Author Archives: THEA

Study Day – Friday, 19th February 2021

Our next study day will be on Friday, 19th February via Zoom. Our lectures are are:

  • “A Quick Introduction to the Social History of Gardens” by Advolly Richmond, Garden, Landscape & Social Historian
  • “The Evolution of Cholmondeley Castle Gardens” by Barry Grain, Head Gardener at Cholmondeley Castle

This promises to be an interesting day – read a bit more about our speakers on the “Events at Reaseheath” page.

October Study Day

The next Study Day at Reaseheath will be Friday 30th October. Our Speakers will be:

  • Mick Brown from Chatsworth Gardens whose lecture will be “The Past, Present and Future of Chatsworth Gardens”
  • John Scrace, freelance plant pathologist, whose lecture will be “The Invaders – the latest pest and disease threats to the UK”

That should be an interesting and varied day.

Details of the programme are available in our Autumn 2020 Newsletter.

Spring 2020 Newsletter

First of all, we hope you and your families are keeping safe and well during these very challenging and worrying times.

For some light relief, why not take a look at our Spring 2020 Newsletter – see the Newsletters page. It contains reports from the October Study Day and details of our Summer Visits for 2020.

We currently have two visits planned for the Summer, though these might be subject to change or cancellation:

  • A coach trip to RHS Harlow Carr – Tuesday 14th July 2020
  • A coach trip/self-drive trip to two gardens: Wildegoose Nursery and Hampton Court Castle – Thursday 27th August 2020

We will keep members informed of any changes to plans.

Study Day – 21st February 2020

Details of our next Study Day on 21st February 2020 have now been announced. Our speakers will be:

Nick Hamilton (son of the late Geoff Hamilton) who will be talking about “Barnsdale after Geoff”.

Sue Clarke, holder of one of the Plant Heritage National Collections of Hardy Geraniums, will be talking about “Hardy Geraniums – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

Please see our Events at Reaseheath page for details of the full programme.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone on the THEA committee.

We hope that you have enjoyed our events in 2019 and be assured there will be lots to look forward to in 2020.

Our next Study Day will be 21st February 2020 and our speakers will be Nick Hamilton (son of Geoff Hamilton) who will be talking about Barnsdale Gardens and Sue Clarke who will be talking about hardy geraniums.  It should be an interesting and informative day and we hope to see you there.

More details about this and the results of our recent Study Day survey will be published in our Winter Newsletter which will be issued in late January.

Best wishes,

Alison, Debbie, Helen, Julie, Kate, Marion and Paul

The THEA Committee

Study Day on 1st November

We had a very successful and interesting Study Day on 1st November at Reaseheath College.

Our first lecture was “Some Talented Women and their Association with Historic Gardens” by Maureen Thomas.  It was a fascinating insight in to some of the women who have not let convention stand in the way of their horticultural endeavours.  The women included botanical artists, amateur botanists, authors and landscape architects, many of whom are unsung heroes (or should I say, heroines).

Our second lecture was “A Wildegoose Chase” by Jack Willgoss from Wildegoose Nursery, Shropshire.  This was an inspiring talk about of how Jack and his wife, Laura, gave up secure employment in pursuit of their dream of starting their own nursery and in turn restoring a Georgian walled garden and glasshouses of national significance.  What they have achieved is truly amazing and I am sure a visit to Wildegoose Nursery will be on the list for our Summer outings.

http://www.wildegoosenursery.co.uk/

The plant sale was also a success with a huge range of plants to choose from, including some young Puya mirabilis plants grown from seed provided by Roy Lancaster at last year’s 40th Anniversary event.

The Horticultural Enthusiasts’ Association Award 2019

Each year THEA makes an award (in the form of book tokens) to two outstanding students from the RHS courses at Reaseheath.

The winners for the Horticultural Enthusiasts Association Award for Endeavour is Kyle Lane, and the winner of Horticultural Enthusiasts Association Award for Best Practical Student is Aaron Turner . Congratulations to them both.

Kyle Lane at the Awards Ceremony at Reaseheath College

Garden Visits for 2019

Then there are FOUR visits to book for this year: 

  • An opportunity for THEA members to have early access to Tirley Garth – Sunday, 12th May
  • Visits to two Northwich gardens at Abbeywood and Wood End Cottage – Thursday, 27th June
  • A visit to Ness Gardens on the Wirral – Tuesday, 9th July 
  • Coach Trip south to Highgrove Gardens, the home of Prince Charles – Monday, 12th August

Details of the visits can be found in the Spring 2019 Newsletter and on the web site on the “Garden Visits” page.

Book now – we hope you can join us!

Tatton Park Japanese Garden Trip – 25th April 2019

Following on from the excellent talk on Japanese Gardens at our November Study Day, we have been inspired to arrange a trip to the Japanese Garden at Tatton Park so we can see first-hand what we’ve heard about.

Simon Tetlow (Head Gardener at Tatton) will be conducting the tour on 25th April 2019 which will take approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes after which time you will have the option to visit the rest of the gardens at your leisure.  This is a rare opportunity to get access to the Japanese garden as this is not generally open to the public.

See our GARDEN VISITS page for more details.