gallery Page on our new website,and it is a condition of entry that your permission will be given for this purpose or forpromotional uses by the Trust only.

Email entries to f.colella@virgin.net or post to “Woodcote”, Nelson Crescent, CotesHeath, Eccleshall, Staffs. ST21 6ST. Tel. 01782 791506.

The President has proposed a day in London as part of the Trust’s 2012 programme, visiting theChelsea Physic Garden and the Museum of Garden History and finishing with tea at the House ofLords. This would undoubtedly be the highlight of the year, and the Council of Management isactively engaged in arranging the visit.