Tatton Park

Winter Wildfowl Watch

2012-01-25T01:22:00.000-08:00

The Winter Wildfowl Watch held in the bird hide on Melchett Mere on 15^th Jan was a great success.

Melchett Mere in the summer

The weather was stunning, a beautiful winter's day with bright sunshine over the mere illuminating various species of Wildfowl. Their stunning plumage was viewed with the aid of telescopes set up in the Allen Hide.

Members of the Knutsford Ornithological Society and myself helped members of the public to use them and help identify the birds. Goldeneye, Teal, Wigeon Mallard and Pochard were seen along with Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe. Woodland species could be seen on the bird feeding station including Coal Tit, Nuthatch and a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Between 30-40 visitors called into the hide during the session and were very well received. The visitors also included many children which was especially pleasing as their reaction to seeing new birds through a telescope in such bright conditions was great. A Buzzard perched in a tree was the children’s favourite!

Darren Morris, Tatton Park Ranger

Where there's muck... there's silver gilt!

2012-01-24T03:08:00.000-08:00

During the low season we take the opportunity to do our annual "winter clean". Each room is checked and cleaned from top to bottom using special conservation techniques.

Before and After!

The Mansion team have just started working on Tatton's fabulous silver gilt collection.

Tarnish from the silver underneath had come through the fine gilded layer on a number of items, taking away their gleam. Under the direction of our Regional Conservator from the National Trust the team removed tarnish very gently using cotton swabs and silver dip.

The results were quite startling!

See our before and after photograph of a Paul Storr candleabra. Storr was a nineteenth century English silversmith.

Karan Knowles, Operations Supervisor

Follow in the footsteps of your heroes in 2012

2012-01-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

Enjoying our container gardening course!

If you are a budding Titchmarsh, Monet, Attenborough or Robin Hood, Tatton Park’s adult and family learning programme has a course or workshop for you!

From lectures, talks and tours to practical sessions in watercolour painting or the skill of the longbow - there are nearly 60 adult and family learning activities taking place at Tatton in the coming year.

The rich diversity of the historic estate provides a fantastic inspiration for and backdrop to these participatory events. Many are centred on the 2,000-acre parkland. You can also learn the art of pruning in Tatton’s Victorian kitchen gardens, explore the skill of poultry rearing in the working rare breed farm or enjoy the striking setting of the mansion staterooms for musical performances and talks.

New activities this year include a practical poetry workshop, taking inspiration from Tatton’s beautiful gardens and a children’s cycling event exploring parkland routes and the fundamentals of off-road skills.

You can find out more on our website, or here's a selection below!
Wednesday, February 8: Deer walk and light lunch
10am-noon. £12 per person. Minimum age 16 years. Work up your appetite and join the rangers for a guided walk of the winter parkland. See Tatton’s deer in their natural surroundings and finish at the Stables restaurant for a light lunch.

Thursday, March 15: ‘Musical Melodies’ performance and talk
11am-noon. £7.50 per person. Penelope Cave shares recently discovered research which uncovers the importance musical entertainment played in the social world of the aristocracy in the early 19th century. Tune is as Penny plays examples of some of the musical pieces the Egerton family tried to master, using a Dettmer piano made in 1815.

Thursday, April 26: Meet the Housekeeper and Butler
11am-noon. Adults £7.50, children £3.50. Step back in time and join Miss Cork the ever-efficient housekeeper to Earl Egerton and Mr New, his formidable butler. Be on your best behaviour as they show you around the magnificent mansion and demonstrate their daily duties in this stunning setting.

Saturday, April 28: Home to Roost

10am-noon. £14 per person. Meet us at the farm and learn all you need to know about keeping poultry in your back garden. The course includes information on chickens, ducks and geese. Learn about feeding, housing, breeding, health and even get advice on showing.

Booking is essential for all. For more information and to book, please contact Education on 01625 374428 or email tattoneducation@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Join in our winter wildlife events in the parkland

2012-01-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

January is the perfect time to blow away the cobwebs and work off the Christmas pudding in the historic parkland at Tatton Park, in rural Cheshire East. There are two parkland events this month to encourage visitors to pull on their walking boots and experience the wildlife of this stunning 1,000-acre deer park.

White deer in the snow

©Gary Cross

On Sunday, January 15 enjoy some winter wildfowl watching at the ‘Allen Bird Hide’ overlooking Melchett Mere. Members of Knutsford Ornithological Society and a Tatton ranger will be on hand to help visitors to identify different species of birds and also to help inquisitive twitchers use a telescope for fantastic, close-up views. Winter Wildfowl is a free, drop-in event between 11am-2pm for both beginners and experienced bird watchers. Park entry charge of £5 per car applies.

The hide is positioned on one of the most beautiful areas of the parkland, at the water’s edge of Melchett Mere off Knutsford Drive and provides a stunning view across a 500 metre stretch of water into the meadow and rough grassland of the deer park.

Winter visitors to the mere include many species of wildfowl including; goldeneye, teal and tufted ducks. Cormorants, shovelers and little grebe are often sighted and a juvenile whooper swan has recently been seen on the mere. Visitors may be lucky enough to see a smew, a rare duck which has in the past been spotted at Tatton in early January. Bird feeders around the hide also encourage many woodland birds such as finches, tits and the impressive great spotted woodpecker.

If deer are more to your delight, join the rangers on Tuesday, January 17 for a Deer Walk and Light Lunch.

Tatton Park is one of the best places in the North West to see these extraordinary animals up close (and not quite personal). A deer park since 1290, Tatton is now home to over 400 Red and Fallow deer, who roam freely within its 1,000 acres of parkland.

Enjoy a walk through the stunning winter parkland and learn more about the deer and their habitat from Tatton’s expert ranger team. The walk will finish with a light lunch at the Stables Restaurant. This activity takes place from 10am-12pm and costs £12 per person (minimum participant age 16 years). This activity must be booked in advance; please call 01625 374428 or email tattoneducation@cheshireeast.gov.uk

We hope you can join us!

Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

Winter work in the parkland

2011-12-15T02:29:00.000-08:00

A walk through Tatton's parkland will reveal several areas covered by Rhododendron bushes, which in recent years have been found to be susceptible to a plant disease called Phytophthora. Imported from Europe and America, Phytophthora are virulent fungal infections which attack the plant through its roots, often in wet ground, causing the blackening and wilting of leaves, as well as cankers and lesions in the bark of some species. Phytophthora can be transmitted to other plants through ground water, wind and even on people's clothes and footwear. The Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) class Phytophthora as a notifiable disease.

It is important that Tatton takes measures to protect itself from this disease and especially the important plant collections in the gardens. In this respect the Ranger team are being pro-active: we will receive training on how to identify the disease and begin to remove some areas of Rhododendron, particularly those areas closest to the gardens. This will be labour intensive and we are happy to recruit a team of volunteers to help with this and other tasks on the estate. Should you be interested in volunteering, please contact the Ranger team on 01625 374414.

Take a walk on a cold frosty morning and look in the rushes and long grass. Amongst the foliage are strings of crystal droplets sparkling in the early morning light. No matter how cold it is, the spiders living in the estate spin webs to catch their prey all year round. On a frosty morning they hang like festive baubles, glittering. They show perfectly intricate designs the arachnids produce. An average spider in warmer months will produce a new web every 24 hours and they are constantly updating and repairing them. To do this they eat the old web to recycle silk for the new one.

Winter deer feed ©Peter Spooner

The Red and Fallow deer herds are given supplementary feed daily through the winter. This consists of carrots, haylage and mineral enriched dairy nuts. The feeding starts once the cold weather sets in and garzing becomes limited. Normally we would be feeding by the end of November, but due to the prolonged mild weather this has not been necessary. The daily deer feed is an excellent opportunity for the ranger team to assess the condition of the herd. The long line of carrots put out ensures the smaller and less dominant animals are able to feed and enables us to carry out census work accurately. This winter there is opportunity for the public to witness the feed and observe the deer from the relative comfort of a passenger trailer. The dates offered are 20th and 21st December (now sold out), 14th and 15th February. Please book in advance on 01625 374428 as places go very quickly.

There will also be the opportunity to see some of the numerous species of wildfowl that visit Tatton during the winter. Come along to the Allen Hide between 11am and 1pm on Sunday 15 January - there will be members of the Knutsford Ornithological Society present to give advice and to help you identify the various species with the aid of a telescope.

Darren Morris, Ranger Team

Marketing Musings..

2011-11-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here in the Marketing office we are well on our way to finalising next year’s events, with a view to confirming some for 2013. Each year we aim to extend the events programme with next year offering some great opportunities such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June. At the moment we are discussing details of the RHS Flower Show in July and looking at the possibilities for Christmas 2012.

'Meet the Housekeeper & Butler' tours!

The smell of paint around the upstairs offices has diminished in recent days as the decoration of Lord Egerton’s Apartment has just been completed. With new carpets, furnishings and lighting it is a really special venue for any exclusive celebration or family event. The LEA holds up to 40 comfortably and features two rooms plus dedicated kitchen and bathroom facilities, with the best views of the Gardens and Parkland that the Mansion has to offer. Consider us next time you are planning an event and we would be pleased to show you around.

We have had a record number of coach parties visiting Tatton this year and we’re working with some key tour operators to put Tatton in their programmes for next year. Group visitors in particular like each historic attraction to offer something unique or with “added-value” in their itineraries. We have trialled a series of role-playing Butler and Housekeeper tours this season which enabled some of our education assistants to find their inner Olivier or Monroe – they were great fun and especially popular with the Australian and North American visitors.

Katherine McInnes, Marketing

Buon natale!

2011-11-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

Visitors to Tatton Park mansion will be greeted with ‘Buon natale!’ this Christmas, as Venice inspires our seasonal theme.

The stunning staterooms of the mansion at Tatton Park in rural Cheshire East will be spectacularly dressed to reflect the extravagance and sophistication of Venice.

Venetian splendour will be brought to the English country home with striking displays inspired by the drama of ‘carnevale.’ Trees dressed with peacock feathers and decorative birds in gilded cages are just some of the spectacular delights of the Christmas decorations (though we won’t give anything else away!).

These dramatic new displays will enhance our usual traditional Christmas decorations. This Christmas, as in previous years, the floristry team will also be undertaking the enormous task of crafting, by hand, the miles of festive garlands and wreathes used to dress the Mansion’s grand staterooms.

Preparing the Christmas Mansion decorations in the cellars

The natural foliage for the decorations is taken largely from the parkland and gardens. Throughout November and December the rangers and gardeners work tirelessly to source the very best greenery from specially selected plantations. Western red cedar, variegated holly, ivy, laurel, pine cones and yew are cut, transported in trailers and delivered directly to the cellar doors where the Mansion team work their magic.

This year, however, the focus is very much on the spectacle of Venice.

The Egerton family, the owners of Tatton for 360 years, were keen collectors, bringing many fine treasures from their travels to furnish their Cheshire and London homes. In 1884, Lady Mary Egerton wrote to her daughter Gertrude from Venice: “We are enjoying this delightful place as much as we always do, and finding all sorts of Treasures…The weather here is delicious – fresh and hot: our old gondolier MOMOLO has been engaged till today.”

Amongst the finest paintings in Tatton’s collection are two views of Venice, by the Venetian master, Giovanni Antonio Canale, more commonly known as Canaletto. The pair came into the Tatton collection in the late eighteenth century during the ownership of Samuel Egerton (1711-1780). These stunning paintings, which hang in the Drawing Room at Tatton, inspired this year’s Christmas theme.

In addition to the decorations and displays, visitors will be entertained with a changing live music programme including a harpist, flautist, string quartet, harpsichord, and in addition, musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music. The musical programme is different every day.

Christmas is not only evident in the grand staterooms; the humble servants’ quarters will also be getting into the festive spirit. In the scullery our costumed still room and kitchen maids will be cooking Christmas delicacies. Count on some lively ‘Downton’ style banter with the below-stairs staff.

Visitors can learn how to create beautiful decorations for their own home during free demonstrations in the servants’ quarters. Children will also be able to take part in free Venetian mask-making workshops at the weekends.

The Christmas mansion is open from Wednesday, December 7 to Friday, December 23 from noon to 4pm (last entry 3pm), closed Mondays and Tuesdays between these dates. Find out more and the event and times and prices here.
Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

Christmas is Coming!

2011-11-23T06:35:00.000-08:00

There is certainly an air of familiar excitement as we approach Christmas time. The staff and animals are all sensing the arrival of somebody very special and keep looking into the sky for signs of his sleigh and Rudolph’s shiny red nose! Yes that’s right, Father Christmas is here at Home Farm on the 10th/11th 17th/18th and even Christmas Eve! That will be a very busy day and night for him as he will have so many boys and girls to see during the day as well as delivering all those presents at night.

Our hard-working Reindeer Prancer and Dancer are very eager to help him that night and they are by far the most excited about his arrival than anybody. This will be the first year in history that the farm have owned their own Reindeer (apart from when Father Christmas has them on loan) and we think it is going to make our Christmas here all the more magical. Let’s not forget our other stars of the show our donkeys Frosty and Seren (welsh for 'star') who always look forward to their irreplaceable part in our live nativity, and of course the relentless fuss lavished on them by you all!

Lisa, Kip the sheepdog, Elly and Frosty the donkey in the snow last year

As well as our Storyteller who weaves tales of festive magic, we will have a Children’s entertainer to create a fun-filled atmosphere as well as traditional merry go rounds. There will be choirs and brass bands to bring that traditional and warm feel to the event who will play their music around the nativity scene which houses our farmyard friends in their stable. We will also be creating an opportunity for a photo opportunity on Santa’s sleigh which has been lovingly crafted by our dedicated National Trust volunteers. Last but certainly not least Father Christmas will be in his winter wonderland of Christmas trees and twinkling lights waiting for you with his sacks full of presents for all those good girls and boys! His merry hardworking elves will show you the way into his magical grotto – make sure you look out for them!

All in all we are hoping we can offer you a festive and fun filled Christmas here at the farm, so please come and join us for a magical and memorable time. All the staff and animals are looking forward to seeing you! All that is left for us to say is WE HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! From all the staff and animals at Home Farm, EEY-ORE, NEIGH, MOO, OINK, QUACK, CHEEP, BAA!

Lisa Kennedy, Farm Assistant

Lighten up – (Father) Christmas is just around the corner!

2011-11-15T03:31:00.000-08:00

At the moment we're planning for a new Christmas event, when Father Christmas arrives at Tatton during a magical twilight lantern parade on Friday, December 9.

We're encouraging children and families to 'light his arrival' to Tatton and welcome the merry marvel for the beginning of his stay at the farm this Christmas! He'll process along a lantern-lit walk to the stableyard where star guests – the farm’s reindeer, Prancer and Dancer - will be waiting in anticipation.

Father Christmas at the Farm with Frosty the Donkey and elves!

Children will also be able to post a Christmas wish-list and families can enjoy festive tunes from a choir and band and indulge in some Christmas shopping.

The event is also an opportunity to ‘give a little back’ by donating any unwanted toys to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity, where they will find a very welcome home.

St Nick will be arriving just in the nick of time – for he starts three weekends at the farm on Saturday, December 10. At the farm, our younger visitors will be able to meet Father Christmas and his elves in his grotto and receive a special Christmas gift.

If your little ones would like to learn how to light Santa’s way - they can take part in a free lantern making workshop in the main stableyard barn room on Sunday, December 4. On the weekends of 10/11 December and 17/18 December children can also take part in free festive hat making sessions in the stableyard barn room. Park entry charge applies for both these events.

• The Lantern Parade takes place on Friday, December 9 from 6pm-8pm. Free entry to Tatton Park and to the event.

• Lantern-making workshops take place on Sunday, December 4 from noon-4pm. Workshop admission free, Park entry charge of £5 per car applies.

• ‘12 days of Christmas’ hat making sessions take place on the weekends of December 10/11 and 17/18 from noon to 4pm. Free event, park entry charge of £5 per car applies.

Father Christmas at the Farm takes place on the weekends of December 10/11, 17/18 and on Saturday, December 24. Times: noon-4pm, last entry 3pm. Prices: Adult £5, Child £4. Prices apply to National Trust members. The usual park entry charge of £5 per car applies. All paying children receive a free gift from Father Christmas.

Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

Seasonal turns...

2011-11-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

In a season when we should be contemplating a fall of snow, about the only thing that is descending at the moment are leaves from the trees. It would seem that the season of autumn has extended into early winter. Oaks are still showing green leaves and again we will probably end up with new leaves pushing the old leaves off - similar to the effect that adult teeth have on baby teeth!

Autumn by the Japanese Hut

©Sam Youd

Having said all of that, we have had two nights of frost down to minus two which effectively has stopped the growth of the grass and given the message to the border plants that it is at last time for them to go to sleep.

The fruit tress are still bearing good crops of apples despite the lateness of the season with also continuation of crops of figs, particularly the variety Rouge de Bordeaux which has a luscious red centre, deliciously sweet.

Good success has been had with a third batch of pineapple plants which means that we will now be able to complete the planting of the pineapple house in all three bays, with the prospect of maybe some plants from the first batch fruiting next year.

The conservatory is almost at the point of completion except for one or two jobs which need to be adjusted; planting has already started. We look forward to this new and exciting adventure, so if you think garden visiting is only a spring and summer occupation then there’s still time to readjust your thinking. Get out there and enjoy these fine sunny, mild days.

Sam Youd, Gardens Manager

Hallowe'en Horrors at the Old Hall

2011-11-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Old Hall opened up last week to lovely weather outside and a very dark and horrible interior with ghosts and spooks and spirits, who is real and who is not?

The bogey man & dragon

©Margaret Clark

The good witch on the main door (that was Sandra and myself on alternate days) made sure everyone was going to enjoy themselves! And if they looked too afraid, to put a spell on the spooks in the Hall, that’s a Pirate from Davey Jones' Locker, a Witch and a Ghostly Lady to make them keep still and to get the visitors across to the stairs safely, after that....

The Clown/Jester was ready to scare you out of your wits and the Bogey Man had his pet dragon helping him...then a very scary Monk with metal hands and finally the Undertaker to see you out the back door...all in time to come round to the front door and start all over again.

For those not brave enough to enter, of all ages, there was plenty to keep them occupied outside with fair ground rides and a coconut shy, hot drinks and food. There was a storyteller all throughout the day, every day, and also the same with mask making and face painting...a fantastic job to all those involved (don’t know how you did it!)

Davey Jones in the Great Hall ©Margaret Clark

On the first day, Tuesday, there were two 7 year old girls, who kept telling me they were very best friends - they came through so many times completely on their own that I lost count, ended up dancing with the Ghostly Lady several times and not in the least bothered by it all...and yet there were plenty of adults unwilling to come in and lots of screaming...I’ll remember my ear plugs next year.

The team that created it all led by Mick have some very strange minds, (I’d worry about them if they weren’t good friends and I include myself in that) and worked hard to get it all ready on the first Monday and then taken down the following Monday...where did the time go? A brilliant week, let’s do it again sometime..but not just yet!

Margaret Clark,
Interpreter Guide

Explosive Egertons!

2011-10-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sir Thomas Egerton was one of the earliest owners of the Tatton Park estate. The following timely account of his significance in the Gunpowder Plot trials has been provided by local historian, Bernard Dennis. The article was first published in the Chester Chronicle.

On 6 April 1617, a funeral took place in the bell tower of St Mary’s Church, Dodleston. This was no ordinary burial but that of the most important person in the land and second only to King James I.

This person was Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord High Chancellor, Lord Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley. Such titles can only suggest his importance but he had dedicated his life to his previous monarch Queen Elizabeth I and the roles he undertook had transferred to the new king after his accession to the throne in March 1603.

Sir Thomas, in his role of Lord High Chancellor was the prime advocate in the land and as such presided over all of the major trials, especially those connected with treason.

Sir Thomas Egerton

On Tuesday 5 November 1605 the famous occurrence of those who plotted against King James I were caught when they tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with a substantial quantity of gunpowder. The plotters, led by Guido (Guy) Fawkes were intent on destroying the King and legislature in a single blow. Included in the assembly was Sir Thomas Egerton.

As history shows, the attempt was not successful and those caught and implicated in the plot were all apprehended, jailed and sent for trial.

The trial took place in January 1606 in front of nine commissioners headed by Sir Thomas Egerton in his role as Lord Chancellor.

In previous years, Sir Thomas Egerton had conducted many of the famous trials, especially those involving plots against the Crown and he had a fearsome reputation for extracting confessions before the trials by the use of the Rack.

Guy Fawkes, and others were subjected to this treatment and a record exists of his signature before his torture on the Rack and afterwards. His name is barely recognisable!

Needless to say, all the plotters were found guilty and summarily executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.

Sir Thomas Egerton carried on in his role as Lord High Chancellor until his death in March 1617.

Having been born close to Dodleston in 1540 as an illegitimate child of Sir Richard Egerton and Alice Sparke, a lowly maidservant from Dodleston Hall, his progression to being the second most powerful man of the times is a remarkable story.

He chose St Mary’s Church Dodleston for his final resting place where he could be close to his first wife, Lady Elizabeth who died in 1588 and his first born son, also Sir Thomas, who died in action in Dublin in 1599.

Before and after signatures of Guido Fawkes

Bernard Dennis

www.bernarddennis.co.uk

Japanese Garden on fire!

2011-10-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

Panic not - its glowing with autumnal colours only!

Japanese maple leaves © Eleanor Gorsuch

Not many places are as beautiful as the Japanese Garden in Autumn. The historic garden, which this year celebrated the centenary of its introduction, is arguably at its most beautiful in October. Now is the perfect time to see its striking and varied collection of Japanese maples turning rich red, russet and gold. It really is a sight to fall in love with.

The garden has provided Gardens Manager, Sam Youd, with inspiration for the following poem:

Kaede

One hundred years performing before Gentry and Nobility.
Their annual pageant carefully crafted to reflect the seaons.

The Interval,
Tea Ceremony;
anticipation of different scenes.

Shafts of filtered light enhance the costumes.

A year of rehearsal over, the final performance.

Applause and standing ovations from every side.

Colourful explosions of reds and yellows,embalmed in tempura.

A curtain of snow prepares to fall.

Sam Youd, October 2011

We hope you enjoy it!. Visit our Japanese Garden.

NB. 'Kaede' is Japanese for maple. Traditionally, autumnal maple leaves are dipped in tempura batter to make a beautiful table decoration and delicacy.

The pumpkin tree returns!

2011-10-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Last week it was wheelbarrows at the ready for Tatton Park’s garden team - as they brought in the autumn harvest for the half term 'Get Squashed' event. With more than 2.5 acres of walled kitchen gardens, that’s a lot of tasty gourds, marrows and squashes - not forgetting some corking courgettes.

The annual 'Get Squashed' event is now back in the gardens until Sunday, October 30. This event is a great opportunity for the gardeners to dig deep for creative inspiration and make a fantastic display of the autumn harvest. Our visitors have been arriving to see, smell, touch (but not quite taste - that would ruin the display) some wonderful fare from the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.

Look closely for the pumpkins!

Our younger visitors have been taking part in a pumpkin poetry trail, which leads them around the gardens in search of ingredients for a ‘magical spell’finally leading them to the marvellous ‘pumpkin tree’. See left!!

The gardens are looking particularly beautiful now, especially the maples in the historic Japanese garden, which celebrates its centenary this year. Here's a photo of it this lunch time - burnished in its gorgeous autumn colour.

If you’re looking for other frightfully fun events this half term, visit the horrendously haunted Old Hall at Tatton Park from until Sunday, October 30. Prepare to be petrified as you wander through the haunted Tudor building - fast gaining a reputation as one of the spookiest film locations in the North West.

And don't forget the fabulously peculiar Skin and Bones event in the mansion - exploring Tatton's wonderful natural history collection of taxidermy, fossils, shells and ethnographic curios. This event takes place until Sunday October 30.

Happy half term!

Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

At Home in the Library

2011-10-10T04:02:00.000-07:00

Since a report on the Library collection at Tatton in 2005, increased knowledge and understanding of the Library collection and its importance at a national and international level, have led us to plan to make this room and collection more accessible to the public.

The newly re-displayed Library ©George Littler, Tatton Park

The Tatton Library is regarded within the National Trust as one of its top library collections and has an important and varied collection, with the earliest book dating from 1513, to books collected in the 20th century by the last Lord Egerton. It also retains its original Gillows library furniture and is important for its architectural features. The Library was completed around 1818/20 as part of the scheme by architects Samuel and Lewis William Wyatt.

One key aspect of the Tatton Library is that the Egertons were keen book collectors, and that each successive generation added their own significant layer of collecting interest to the Library at Tatton. This Library was a resource for the family, a source of entertainment and interest, and of great pride – it is populated by many fine specimens and bindings, it was used and added to and the books themselves are often annotated by their owners. In addition amongst the Egertons were a number of authors, three of whom:

• Wilbraham Egerton (1832 – 1909) wrote on a variety of subjects – The Cheshire Gentry, Co-operation in Agriculture, A Descriptive Catalogue of the collection of Oriental armour and weapons formed by Lord Egerton …, Education of deaf children.

• His second wife, the Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos published a memoir of her travels: Glimpses of four continents: letters written during a tour in Australia, New Zealand and North America in 1893, along with some stories for children which were published.

• Beatrix Tollemache published her Cranford Souvenirs in 1900.

Taking all of this into account the new Library project was launched this month, seeking to make the Library more accessible and interesting to our visitors. One third of the Library at the west end has been carpeted with protective drugget. This area can now be used by visitors. Two sofas from the Tatton collection have been strengthened and re-upholstered for visitor use, and a Gillows bookcase has been made ready to house books which have a Tatton Park connection, and books for children.

We have created an inviting area for visitors to sit and read and look at material from the collection. The production of replica copies of some of our most interesting and rare books are in the process of being made so that visitors can read something which looks like the original. Probably most successful of all has been the purchase of an iPad on which we have put photographs of some of our books so that visitors can see inside them, without putting the originals at risk.

Come and take a look – it’s a great new facility and we’d be happy to show it to you. You can find out more about the Mansion on our website.

Caroline Schofield, Mansion and Collections Manager

It's not all skin and bones...

2011-10-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

The ethnography and natural history collections at Tatton Park are very special. Maurice Egerton, the last Baron to live in the mansion, travelled all over the world acquiring fascinating objects to bring home for display.

Butterflies collected by Maurice on his travels ©Tatton Park

Over the last few weeks, the Mansion Conservation Assistants have been working behind the scenes to improve the storage conditions of these collections. We have been rearranging boxes and shelving to group objects systematically and to make sure that they have the space and conditions they need to stay well-preserved in storage. At the same time, we've been able to condition check the objects, update our inventory system and generally become more familiar with the collection.

Tiger skull collected by Maurice ©Tatton Park

The store is a real treasure trove of weird and wonderful objects, many of which are too sensitive to be on display. Our elephant skull and three enormous tusks needed three people to move into position. Boxes of birds’ eggs and butterflies had to be carefully inspected and wrapped. Handling some objects can prove dangerous if the right precautions are not taken, so gloves are essential for animal skins and taxidermy that may have been treated with mercury or arsenic many years ago. Our collection of swords, spears and arrows are on low shelves to minimise injury should they fall.

Each box and shelf has photographs and labels to show what it contains, and the contents are wrapped and padded with acid-free tissue. We hope that this will make the collection more accessible in future and keep it safe and secure for many years to come.

You can see Maurice’s collection of wonderful objects in the Maurice Egerton exhibition in the mansion and learn more about Maurice’s adventures around the world. Also, during October half term, why not join us at the mansion and parkland during Skin and Bones week – a celebration of all things natural history. You will have the chance to meet experts, see exciting objects not normally on display and go on fascinating trailer rides with the rangers to learn more about the natural world around us.

Find out more about Skin and Bones event in the Mansion.
Hope to see you there!

Sarah and Catherine in the Mansion

Feeding time...

2011-09-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

The relatively new Allen Bird Hide built overlooking Melchett Mere is now augmented by a bird feeding station. Peanuts and bird seed will be fed either side of the hide to attract a variety of woodland birds.

Woodpecker ©Gary Cross

Many tit species plus finches and woodpeckers should be in attendance. It may take a little time to get going but as the natural food supply dwindles it should prove a popular lifeline for the birds.

Darren Morris, Tatton Park Ranger

Park life

2011-09-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

Autumn is a season of change. Colder weather and shortened daylight hours warn our flora and fauna of the prospect of inhospitable conditions and dwindling food supply. Nature acts accordingly, whether it be trees dropping leaves or a bird flying thousands of miles for sunnier climes.

Bird migration is well underway and visible migration was evident in the parkland with recent sightings of Common Terns, Wheatear and Common Sandpiper. Meadow Pipits become a regular sight as they move from their summer upland breeding grounds. Winter Thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare arrive from Scandinavia and Pink-footed Geese may be seen flying over in typical V formation.

Visitors enjoying the bird hide

©George Littler

Our resident birds are also joined by continental visitors of the same species to enjoy our relatively milder winters. The popular new Allen Hide will be a great place to witness the arrival of numerous wildfowl species also arriving from colder northern climes. A new bird feeding station will also be in operation here, enabling visitors to enjoy the woodland species at close quarters.

Find out more about the parkland and wildlife at Tatton Park on our website.

Darren Morris, Tatton Park Ranger

Going up in the world!

2011-09-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

Since the Flower Show came to a close (during which we won two gold medals!!) we have all been busy back in the garden.

Newly tied apple cordons ©Neil Langan

For the last month I’ve been pruning and tying-in the fruit trees in the walled kitchen garden, specifically plums and greengages. They have been pruned and trained in their ‘fan style’. This is very tricky technically, because they fruit on last year’s wood, which means, if you’re not careful you can end up with incredibly long branches with a few fruits right at the end. You tend to take off the long shoots in order to make dormant buds break. Ideally you have the fruits evenly spaced up each fan rib but on short, fruiting laterals. It takes years of practice! We have also pruned and tied in the apple cordons in the middle of the veg garden. All this work is required to be done from ladders so it makes it a long job for each tree.

We have Victoria, Czar and Kirkes Blue plums and Dennison’s Superb, Old Greengage and Coes Golden Drop greengages. These are all historical varieties which were grown around 1910. These varieties were planted probably ten years ago now by a couple of us and by Simon Tetlow, our Garden Team Leader. They’ve now stretched a good 15 ft wide and reach up to the coping stones at the top of the wall. We are now enjoying the fruits of our labours as we are picking plums and gages for sale in the Garden Shop.

Since finishing the pruning we have been busy weeding in the kitchen garden. The weather has been very kind to the weeds and helping them grow! We’ve been unkind to the weeds in return, and have been hoe-ing them off for the last two weeks or so. We’re still cropping a considerable amount of fruit and veg for the shop including courgettes, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, beans, lettuce, potatoes and raspberries, nectarines, plums and greengages.

Further information about the walled kitchen garden at Tatton Park.

John Hoxworth, Craftsman Gardener

There's a buzz in the parkland...

2011-08-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

There are some real Vespas in Tatton Park. However, these ones are Vespa crabro, more commonly known as the European hornet.

While out looking for wasps’ nests the Ranger team came across an Oak tree in Boat House Wood that the hornets are visiting. The very large hornets are less aggressive than wasps and can be seen taking tree sap and wasps, as well as other insects.

Hornet in the parkland ©Tatton Park

The tree in question is now littered at its base by many pieces of broken insects caught and eaten by these hunters. The hornets are yellow and red/brown in colour, around 25-30mm long and have a very loud wing drone.

There are no other known species of hornet nesting in Britain. This is the first time the team have seen hornets in Tatton – they are not often known to come so far North West. You could say they have caused quite a buzz!

Find out more about the wildlife and activities in the Parkland at Tatton Park.

Simon Jones, Tatton Park Ranger

Summer ‘Boredom Busters’ in Tatton’s Parkland

2011-08-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

This summer’s Boredom Busters took place on Tuesday 16th and Tuesday 23rd August. These annual events are fantastic opportunities for children and their parents/guardians to explore the rich habitat of Tatton’s parkland, under the expert guidance of the ranger team.

Each session started with a tractor and trailer ride through the parkland to see the Red and Fallow deer herds at close quarters. July is prime calving time; nearly two hundred are born each summer in the park and we were lucky enough to see a number of newborn calves (Red deer young) and Fawns (Fallow young).

Following the parkland ride, the rangers led the group on a minibeast hunt in ‘Millennium Wood’ – a young plantation of purely native species. Clem West, Tatton Park Ranger commented “this mixed environment hosts all sorts of creepy crawlies: Centipedes, Beetles, Frogs and Toads and the rangers were on hand to help the many budding David Bellamys to identify them!”

Pond dipping © George Littler

Next was pond dipping: netting and identifying all kinds of pondlife, including: Dragonfly Nymphs, Pond Skaters, Water Boatmen and Whirligig beetles. Prime pond-dipping prize for many children are leeches – last year’s champion Boredom Busters’ find was a leech over 8 inches long at full stretch!

There were plenty of other opportunities to enjoy the parkland wildlife during this session. This time of year brings a rich diversity of birdlife and fledglings. Each ranger has their own speciality interest: birds, fungi, trees, butterflies and much more, and they relish sharing their enthusiasm and knowledge with participants.

It is great to have the opportunity to share our love of the parkland with visitors, especially with a younger audience.

Don't forget - children can also have a great time following the Parkland Explorer trail at Tatton Park.
Clemency West, Tatton Park Ranger

The Vikings come to Tatton Old Hall!

2011-08-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

Battle ©Margaret Clark

Sunday 14 August saw the Old Hall taken over by The Vikings of Middle England, a really great group of re-enactors showing us how the Vikings lived...not just how we all imagine they were like, fighting and pillaging, but how they were in their daily life.

Of course the fighting is important and these guys don’t pull any punches and demonstrated types of weapons and how they were used both as individual warriors and also as an organised fighting group...axes biting into shields and pieces of wood flying off into the air...and encouraged to cheer for your chosen warrior.

Also a Viking Longship Experience...with a real boat... with involvement for the children imagining what it would have been like to sail in one of these ships and be ready to fight when you landed.

There was a storyteller keeping the children engrossed, have-a-go archery, try your hand at calligraphy and strike a Viking coin...along with just chatting to the re-enactors by their tents.

My Lady

©Margaret Clark

Gauntlet Birds of Prey gave their usual professional display of flying the birds...then a display of a war horse with the rider giving a very accurate account of using a lance and sword and shooting the longbow from the back of the horse...he was dressed in the Norman way but then they were originally Northmen and Normandy was another Viking Kingdom.

Most of the displays happened twice and kept everyone interested and happy...

It was a non-stop day with something going on all the time, very busy with lots of people coming through the Old Hall, trying on armour in the Great Hall and being interested in the building and the people who lived there from early days right through to the 1960s...and the weather was kind to us!

A successful and great day all round. You can find out more about Viking Sunday here and look out for similar events on our website.

Margaret Clark

History Interpreter Guide

Lovely Lou Lou!

2011-08-08T03:02:00.000-07:00

Lou Lou with Evan and Elly

We have been searching for a new Jersey cow for some time now as we plan to start milking the four native breeds of milk cattle, the Shorthorn, the Jersey, the Guernsey and the Ayrshire. Last year we purchased a Guernsey called Beauty and an Ayrshire called Pansy. We have been busy halter training them and getting them used to their new surroundings, they will both be put into calf this year ready to start milking in 2012.

Whilst at the Cheshire County Show this year I got chatting to Mr Jones a well know Jersey breeder from Lancashire, I explained what we were looking for and David thought he had just the animal for us. As soon as I saw Lou Lou, (her posh full name being Bluestone Antheas Louise, far too much a mouthful for an everyday name) I knew she was the lady for us. Beautiful looking and just the nature we were searching for.

Being prepared for milking

We have now been milking for three weeks and everything is running really smoothly, far too smoothly for life on a farm. Milking is 2pm each day and as we walk her up to the shippon she draws a big crowd with her, resembling the pied piper….It’s great to actually see the milk going into the bucket as we have a Perspex unit that enables the visitors to see exactly how much milk she is giving. We plan to chart how much milk she gives on a weekly basis and follow her lactation curve.

The next step is to start the butter churning demonstrations, however at the moment the pigs are having a daily treat of gold top milk courtesy of our lovely Lou Lou.

You can find out more about our other animals at the farm on our website.

Jayne Chapman, Farm Manager

My working weeks at Tatton

2011-08-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Heather preparing the dolls' house for the new exhibition

The very first day of my work experience, and I think what they say about first impressions is definitely true. It was a blur of hard work, fun and lots and lots of experience.

To begin with, I was introduced to the farm team, which quickly brings me to what I noticed the most about Tatton Park; its staff. Every member of staff I’ve had the pleasure of working with here have been as kind and helpful as can be, and have made my time here even more memorable and enjoyable.

Anyway, on to the farm. I’ve been to the farm twice in my two weeks of work experience, both times in my first week, and both times were terrific. Amongst other jobs around the farm, I got a chance to lead in the Clydesdales, Finn and Blossom (although there was a slightly hairy moment when a hornet kept bothering Tabitha, who got a little worried), accompany the pigs indoors and outdoors (and got a chance to see Tallulah’s new piglets!), bring in the new reindeer and the cows, and groom the donkeys, as well as more cleaning. The biggest job on our first day was bringing in the lambs, marking the ones over 35kg for the future (we all know what happens on a farm).

Another area of Tatton I got to work in was with the rangers, which again I did twice. On Wednesday, I got to help out with an Education trip, which basically involved taking a school group out in the park in a trailer, and letting them try out some wildlife-based activities; Mini beast hunting in the Millennium Wood, and Pond dipping. I also got to see some pricket skulls and stag skulls from red deer and fallow deer, and drive around the park looking at the rare breeds of sheep they have at Tatton.

On Friday, I spent most of the time driving a buggy, emptying the bins and picking up litter around the car park and eating areas (it was a lot more fun than it sounds...no really, it was). I also got to collect some grasses from the private fields in Tatton for the Rangers Exhibition.

The other thing I got to do on week one was to try my hand at Education. I spent the day at the farm, dressed as a WWII farm girl, helping out with the various activities. I got to spend time at each of the four bases; learning about life at home in WWII with Aunt Mary, playing old games with Etta, cleaning leather and ‘milking cows’ with Bob, and feeding the goats and chickens with Evan.

My second try at Education came in week two, when I spent the day at the Old Hall, again dressed up, but this time as a Tudor. I also got a title: Mistress Heather. I did completely different things this time, getting to watch the school group try out Tudor cooking, archery, jousting, and learning about weaponry and armour throughout history. I was also lucky enough to watch a falconry display, which featured a number of birds, including a bald eagle, a vulture and a falcon.

The remaining three days I spent in the mansion, doing various tasks. On Wednesday, I was in the Ethnographic store, photographing and recording the old and often valuable artefacts kept in there. Amongst other things, I came across an elephant skull, and a tusk that was unbelievably huge. I also got to take a tour around the mansion, witnessing all of its splendour, and preparing a dolls house for children in the Architectural exhibition that was about to open.

On Thursday, I got to hoover the carpet that I walked along on the tour, and having the pleasure of seeing the mansion in a different light (a.k.a. a lot less light). Although, I didn’t spend all that much time in the mansion on that day, instead going into Knutsford to find frames for some architectural pictures that needed to be hung in the mansion.

Finally, I spent my last day in an office with another work experience girl, making a new staff library. This basically meant that we spent the day glue-sticking library cards and various other items into the library books.

All in all, I think my time at Tatton have been two weeks to remember, and I would recommend anyone to come here, purely for the diversity of the activities you’ll be doing, and the excellent company you’ll have whilst doing it.

Thank you Tatton Park!

Heather Dowling

Willow Weaving Workshop

2011-08-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

A group of ten ladies gathered into a room at the Stable Yard. Were they all eager to try their hand at willow weaving a simple individual creation? Could they really achieve this - that was the question. This was an attempt to introduce a craft which our ancestors were excellent at. Using willow for baskets, chairs, tables, etc. would need some experience so we started by making simple circles, which incidentally are essential to any sculpture. Much fun, laughter and frustration followed but eventually we all got there.

and here's one I made earlier..

During the day many wonderful designs were created including a large fish, butterflies, dragon flies, garlands, sun flowers, etc.

Everyone was amazed at what they had created and learnt in such a short time. Hopefully this taster will encourage these very able ladies (where were the men)? to join a local group and create many more wonderful willow objects.

Judith Goodburn - Interpreter Guide

The first willow weaving workshop at Tatton Park in 2012 takes place on 17 March 2012.

Grand designs & small details

2011-07-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

We have just put the finishing touches to two new Mansion exhibitions which will run from July 18th to 30th October 2011 at Tatton.

“In Our View” is an exhibition of beautiful photographs taken by our Ranger team. Each team member has selected the best from their own personal photographic collections. This magical exhibition shows something of the amazing diversity of flora and fauna of the Tatton estate from the perspective of people who work closely in this environment.

The Nature Table will bring to mind school day collections of things found on rambles in the country, and we hope that the exhibition will inspire our visitors to bring their own cameras to take amazing natural history photos in the Park.

Working with nature again, but this time Geodiversity, a trail will lead you through the Mansion at Tatton highlighting various geological materials which have been used in its construction. This is all part of our architectural theme for the summer.

Caroline Schofield setting up the exhibition

“Grand Designs and Small Details” is our second exhibition, which takes a look at the development of the Mansion building at Tatton Park throughout the Georgian and Regency periods. The Tatton Park Architectural Drawings Conservation, Digitisation and Access project has recently led to the conservation of 97 important original architectural drawings of the house, including those by architects Samuel and Lewis William Wyatt. A further 56 drawings are currently with our paper conservator undergoing studio conservation. Over 100 drawings have now been digitally scanned, and selected images of them have been used to tell the story of the Egertons and their house and home making. In addition we are displaying some of the original drawings which architect Lewis William Wyatt produded for the interior details of the house. These drawings are fragile – so make the most of the rare opportunity to come and see them.

Caroline Schofield, Mansion & Collections Manager, Tatton Park

Day one nearly done!

2011-07-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Tatton's Japanese Garden

The RHS Flower Show may be months in the planning but we very swiftly speed through the hours once the show is finally upon us.

There's been a great buzz on the first day of the show, with a lot of interest around Tatton's Japanese Garden inspired (and gold medal winning) garden - Paradise Isle - 100 years on. We've got a fantastic spot with the other local gardens making up the Cheshire Gardens of Distinction's area.

My favourite flowers of the show in the floral marquee

Tatton's presence - other than the show garden - is a Marketing and an Education tent. For us, in Marketing, it's a great opportunity to chat to people about what we do at Tatton and to try and encourage visitors to come back to see all we have to offer here. We also get asked all sorts of questions about the flowerbed too - so if you don't know your acer palmatum from your elbow, now is the time to find out!

Beautiful bug house!

After many years of doing the show the team has learnt a few essential tips to see you through the 5 days: water, suncream, sunglasses (for those glaring walkways) water and a bit more water. This year we might just (fingers treble crossed) get away without the brollies. And a break in the Country Living tent doesn't go amiss either.

Here's a few of the highlights for me of day one...
Eleanor Gorsuch, Marketing

Tatton through my eyes...

2011-07-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Emily is spending a couple of weeks as an intern. Here's her perspective of Tatton so far...

As a local Knutsford resident Tatton Park has always been on my doorstep, constantly passing through, whether it be on a family bike ride, walking the dog or simply enjoying the sunshine with a picnic by the Mere. However, the magnificent history and intricate stories which are beyond Tatton Mere are unbeknown to me.

This week my eyes have been opened to the world behind Tatton Park, consisting of hundreds of years of the Egertons and their endeavours which occurred throughout this time.

Set in over 1,000 acres of parkland Tatton has something for everyone; this week I have discovered each individual aspect of the park and set my adventurous instincts to go.

One of the most immaculate elements of Tatton is the Gardens, inspired from places all over the world and the host of a compilation of spectacular beauties. The first thing I did was wander off the path and deep into the landscape, concealing myself from all other visitors, I felt like Mary in her Secret Garden. This lead me through to the Arboretum, a magical part to the gardens full of elaborate conifers, again feeling like a child, lost in an enchanted wood. Having made my way back to the main path I then approached the maze, which I decided to have a whirl at; luckily I found my way to the centre and back out again- a challenge which entices everyone. My final stop off was the faultless Italian Gardens, set in perfect symmetry as a backdrop to the Neo- Classical Mansion; placed with precision and perfection they compliment the grounds and Mansion wholly.

Seeing the Gardens which envelop the Mansion made my intuition take me to the heart of the park, for a glimpse as to the wonderful life the Egertons lived in their grand home. As a whole the Mansion is stunning, it may not look too spectacular from the outside but by stepping through those doors this idea diminishes and you become captured by the house and its contents. The three elements which really caught my eye were the architecture, the paintings and the library. The popular style of the Ancient Greeks and Romans influenced the style of the Mansion, explicitly displayed throughout with a similar symmetry to the Italian Gardens. However, the Entrance Hall exhibits the finest piece of Neo-Classicism, marble floors, porphyry columns and a mirror image from the central line.

The library at Tatton

Like any 18^th/19^th Century mansion, paintings consume the majority of wall space; what intrigued me was the rarity of a number of these. Predominantly the two Canaletto’s in the Drawing Room; magnificent originals with an uncommon signature declaring them as a couple of the first Canaletto paintings. The final site which encapsulated me was the library; holding a collection of over 8,000 books spanning a whole host of subject matter, dating as far back as 1513. There are even some first edition Jane Austen novels amongst the gorgeous Gillows bookcases.

As Tatton has recently become parent to two sets of piglets, The Farm was the next place on my visit list. Armed with the camera I went in search of these babies to the working farm, which has been part of Tatton since the mid eighteen hundreds. Specialising in raising rare breads of animals, Home Farm is a place for children with an adventurous head and adults who are intrigued by the history, or like me, just animal lovers. The pigs were my favourite part, host to six rare breads: the Tamworth, Large Black, Middle White, Berkshire, Saddleback and Gloucestershire Old Spot, meant there was plenty to see alongside those adorable, chunky piglets.

Finally I took a step further back in time to the oldest part and building of the Tatton Estate- The Old Hall. As a child I recall coming here, dressed as Vikings; one minute baking bread over an outdoor fire and the next charging at classmates, in the heat of a battle. Named as the ‘Hidden Gem’, the Old Hall can often be forgotten. The original Manor House to the first residents of Tatton during the Middle Ages, the Old Hall tells its story through the walls as you amble through the house. As each new era added segments to the house, the periods develop as the house does- commencing with the Medieval Great Hall and ending in the sitting room of Tatton workers in the 1950s. What a brilliant tour, creating the feeling of movement through the ages, I could immediately imagine the residents of the Old Hall sat in each room conducting their daily routine of the period. They may still be there.

Emily-Jane Bartley

Lights, camera, action!

2011-07-13T02:22:00.000-07:00

Focusing in the Fernery @Peter Spooner

16 photographers enjoyed a photo shoot in the mansion at Tatton, providing the opportunity to photograph internal views of the lavishly furnished rooms and detailed shots of the furniture and artefacts.

The event was organised to give photographers the rare opportunity to take photographs without the presence of the visiting public by using a day when the mansion was closed. Public photography is not usually allowed in the mansion.

The feedback on the day was very positive with those attending welcoming the opportunity to practice their skills in a unique environment. All who attended said that the occasion was most enjoyable, informative and photographically challenging.

The final session of the day was a visit to the Italian Gardens and Fernery to photograph the exterior details of the Italian Garden, Mansion and the flowers and variety of ferns growing within the Fernery.

It was an enjoyable day for all concerned.

Find out more about Photo Shoot at Tatton Park.

George Littler
Course Facilitator

Tatton showmen

2011-07-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

8 July 2011

Caption competition?!

©Sam Youd

We are on day 5 of the build of our show garden at the RHS Show site (a garden inspired by the centenary of the Japanese Garden). At the moment it feels like October with the wind whistling across the open parkland.

Beginning to take shape..

©Sam Youd

Having dug out the pond we’re now ready for planting but we’re really concerned about the wind burn on the tender acers if we were to put them out today. However, we need to place these large acers before we continue the planting of the rest of the garden. We’ve looked at the forecast and decided to put off the planting until tomorrow, which is just as well, because as we speak it is throwing it down with rain and may get even heavier.

Up to now build has gone really well; the weather has been reasonably kind, although, like all gardeners we’re bound to moan about the fact that the garden is really hard – due to the fact that we had a very dry spring and whatever we have had since then, has found it difficult to penetrate.

The other gardens are looking good and everyone seems to be ahead of schedule – there is a good atmosphere as most people know one another anyway. By next week, as more plants arrive, we will definitely see a constant migration of plants between one garden and another as we all swap our surplus plants!

The best way to build a garden for the show is to always have in mind that anything you do or plan to do, needs to be done early in the hour, early in the day, early in the week. No procrastination should be allowed and good logistical planning is essential! The aim should be to finish the garden as early as possible so that by the time judging takes place the garden should look settled and the plants should have started to re-grow.

Gardens which are finished early always attract TV/media attention as reporters and producers are always looking for finished items. In view of this, it’s extremely important to have a couple of quirky stories in hand – which act as a media carrot. I’ll keep mine to myself, for now (ie make some up later!).

Have a good show!

Sam Youd, Gardens Manager

The beautiful Tatton Tabitha!

2011-07-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our Clydesdale horse Tatton Tabitha was born in May 2008. Our little girl is blossoming into a very special young lady and has been really busy these last few months undertaking her training.

Tatton Tabitha in shafts for the 1st time, with Jayne

Obviously training starts in the first few weeks of life, halter training, being led and having her feet picked up. It’s crucial this is done, as if left until she is older and she decides she doesn’t want to pick her feet up then we’re in trouble. Apart from basic handling they can’t undertake any work until the age of three, when fully grown.

We start by placing the harness on her, leaving it on for a few hours at a time, whilst she gets used to it. Then we start to long rein, which is where she is driven without her actually pulling any weight and then the next stage is to put her into the shafts.

The picture above shows Tabitha during her first time in this small training cart - she didn’t put a hoof wrong. Whatever she has been asked to do she has accepted and taken everything as a real pro.

Now three years old Tabitha is old enough to be put in foal. She was therefore stabled recently at the stud farm in Church Minshull and on Monday 20th June we found out she was a few weeks in foal! Another new addition next year.

Find out more information about our other rare breed animals at Tatton Park here.

Jayne Chapman, Farm Manager

In Our View: Rangers’ Photographic Exhibition

2011-06-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Sunrise in the parkland

©Clem West

A new exhibition titled ‘In Our View’ starts in the mansion on 19 July, running until the end of October.

It comprises of a collection of photos taken solely within the parkland by the rangers. With over 200 years of Tatton Park service between us, we hope our affinity with this beautiful, natural setting is reflected in the collection of our own photos.

The Red and Fallow deer feature strongly in many of the photos, singly and in groups, close up or silhouetted against a beautiful backdrop. However, Tatton’s stunning landscapes and its rich variety of flora and fauna are also very well represented in the collection. The constantly changing weather, seasons and light enable Tatton to provide fantastic and very different photo opportunities all year around.

A wide range of cameras have been used to take these photos, ranging from a ‘humble’ pocket compact to a tripod mounted SLR with a large flash gun!

The exhibition takes place in the mansion from Tuesday 19 July to Sun 30 October (closed Mondays)

Clem West, Tatton Park Ranger

Learning longbow at the Old Hall

2011-06-29T01:44:00.000-07:00

Fifteen adults, some by themselves, some couples and others friends have just spent a fun afternoon learning a new skill at our Medieval Old Hall. The Old Hall, nestling in a quiet corner here at Tatton Park offers the most perfect atmospheric setting for an Introduction to the Medieval Longbow, along with tutors in Medieval costume.

The session begins in the Great Hall where a talk on the history of the longbow and a demonstration of some of our extensive armour takes place. The Old Hall has so much history attached to it and also has a very proud association with the famous/infamous Stanley family who were prominent at The Battle of Bosworth Field. Following on, eyes adjusted to the daylight we divided into small groups and donned suitable safety protection.

In full garb for the Medieval Fayre - Sheila is 2nd from the left!

The group shot (or to give the correct terminology) 'loosed' a few blunt arrows onto a straw man, this gives us a chance to improve stance and adjust to the correct bow weight.

That quickly over, the real fun starts, out come the 'sharps' and the targets where all eyes focus on the coveted gold centre.

Archery is a sport where safety is paramount but it is also a sport where laughter, excitement and sheer determination is the order of the day and when the elusive gold has your arrow in it the 'whoops' can echo around the park (a dignified swagger is also acceptable). As muscles develop and confidence grows, eyes start to focus on the ominous bow marked 'big boys only', a challenge that is always taken up. One of the most satisfying sounds is the 'thud' of an arrow connecting with the target!

So if you would like a fun and challenging few hours (with refreshments) in a fabulous setting, check out Tatton's website for INTRODUCTION TO THE LONGBOW. We know you'll love it!

Sheila Cartwright, Interpreter Guide

Medieval Fair Weekend at the Old Hall

2011-06-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

Selling wares

Here's the first of our general Tatton blogs .. thanks to Margaret for this brilliant impression of the Medieval Fayre, which took place on 18 & 19 June!

The Hidden Gem of Tatton becomes very popular this time of year with a great many re-enactors and traders arriving from Thursday evening onwards...amazing how on Saturday morning they all seem to have been there forever! Not only in the grounds of the Old Hall but also outside in a Living History camp where they’ll chat and show you just what they do...no sleeping on the ground for them but cosy looking wooden, tester beds with curtains and luxurious blankets to keep them warm.

Mick firing the cannon

After the midday gun, a show from Gauntlet Birds of Prey started the day off well and followed closely by the Company of Ordnance...gunners to you, fascinating! and noisy with some very loud bangs and sound shock waves...everyone enjoying themselves despite the damp start.

Skies cleared and we saw the Old Hall getting crowded, the Education tent very popular and then the Muster with the men at arms and knights. At that point it started to pour down so there was a slight delay but nothing could stop the Battle. The Tatton Company of Archers joined the Lancastrians, that’s Mick Ricketts, Sheila Cartwright, Bob Douglas and myself, to find us facing fire arrows, gunfire and explosions...we came through safely after scoring some hits on the opposition....great fun! And, we didn’t get too wet.

Sunday’s weather was much better with blue skies and some warm sunshine, and the crowds kept coming ...as well as the demonstrations in the Old Hall Arena there were musicians, singers and gentry...including King Edward IV on his horse, wandering through the Old Hall grounds.

This time the Company of Ordnance had a celebratory to help fire the breech loading cannon...Mick, he almost vanished in a cloud of smoke!

Once again into battle but this time in the sun, thank goodness. We had a head wind so the arrows took a bit more effort to hit their mark, the other side had a following wind and their arrows fell behind us...but a couple of loud ‘thunks’ on shields when flat shooting at a company of soldiers, told us we’d made a hit...who won? Well, we did of course!

A brilliant and busy weekend, roll on next year...we need more arrows!
Margaret Clark

Celebrating the centenary of our Japanese Garden

2011-05-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

When we reach 100 years old, we get a telegram from the Queen but when a bit of our garden, namely the Japanese Garden, reaches 100 years we throw a Japanese themed party and get messages of support from the Japanese Embassy.

It’s been a bad year for the Japanese people so far, with only news to us of doom and gloom, so another good reason to have a celebration was to show our visitors what is so great about Japan. So against the backdrop of our world famous garden, we had a celebration of Japanese Children’s Day. This was originally Boys’ Day, a day to fly the carp flags, symbolising the carps’ journey home, against the odds, who then turn into a mythical dragon, an allegory of a boy turning into a great man.

On 2nd May we flew carp from our monument, our garden shop and in the trees around the garden. We had Japanese food stalls, Japanese Gifts and pottery, kimono demonstrations, craft activities and children’s games: all this to the accompaniment of Rochdale’s finest Taiko drummers.

The day was a fantastic success and gave people a valuable insight into the culture behind our 100 year old garden, so much so, our intention is to run Children’s Day every year.

Gardens are not only places about plants but are also about the people behind the plants and here at Tatton we are passionate about giving our customers new experiences related to the world of plants. So keep looking at our website for new and up and coming events.

Happy gardening.

Simon Tetlow, Team Leader

Alliums all over the place!

2011-04-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

In the last few days I have been planting out the leeks and onions in the kitchen garden. We’re using Musselborough leeks, a traditional variety and Ailsa Craig onions – a large, bulbing onion which is also a traditional variety.

With the leeks I’ve been topping and tailing them – that’s where you take an inch off the roots and an inch off the top because you plant them using a dibber and you just drop the leek into the hole and water them in. I’ve planted over 50 so far since 8.30am this morning! I’ve got three crops of leeks to go in this year, plus my giant winter leeks so there’ll be plenty for the garden shop and soup-lovers everywhere!

I’ve been looking at reducing the amount of ‘thick necks’ that we have in the onion crop. This can cause ‘neck rot’ when they’re in storage. There are various reasons for this including the soil being too loose and/or too firm. If the soil is too firm the onion has to force its way through the soil, which is why it develops a thick neck. So in order to counteract this they have to be planted at the same height that the bulb is on the stem. However, if you plant it too high, it’s loose in the soil and it bolts. Tricky business! Onion varieties we’ve sown include Bedfordshire Champion, Red Brunswick and Red Baron.

I have over 60 baby pineapple plants now, of which there are probably ten ready for potting up to go in the Pinery. This is the largest number of plants we’ve had since the restoration of the Pinery and we’re now running two beds. One of the beds is a fruiting bed and the other is a succession bed, producing side shoots for potting up, that will eventually go into the fruiting bed. It is the usual practice to take the first two to three side shoots of each plant due to the fact that any produced after the third one usually has much less vigour than the first two or three (I found this out after some experimentation!).

The current fruiting plants are ready to be potted on and are likely to fruit in the next sized pot which will hopefully be in the next eight months.

John Hoxworth

Craftsman Gardener

The diagram above shows the layout of the restored Pinery. At present, the West Compartment is used for fruiting and the East Compartment is used for producing side shoots from plants which have previously fruited.

Japanese Garden Restoration Work

2011-03-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

We’re doing some restoration work on the Japanese Garden at the moment. Work started about 5 weeks ago on the ‘four eyed’ fence by taking out the old, rotten posts which had been in for the last ten years and have had some recent wind damage. This involved taking out half the fence around the garden and putting in new posts ready to rebuild the bamboo fence.

The bamboo was ordered from Japan and came in a crate overseas to Southampton, then shipped to Liverpool and then delivered by lorry to Tatton. Making the ‘four eyed’ fence is the trickiest bit as you have to get the bamboo perfectly level on rocky ground and knock them into shape with a rubber mallet. The fence is called ‘four eyed’ because when it’s complete you can see four eyes staring back at you!

The next stage, probably next week, is to tie the Japanese knots to fasten the bamboo to the fence. The knots are a skill in themselves but it’s also important to get the tension right as they tighten and shrink after the rain. The rope (which has also come from Japan) is soaked in a bucket overnight and then is tied on wet.

After this we’ll be putting in three new gates within the four eyed fence. We hope to have the garden perfectly restored by the end of April when Professor Fukuhara comes from Japan for our Japanese Garden centenary celebrations. The Professor advised on the restoration of the garden about 10 years ago.

The photo shows me at work on the fence!

Geoff Horrocks, Craftsman Gardener

Tatton's Blooming!

2011-03-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

This week I’ve been liming the lawn in Charlotte’s Garden and the Italian Garden, ready for scarifying. The soil here is very acid so we use the lime to raise its P.H. to help kill the moss off. This is something we do every year at about this time. We’ll also be giving the lawn a spring feed after we’ve finished the scarifying and I have been spraying the paths with sulphate of iron to kill off the moss.

Continuing with the tidying up I’ve been removing ivy from the walls of the L Border. This is to make it ready for re-introducing the traditional wooden trellis which will support climbing roses, clematis and other plants. We’ve ordered in the timber and will be making it onsite to fit perfectly. Also on the L Border I’ve been digging over the bed and mulching it with horse manure to keep the weeds down and feed the plants.

If you get the chance to come down don’t forget to visit the glasshouses near the Orchard and see the beautiful peach blossom in flower. This will only be around for the next week or so!

Alan Denton, Gardener

Digging Up Spring

2011-03-08T05:17:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when the last of the remaining frosts are on the ground and it’s starting to get a little bit warmer. Around the gardens in Tatton the beginnings of spring are starting to emerge: Forsythia intermedia on the L border is now flowering in golden abundance; the delicate white bell-like flowers of the Pieris japonica on the rockery complements the sky blue Irises surrounding them. The pink flowers of the Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ are peeping through the buds that have enclosed them all year and the dark pink berry-like flowers of the Skimmia rubella around the corner are flowering profusely.

Unfortunately I am missing all of this as I have been digging in the kitchen garden! I have been working on the herb bed which we plan to re-locate to a small raised bed elsewhere in the garden and replace it with a mixture of perennial flowers, including dahlias. We did not have the opportunity to finish preparing this bed during the early winter period, due to the biggest burden on gardeners – the unfavourable weather conditions!

Digging is a tiresome task but very rewarding as it aerates the soil and allows water to seep through. Many of the visitors to Tatton have complimented us on the condition of the soil in the vegetable garden and we simply say it is due to many years of hard work and feeding it with manure and fish blood and bone. I look forward to filling these bare beds with vegetables and flowers later on in the season.

Daniela Jankowska

The photo shows me rotivating a bed in the kitchen garden during late spring

Stone the Crows!

2011-02-17T03:01:00.000-08:00

This year we’ve really excelled ourselves in making our scarecrows! It’s the third year we’ve had a scarecrow festival and we think it’s going to the best!

There will be a record number of scarecrows in the gardens this year ranging from Darth Vader, Bill & Ben, to the Stig – who will be dotted around the gardens for half term week (19-27 Feb, closed Mon). There’s also a fantastic quiz for kids’ to take part in and an activity day on Sat 19 Feb.

The glasshouse and kitchen garden team, volunteers and one of the Education team members have been working solidly on making the scarecrows for the past week or so. We’ve taken over the Conservatory to make them in as there’s loads of space now it’s been cleared out for restoration this spring.

It’s a nice change for us to do something different from the day to day tasks. Hopefully the weather will stay nice and we will have a record number of visitors this year!

As this is something we’ve all done together, we thought we’d jointly share this blog with you!
Mark Blomeley, John Hoxworth, Simon Kellett.

Winter Work in the Garden

2010-12-22T02:53:00.000-08:00

I’ve been at Tatton for the past month. Previous to this I worked at Congleton Park for 21 years –so this is a welcome change for me! Before that, I served an apprenticeship at Stoke on Trent parks. I’m enjoying my time here very much!

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been doing some winter clearance of areas in the garden. This has included taking down an old fence, to make way for a new fence in the area called ‘Stallion Paddock’.

In front of the Orangery we’ve felled an oak (which was probably over 150 years old), but has needed taking down for safety reasons. We’ve also pruned back the Rhododendrons near the Maze. This is a typical winter task when the ground conditions allow– because the ground is frozen, it allows you to do these heavy jobs, without damaging the ground too much.

We’ve also been taking the Christmas festive decorations out of the Mansion, as it closed to the public at the weekend. A bit strange, as we’ve not even got to Christmas Eve yet! The greenery will be composted for use in the following season. We’ve also made some wreathes using garden greenery, which have been on sale in the Garden Shop.

All the garden team wish everyone a very happy and snowy Christmas! We look forward to blogging more in the New Year.

Michael Brown, Gardener

The Pumpkin Tree

2010-10-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of days I have been set a rather strange task: to put a dozen large pumpkins into a tree near the maze! This is ready for ‘Get Squashed in the Gardens’ taking place during October half term. Kids will be following a trail which leads them to a Beech tree which has had pumpkins wired onto it. The pumpkin required me and Simon climbing a triple rung ladder and wiring them securely into place – this needed a strong head for heights.

There is also a neighbouring tree which has been dressed with cobwebs, spiders, bats and other spooky stuff ready for Hallowe'en. I climbed up here on a rope and harness to fix them into place. The overall effect is pretty striking and I can imagine the children being impressed with it, when they come in from tomorrow.

The other gardeners have been working hard on putting together a display of pumpkins and squashes in one of the glasshouses. There are hundreds, of various shapes and sizes – it’s nice to see all the produce set out like this.

It’s surprising what tasks you get asked to do at Tatton, but it is great to have a change from time to time!

Preparing for Winter

2010-09-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

Back in March you can see from my previous blog, how I created a marrow bed in the kitchen garden, using traditional methods. This year has been an exceptional year for pumpkins and marrows. They had a good start in the sunshine earlier in the year and have been helped by the wet weather later on – which all helps them put on weight.

This photograph shows me with our largest pumpkin and one of the marrows. The pumpkin is from a variety called ‘Hundredweight’ and it takes two of us to lift it!! We’ve got even heavier marrows than the one you can see here. We’ll probably harvest the pumpkin mid October – it’ll be used in a fabulous display during our ‘Get Squashed’ week (Saturday 23rd to Sunday 31st October). We show all the pumpkins, marrows, squashes and gourds – which have been specially grown for showing not eating!

The other photo you can see is me tying up onions, just how it used to be done. The onions were sown in March, planted out end of April/beginning of May; then they were lifted at the beginning of August. They were left to dry out in one of the large polytunnels for a few weeks. This year has been a great year for growing onions here – due to the hot weather at the beginning of the year which meant that they’ve grown quicker earlier on and we lifted them early enough so they didn’t suffer from the wet weather (onions like it to be drier – in case they rot). The varieties of onions in the picture are ‘Bedford Champion’ and ‘Ailsa Craig’. We’ve also grown a red onion called ‘Red Brunswick’ which has also done really well and a showing onion called ‘Mammoth Giant’ which is about 15cm diameter now!

We string them in a traditional way; starting from a strong piece of string/or rope a metre length, then you tie a loop in the bottom with a hangman’s knot then you get three onions together and put the tops of the onions through the loop and pull the knot down. This is the most important part of the process. You then add an onion at a time, working round in a circle, looping the top of the onion round about three times, working your way up until you’ve got as many onions on it as you want. As you can see in my picture, I have about 60 onions, but you don’t need to do that many. It took two of us to lift this bunch (carefully!). The idea of bunching the onions is for the air to flow freely around them so they dry out properly. This is to prevent them from rotting or any disease getting to them. You can then take one off as you need it. These should last you throughout the winter.

Simon Kellett

Craftsman Gardener

The Dark Lady

2010-07-29T03:37:00.000-07:00

In May I went over to Horne in Holland to meet students from Clusius College. Over the last 12 years Clusius horticultural students have come over to Tatton every other year to work in the gardens for a fortnight and then build their own garden for the annual RHS Flower Show. In recent years it’s been my responsibility to manage and look after the students and the garden. By the way, the college was named after the first person who took tulips to Holland (Carolus Clusius)!

This year the design of the garden was based on a story from Gawsworth Hall, about the ‘Dark Lady’. Mary Fitton, from the Gawsworth family, is often believed to have been an inspiration for the ‘dark lady’ from Shakespeare’s sonnets.

The students’ back to back garden included a wall for vertical planting, with black and white panels to represent the tudor construction of the hall. In the centre of a decorative pond was a dark red David Austin rose called ‘the dark lady.’ The roses used are now going to be planted in the rose garden at Gawsworth.

The students had a great time when they were here. They got a silver medal for their garden, and enjoyed some great local experiences including walking in Derbyshire, and trips to Liverpool, Manchester and Old Trafford stadium – and of course, time working in Tatton’s gardens. it’s been great fun to host students for another year and we look forward to the next batch in two years’ time!

Pete Lofthouse, Craftsman Gardener

Heating up for the Flower Show!

2010-06-30T03:53:00.001-07:00

We’re now getting ready for the RHS Flower Show, which opens in 3 weeks time. In recent weeks we’ve sourced most of the plants for our back-to-back garden, The Mod-ieval Garden. Last week, with the weather being so hot, we have had to move the plants into a shaded area and keep them well watered to try and ‘slow them down’ so they are not past it by the time the show comes round! Because these plants are so important we really need to keep our eye on them for watering and watching out for unwanted pests.

In the glasshouses we have thinned out the vines to allow the grapes to swell – it gives more space for the fruit to see the sun. They’re pea sized at the moment and should be ready to pick later in the summer. The vines are pruned to two leaf buds after where the fruit is beginning to form. That was a hot job – it can be over 100 degrees in the glasshouses, especially around midday!

The last couple of days we’ve been transplanting the wallflowers, which have been grown from seed this year in the kitchen garden. Thousands will be planted over the next few days in the kitchen garden. They’ll then be transplanted for the autumn into the Italian and Charlotte’s Garden. Due to the heat, as soon as we lift the plants, they’re beginning to wilt so we have to be really fast with the planting and watering.

At the moment we’re getting a good crop of potatoes, cauliflowers, lettuce, cabbage, turnip and beetroot. We’ve also had some rhubarb and great strawberries – though we have had to net them to keep the squirrels and birds from the berries. All the produce is sold from the Garden Shop.

All the gardeners are wearing their hats, keeping covered up, slapping on the sunscreen and staying in the shade as much as possible. We’re also praying for rain!

Mark Blomeley

Craftsman Gardener

Images Left: Show plants in the shade. Right: Wallflower seedlings in Kitchen Garden

The Italian Job Well Done!

2010-06-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

My last blog was the 1st February, since that time we have completed the Italian Garden parterre and bedded it out – I’m really pleased with the outcome! Since we put the metalwork in place, we fertilised the soil, dug it over and added compost ready for planting. After the dirty soil work had been done we added the red and white gravel, which gave better definition to the beds.

Planting out started at the beginning of June for the summer bedding. All the plants were grown here in Tatton’s greenhouses, including Thrift, red and white Geraniums, Ageratum and Cineraria. It took three of us a day to plant it out .. but now there are plenty of jobs I need to do to keep it looking nice!

I’ve been dead-heading the beds, picking over (removing the dead leaves), mowing the lawns and edging with shears and keeping them well-watered during this dry spell. I’ve also applied a liquid fertiliser to the lawns to help keep the grass looking green.

It’s been great to complete this work and is particularly rewarding to hear all the positive public feedback. There are not many opportunities to work on ‘new’ or to reinstate old features of the garden and it’s been really enjoyable to play a part in this project.

Jamie Jackson, Craftsman Gardener

Blooming Borders

2010-06-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is a very busy time of year for us in the gardens. During the last couple of weeks we have started to change over all the bedding from spring to summer, working on the formal flowerbeds, hanging baskets, tubs and containers.

Since last September we’ve been propagating cuttings from old varieties of Geraniums and Fuschias for the beds and then from February onwards, sowing seeds and potting up plugs. All the greenhouses and cold frames have been
bulging with plants and we are now slowly emptying them out.

We’ve now been able to slow down on the watering, which is very time consuming –it could be three times a day on a hot day. We’ve also now started tidying and cleaning the houses, ready for the next crop – our chilli collection!

We grow about 12 varieties of chilli plants and produce them for the garden shop. One variety I’m looking forward to seeing growing is a slow grower called Bhut Jolokia. This is one of the hottest chillies in the world and measures over one million on the Scovile Scale – which grades ‘heat’ intensity. We tried it last year and immediately reached for the hosepipe!

Now the bedding is nearly done, we’ve started planning for the RHS show in July. We’re doing a ‘Modeival Garden’. We’re already growing and sourcing plants for our garden and the props and materials for it. More to be revealed…

Bob Buckley

Glasshouse and Kitchen Garden Supervisor

Antiques Roadshow Arrives!

2010-06-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

The whole team has been busier than one armed bricklayers at the moment getting the garden ready for two very important dates. Thankfully the first passed successfully on 20th May with the arrival of BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

Four days spent tweaking and tickling the Italian Garden for one day of filming which will be shown in Autumn. I reckon it was good value as it is regularly seen by up to 7 million viewers, after digesting Sunday dinner and hopefully in need of some cheer on a cold wet Autumn night. Also, it has a healthy viewing across the globe and I’m glad to say the team and Mother Nature really shone. The Rhodos looked stunning, set off by beautiful lawns and late spring bedding.
The whole event went very smoothly, a great BBC team and the whole Tatton behind the day – makes you proud to be a part of it.

The other major event was our busiest Bank Holiday weekend for our predominantly spring garden. Getting it as good as possible was, as ever, our priority. I reckon nature has a big hand in it looking so good, but let us never forget that it’s the relationship between gardener and nature which is the real reason for it all looking so good. Why don’t you come and see it for yourself!

Simon Tetlow, Garden Team Leader

Pineapple House Re-Stocked

2010-05-04T03:40:00.000-07:00

I’m a member of the glasshouse and Kitchen Garden teams. In the last week, I have been working on re-stocking the pineapple house with 40 new pineapple plants, of the variety ‘British Queen’, which are all already fruiting. The Pinery/Vinery was restored in 2007, to re-introduce pineapple production to Tatton, a traditional feature of the kitchen gardens.

Unfortunately, due to the extreme winter we lost all our previous crop in January and February. We’re hoping we’ll be harvesting some fruit from these new plants by the autumn. This is a good time to crop them because, by then, they will hopefully have reached their full size and will taste at their best.

The plants have been potted up and then plunged into the pineapple pits in the Pinery/Vinery. The bed consists of fermenting oak leaves that provide bottom heat to generate root growth. This is a traditional method – others use ‘tanner’s bark’, but this does generate a lot of heat and can be hard to regulate, whereas oak leaves provide a more uniform heat around the pots.

The idea is to produce good pineapples rather than just growing them. This means, we need to pay attention to watering and ventilation, and ‘damping down’ (sprinkling water across the paths, walls, glass and misting over the top of the pineapples themselves). All three things are important and need to be in balance in order to produce a good fruit. This is something I will be checking on a daily basis during my working days.

John Hoxworth, Craftsman Gardener

A (n)Ice Arrival...

2010-04-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

I am a Craftsman Gardener, with responsibility for the Japanese Garden. However, over the last couple of weeks I have been working with the artists installing their artworks for Tatton Park Biennial 2010, which opens on 8 May.

My work has mainly been putting things in place, including helping Jamie Shovlin transport his shed and audio/visual equipment to the corner of Tower Wood and moving the technical equipment and scaffolding for Austin Houldsworth's fossilisation machine. I also transported Jem Finer’s shed and ‘the orb’ – a very fragile globe camera obscura, on the back of the tractor and trailer – every time I hit a bump my heart was in my mouth! I also helped load and unload and transport Fiona Curran’s tree house and pruned some of the lower branches of the Pine tree before they put the tree house into place. I also helped install the small cinema near the Maze, transporting it on the back of the tractor – it was about 3 tonnes in weight, I also needed to go very slowly again!

Last Monday was the most nail-biting experience when the 2 tonne block of glacial ice arrived – this is artist Neville Gabie’s piece. The ice is 10,000 years old and was brought from Greenland, transported by ship, boat and lorry to Tatton. It was then up to me to drive it on the back of the trailer (see picture) down to its position near Golden Brook. This was all whilst the BBC camera crew were filming and I was trying not to shatter it. Again, this was a moment to drive the tractor very carefully! I couldn’t go any faster than slow in very low gear. It then took a very long time, virtually to the end of the day, to try and lift and slide the ice into place. There were about eight pairs of hands trying to fit the ice and the glass surrounding it into the structure. I’ve really enjoyed being involved in the Biennial and am looking forward to seeing everything complete ready for the opening.

For more information about the Biennial visit www.tattonparkbiennial.org

Geoff Horrocks, Craftsman Gardener

Marvellous Marrows!

2010-03-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

I’m a Craftsman Gardener who’s been working at Tatton since I left school in 1991. I now work in the kitchen garden and the glasshouses - my main responsibilities are looking after the Fernery, the Showhouse Conservatory and one of the four large beds in the Kitchen Garden.

This week I’ve been working in creating a marrow bed on one of my squares in the kitchen garden. Working with Mark, Daniella, Chris and Bob we’ve prepared a bed just how it used to be done in the olden days. Firstly we’ve dug out a two metre wide trench running the full length of the bed. It’s been dug out two spades deep and the soil has been mounded up on both sides. We’ve then rotivated the bottom of the bed and it will eventually be filled completely with well rotted horse muck. Then the soil piled up on the edges will be turned back on top of the muck to create a ‘raised bed’ approximately three feet high. The whole bed will then be planted up with between 12 and 14 plants of the marrow variety ‘Long, Green Trailing’. These plants are being raised in one of the greenhouses and will be ready to plant out after the threat of frost has disappeared, within the next 3-4 weeks.

Once they have been planted out we will leave the hose pipe running on the bed to soak it right through for 2-3 hours. These will need looking after on a daily basis to check the soil is sufficiently moist. These old–fashioned marrow beds could actually be used as pumpkin beds as they also like lots of horse manure. My aim is to grow a really big pumpkin this year and I’m sourcing the seed from America at the moment. We’re currently growing ‘Atlantic Giant’ and ‘Hundredweight’. These will be grown on a smaller scale than the marrow bed.

Last week I also started preparing the ground for planting peas. I dug a trench a foot wide and deep, filled it with muck and back filled it, then covered the trench with cloches to warm the soil up for a few days, ready for planting next week. We will be planting ‘Early Onwards’ ready for cropping in June.

Simon Kellett
Craftsman Gardener

Late Flowering Season

2010-03-11T03:08:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks I have also been working on the Italian Terrace parterre (see The Italian Job below!)

This week we have finally finished installing all the metalwork. The blacksmiths, Broadbents, came in for a couple of days to help us weld all the internal pieces into place. This was a really intricate job as each piece had to be welded in separately and then welded on to the next piece.

The next job is to fill the central metal sections with soil and compost ready for planting the Armeria, commonly known as ‘Thrift’. This is a pink flower often found on coastal areas and is also used on the lower Italian Terrace area. The next job will be to put ‘Mipex’ down; this is a sheet which keeps the soil and gravel separate – we’ll be starting this next week, ready for the 10 tonnes of gravel arriving shortly. This means all the hard structure will be ready for Easter and the red Geraniums and white Alyssum etc will then be planted early June. Normally I look after Charlotte’s Garden and the Rose Garden so it’s been great to work in a different area and in this project to reinstate a parterre.

We are unfortunately three weeks late with the bulbs this year, due to the icy and frosty weather. Normally by now we would have quite a lot of daffodils in the garden and none have appeared as yet! Also none of the camellias in Tower Wood (near the Tower Garden) have flowered yet - in the past, some may be half way through flowering by now. Camellias flower one flower on each branch at a time and then when that dies or is frosted, the next bloom will open. As yet, we’ve seen none!

In three weeks time, possibly around Easter if the weather stays nice we should get a real blaze of colour from the early Rhododendrons, daffodils, camellias, the Iris reticulata and Magnolias – so it’s definitely worth planning a visit around that time. (As a taster - here's an illustration from our archives - pics of Camellias in bloom to follow!)

Pete Lofthouse
Craftsman Gardener

Super Scarecrows

2010-02-16T02:45:00.000-08:00

The past fortnight has been really busy with preparing the scarecrows for our annual half term Scarecrow Festival. It’s very much a team effort for mainly the glasshouse staff (as there’s still plenty to do in the grounds for the other staff, still working hard on the Italian Terrace parterre). It’s been great fun thinking up characters and a welcome change to the day to day jobs. My normal responsibility is looking after the large collection of orchids in the Orchid House and working in the veg garden and orchard. Thankfully the snow and bad weather has given us plenty time to concentrate on the scarecrows. Look out for the tiger in the Fernery and the jester at Garden Entrance (those are mine).

Lots of other jobs this last week or so, one of which has been working in the Vinery. We’ve scraped all the bark off the vines with a cutting knife as the barks harbours mealybugs and other unwanted pests. After the bark’s been scraped off the vines are blasted with a jet wash. This is a time-consuming job but well worth it – it really helps the vines to thrive.

I’ve also been mucking the borders in the orchard and the raspberry beds. This has been sourced from a local farmer, as our farm horses don’t produce enough for our needs! Putting the muck downs adds feed to the soil and helps keep the weeds down – and looks nice too!

I’ve also been sowing seed in trays in the greenhouse: cabbage, cauliflower and sweet pea. Geraniums have been potted on, put into bigger pots ready to be planted out for the summer. The variety we’re using is ‘Caroline Schmidt’, an old nineteenth century German variety which is planted at Tatton every year, using cuttings from last year’s plants.

Another job this past week has been chitting potatoes – about eight different varieties. These are put in the onion loft in the dark until ready to plant out in the veg garden. This morning we’ve also been pricking out Schizanthus (Poor Man’s Orchid) for the Show House, the glass house next to the Fernery.

Mark Blomeley
Craftsman Gardener

The Italian Job

2010-02-01T03:31:00.000-08:00

Since Christmas myself, Alan and Pete have been working on reinstating a feature of the Italian Garden, which is the usual area I’m responsible for. We’re working on reintroducing a parterre situated to the left of the Mansion (looking up from the Italian Terrace). The parterre was turfed over, we believe, some time around World War Two – due to reduced staffing levels.

Although the Italian Garden was restored in 1982 this area was not completed due to a lack of funds. This project has now been funded by the National Trust raffle – thanks to visitors for purchasing these! In December we started work on marking out the site, although work had to be halted for a short period due to the snow. We’ve started again after Christmas and are making great progress.

After measuring out the 20m X 10m bed we started to lift the turf (this will be re-used in other projects). We then dug down to about 12cm depth – excavating over 20 tonnes of soil in the process. This was dug out by hand and then moved by tractor and trailer, where it will be re-used somewhere else in the gardens.

When we excavated the area we found some of the original pre-1945 red and white gravel. This was fantastic as it confirmed what we thought the colours of the original gravel were – as we were only going from black and white photos and could see they were a contrasting colour. We think that the original colour scheme included blue plants so the bed would have a patriotic theme (which would have been perfectly viewed from Lord Egerton’s apartments).

Also this week we’ve started to fix the metalwork in place which holds in the edges and gives definition to the shape of the bed. The metalwork has been made locally by Broadbents of Mobberley. We can now really start to visualise what it will look like. We hope to have finished this by high season at the end of March. Watch this space!

Jamie Jackson
Craftsman Gardener

Spring Cleaning

2010-01-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

Now the snow has melted away, leaving Tatton’s gardens looking fresh and green again, we’ve been continuing with our winter programme.

The glasshouses have had a thorough spring-clean. We have eleven glasshouses to clean each year and make them free of bugs and fungal diseases for our tender plants. A blast with a power-washer is followed with a more traditional method (always best) of a bucket of water and some soap. We also use a traditional round Turk’s Head brush; its long bristles reach into all those tricky corners.

One glasshouse in particular has been getting some special attention. This year we've been delighted to have purchased a Begonia Rex collection from Terry and Shirley Tasker of Southport. Over a number of years, the couple have built up a fabulous collection of these special plants. 151 types of begonias will now be housed in one of Tatton’s glasshouses and open to the public to enjoy from the high season at the end of March.

Amongst these 151 varieties are 21 from the original collection of the Begonia enthusiast, Mac Mcintyre. McIntyre was born in Edinburgh in 1905 and, on his death in 1983, his collection of Begonias was bequeathed to Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Interestingly, he actually lived in Knutsford for a while! It’s great for us to be able to make that direct link with this important Begonia champion and also to be able to reintroduce a Begonia collection to Tatton Park. In the past, these plants were kept in the Fernery; we have some black and white photographs in the archive from c.1891 where you can clearly see Begonias amongst the tree ferns.

We are currently re-flagging the York stone paths in the new Begonia glasshouse and will be putting in the traditional decorative iron staging – crafted by the local Mobberley blacksmith Dave Broadbent. I can’t wait to see it in situ!

Another job this week has been to put forcing bells (clay pots) over the rhubarb in the kitchen gardens. This will keep the ground warm and hopefully bring on some early rhubarb for us this spring.

And finally.. the photo shows us at the annual Gordale Orchid Show on the Wirral on the weekend of 16th and 17th January. We love taking part in this event; it’s a great opportunity for us to display our own fantastic orchid collection, swap some plants, meet old friends and make some new ones.

Bob Buckley
Glasshouse and Kitchen Garden Supervisor

2010-01-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

Still covered with a blanket of snow, with frost still picking out the beautiful tracery of the tree skeletons, Tatton Park is getting ready for spring. Under the snow, our Pinetum is transformed into a magical winter wonderland, giving many of our magnificent specimens a taste of their true homes: Bhutan, China, Japan and North America. It was originally the only way people could experience the four corners of the globe and even still, it has lost none of its charm and magic to see stately pines, laden with snow sparkling under a low winter sun.
With a thaw slowly taking place another special experience awaits the visitor at Tatton. The sweet delicate perfumes of winter shrubs start to fill the air. As you walk out of the Tower Garden, through Tower Wood, the spidery petals of the Witch Hazels are starting to give out their smell. Both Hammamellis mollis and intermedia will be at their very best in a week or two. Wafting through the air also is the smell of Mahonia x media, a sweet and strong smell so loved by the hardiest of bees.
Another cracking small shrub for this time of year is the sweet-smelling Sarcocca hookeriana, whose tiny white flowers with pink anthers pack a heady punch on these still, frosty days. I couldn't not mention Calicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion' whose steely violet berries leap out of our L border for visitors who, along with all the other berries and fruits in the garden, maintains a great deal of winter interest around the garden. And finally, don't miss all the wonderful bark colours and textures around the garden, including the ghostly white Betula ermanii and the knarled, twisted shapes of the Dawn Redwoods.
Tatton, more than any other garden has so much all season interest. There is as much to see as you want, whatever the time of year and we are always busy maintaining the garden for your next visit.

Simon Tetlow, Garden Team Leader
www.tattonpark.org.uk