FAIRBRIDGE GARDEN & ARTS SOCIETYSupporting the Fairbridge Programme

of The Prince’s Trust

NEWSLETTER

www.fgas.uk.com

Issue No 80 Summer 2017

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CONTENTS

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 1

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 2

FORTHCOMING EVENTS 3

DIARY DATES 6

www.fgas.uk.com

Cover photograph: Piet Oudolf’s prairie garden at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Bruton, Somerset, to be visited on the FGAS Wessex trip in June.

Printed by Hot off the Press, Fulham Broadway, London SW6 1BH, www.hotoff.co.uk

BECOME A MEMBERMembership of Fairbridge Garden & Arts Society (FGAS) costs £25 per annum. Download a membership form from the website, www.fgas.uk.com, or ring or email the Membership Secretary Ruth Hayward on 020 8480 5060 or ruth.hayward1@gmail.com.

Profits go to the Fairbridge Programme of The Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales

1079675 and in Scotland SCO 411.

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DEAR MEMBERS

April has been unusually warm and dry and I can hardly believe it but I find myself praying for rain! With two May bank holidays looming we will no doubt get several months rainfall all at once.

The Palace Gardener: Having opened its doors in mid-March, The Palace Gardener officially opened on 27 April with day-long celebrations and party vibe in the evening. It looks very smart and the addition of the café is proving a great draw. This is of course good news for one and all. With our members in mind I have met with Jorge Rodriguez, the manager, and I am pleased to say we are setting up a discount scheme for FGAS members. Over the course of the next few weeks I will be sending out a registration form that you will need to print off, fill in and take to the garden centre to prove FGAS membership and be registered on their system. Once registered you will be entitled to your 10% discount on plants and sundries throughout the year.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018: Our patron, Richard Miers, has been asked to be the garden designer for the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. The garden is to raise awareness of the Association and to celebrate the centenary of the end of the First World War. The garden has the working title ‘Reflections on Courage’. Richard and the Association are looking for a partner to help with funding and have a good number of leads for a main sponsor. Should you be interested, have contacts, either individuals or corporate that you think might be interested, please contact Richard@richardmiers.com or call 07866 555693. If he is successful, Richard is looking at ways in which FGAS can get involved.

Programme for the second half-year: This is shaping up nicely, culminating in a four-day, three-night bespoke visit to Champagne on 8-11 November (see inside for further details). Garden visits are planned for May and June, and day trips to Chatsworth and Charleston for September. If you are interested in the Bloomsbury Group do catch the Vanessa Bell exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery before it finishes on 4 June.

Refund policy: In light of the considerable amount of work and time required in setting up the visit programme and the increasing requirement to pay up front for associated expenses, we have revised our refund policy. In future, refunds for day trips and certain other specified activities will only be given at our discretion, in exceptional circumstances. We believe this is only fair and trust you will understand.

Summer party: Tuesday, 4 July, 6-8.30pm in the garden at All Saints Vicarage. We will have plants and home-made produce for sale as well as a few other surprises. During the course of the evening Lucy Hart, head gardener at Fulham Palace, will take guests on a tour of the Fulham Palace walled garden/orchard and outline the plans for its future development. Full details will be sent out in due course but please save the date now and we look forward to seeing you there.

With best wishesVanessa ScholfieldChairman

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday, 17 May: 11am-approx 12.30pmECCLESTON SQUARE, PIMLICO, LONDON SW1 – A GARDEN THROUGH THE SEASONS, 2ND VISITOur visit to the garden of Eccleston Square in March was a great success and enjoyed by all those who came; pictures of it should soon be in the FGAS website gallery. A further visit was requested as we stood under the swathes of tender climbing roses just coming into leaf. It had always been our hope that we would look at this garden through the seasons, so we were delighted to arrange another date immediately, and Roger Phillips will again take us round. For those who did not come last time, Eccleston Square is a 3-acre private garden behind Victoria Station that is owned by the residents of the square and has been looked after by Roger for the past 35 years. The attractions on this visit will be the climbing roses together with 20 different forms of tree peonies and the National Collection of ceanothus dotted around the garden. As the garden is planted for year-long interest, with a wide variety of unusual trees and shrubs, perennials and annuals, there will be a lot to see. Unfortunately there is no way of offering coffee or tea, so stoke up on the way. Meet at the gate opposite No 12 Eccleston Square at 10.55am. Cost: £20. To book, please email sally@sallytamplin.co.uk or ring 020 8785 9355 and complete the booking form within one week. Sally’s mobile on the day will be 07779 579935. Thursday, 1 June: 2-4.30pmKING’S CROSS REGENERATION UPDATE – A WALK WITH DIANA KELSEYKing’s Cross, which for so long has been one of London’s seediest areas, is now totally transformed and is becoming one of London’s most vibrant quarters, with new restaurants and attractions opening all the time. It is an imaginative mixed-use scheme with the converted Granary home to UAL (University of the Arts Central St Martins) at its heart. The area has become one of the most exciting regeneration projects in Europe attracting major institutions such as Google, BNP Paribas, Louis Vuitton, and the Aga Khan Institute and the sign that the area has arrived… a Waitrose, housing a cookery school. Not only have some of the Victorian railway buildings found new and imaginative uses, but also much emphasis has been put on landscaping and the environment. Dan Pearson has landscaped a new park in an old gas holder and a garden especially for children. There are green walls and further landscaping by Laurie Olin, and even a skip garden (may be inaccessible due to building works). STARTS 2pm in front of King’s Cross Station (Euston Road side): meet by the Henry Moore sculpture. Ends approx 4.30pm. Cost: £18. To book, please email jill_marx@hotmail.com or ring Jill on 020 7736 1066 and complete the booking form within one week. Jill’s mobile on the day is 07840 206309. Tuesday, 6 June: 8am-approx 7pmDAY TRIP BY COACH TO GARDENS IN HAMBLEDON, HAMPSHIREHambledon is set in the South Downs National Park. The village nestles along a valley and ancient riverbed running from the South Downs to East Hampshire. Hambledon is best known as the ‘Cradle of Cricket’ and the centre of the rebirth of English commercial wine production. It is thought that Hambledon Club was formed in 1750 making it one of the oldest known cricket clubs in England. It was England’s leading cricket club from about 1765 until the formation of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in 1787. Our day trip to Hambledon includes three private gardens. Hambledon House garden is our first stop at around 10.30am. Owned by D Hart-Dyke, this 3-acre plot is divided into areas by yew hedges and flint walls. Large borders are filled with a variety of unusual shrubs and perennials planted for all seasons. A large area of planting, as a result of the removal of a very old copper beech, shows what can be achieved in five years. Located in the centre of the village, and yet completely hidden, the garden has secluded areas that reveal surprise views of village rooftops. Being in a valley the garden is on different levels with many seating areas from which to enjoy the peace of a very English romantic garden. Coffee will be served upon arrival and D Hart-Dyke and her head gardener will then give a guided tour. Fairfield House is our next stop at around 12.30pm. Located on the edge of the village, this beautiful Regency house is surrounded by a large garden. The owners have been undertaking a programme of renovation and the smaller walled garden is being totally renovated this spring. The grounds of approximately 5 acres include many lovely mature trees. This garden is not open to the public and we are very grateful to Melissa Thistlethwayte for kindly agreeing to host us and provide lunch during our visit. A tour of the garden in the company of the gardener is included. Colemore House Gardens is our final visit at around 2.45pm. Located in Colemore, near Alton, it is well placed on the way back to London. This 4-acre garden is divided into different rooms containing

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many unusual plants. There is a spectacular arched rose walk, rill, mirror pond, grass gardens as well as herbaceous and shrub borders. Located by the pond is a thatched pavilion built by students from The Prince’s Trust. A small arboretum is in the process of being planted. Change and development are ongoing and increasing the diversity of interesting plants is a prime motivation. If we are lucky there may even be some unusual and interesting plants for sale. The owner, Simon de Zoete, and his gardener will give us a guided tour on arrival. Tea and biscuits will be available. We will set off back to London at around 5pm. The coach will depart from Parsons Green at 8am. It will pass over Putney Bridge and make a second pick-up outside Putney mainline BR station at the top of the high street at 8.15am. The same arrangement will apply to the return journey. Cost: £80. To book, please email vanessa@autoanalysis.co.uk or ring Vanessa Scholfield on 07885 655231 and complete the booking form within one week.

Wednesday-Thursday, 14-15 June OVERNIGHT TRIP TO GARDENS IN WESSEX. This is fully booked.

Tuesday, 27 June: 11am-approx 12.30pmTOUR OF TWO PRIVATE GARDENS IN DULWICH VILLAGE SE21 7BJEnjoy two adjoining ½-acre gardens behind large Georgian houses in Dulwich Village belonging to two very talented gardeners. Each garden rises gently uphill to three levels backed by the trees of Dulwich Park. The owners are particularly keen to have wildlife-friendly gardens, both in the water and for scent, bees and butterflies. Both gardens will be full of plants for high summer: old-fashioned roses, peonies, delphiniums and many more. Despite all the steps, there are also gently sloping paths if you prefer. We will be given tea and coffee on arrival and there will be plants for sale. No 103 is set out with a large lawn bordered on one side by a wall with trees and climbers including a fine fig, fronted by a wide and beautifully planted border. Climb steps to a very formal pond surrounded by more flowers with two standard wisteria, that makes a focal point. Beyond this is the vegetable and fruit garden. No 105 also has three rising areas: the first, near the house, has a formal pond and fountain planted in mainly blue and white flowers and many large pots. On the second level are a huge old mulberry tree and shrubs and small trees mingled with a big range of herbaceous perennials and annuals. At the top there is yet more water, this time much wilder, with huge rocks sourced from the Lake District and a waterfall. We will have coffee on arrival and there will be plants for sale. There is free parking in Gallery Road or, if you are lucky, opposite the entrance to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in Dulwich Park. The houses are about three minutes walk from the Picture Gallery. Travel by car is recommended so those doing so could perhaps offer lifts. It is a very simple and well signposted journey on the South Circular (A 205) which you pick up at Clapham. National Rail trains go from Victoria to West Dulwich and London Bridge to East Dulwich, but each means at least a 15-minute walk. Underground to Brixton and then a bus P4 from stop T will take you to the Dulwich Picture Gallery door. Cost: £20. To book, please email sally@sallytamplin.co.uk or ring Sally on 020 8785 9355 and complete the booking form within one week. Sally’s mobile on the day is 07779 579935.

Tuesday, 4 July: 6-8.30pmFGAS SUMMER PARTY (see page 2)Tuesday, 11 July: 10.30am-12.30pmHAMPSTEAD VILLAGE – LONDON’S GEORGIAN ‘HILL STATION’Still very much a village, Hampstead has an atmosphere all of its own. Once an escape from the smog and dirt of the city (in many ways it still is) and once a fashionable spa, it boasts some grand houses and is a perfectly preserved Georgian village. Literary and artistic connections abound. We will visit Constable’s grave and see where he painted views of Hampstead Heath, pass Romney’s studio, the Du Mauriers’ house, and see where the ‘father of Egyptology’ lived. But the walk is more than a Blue Plaque tour as Hampstead’s history stretches back to before the Norman Conquest. History aside, there is lots to feast the eye, from Georgian terraces and pretty front gardens to hi-tech architecture. We will finish back near the high street. STARTS at 10.30am, Hampstead Tube station. Cost: £18. To book, please email jill_marx@hotmail.com or ring Jill on 020 7736 1066 and complete the booking form within one week. Jill’s mobile on the day is 07840 206309.

Wednesday, 13 September: 8.30am-approx 7.30pmDAY TRIP TO CHATSWORTH HOUSE AND GARDEN, BAKEWELL, DERBYSHIRESome of you may already be heading to Derbyshire in June for the first RHS flower show on the Chatsworth estate, but we are focussing on a visit to the fabled 297-room house and garden of the 12th Duke of Duchess of Devonshire to coincide with the major exhibition ‘House Style: Five

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Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth’. Garments of its spirited, often eccentric, inhabitants will be displayed throughout the house, from wedding and Coronation dresses and exceptional couture pieces by Worth and Dior for entertaining at house balls to Balenciaga gardening shorts and the 11th Duke’s embroidered slogan jumper declaring ‘Never Marry a Mitford’. Discover the fascination with bejewelled insect brooches of former Mitford sister, Deborah, the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, or the mini-dress designed by Helmut Lang for the wedding of her granddaughter, the 1990s supermodel Stella Tennant. Our 11am one-hour guided tour of the house encompassing the exhibition will be followed after lunch (not included) by a tour at 2pm of the ‘Capability’ Brown landscape garden with its stupendous 300-year-old cascade. Learn about the impact of the 19th-century head gardener Joseph Paxton or explore Dan Pearson’s redesigned trout stream in situ, winner of Best in Show at Chelsea in 2015. We meet at St Pancras Station at approximately 8.30am for the 1hr 50min train journey to Chesterfield, where a coach will take us to Chatsworth House. The coach will stop at Chatsworth’s famous farm shop on the way back to the station, in time for a train arriving at St Pancras at approximately 7.30pm. Cost: £50, excluding train fares. Exact train times are not published yet but we estimate that it would depart c8.50am and with a senior rail card the fare should be about £40 return. To book, please email dinahroberton@icloud.com or ring her on 020 8563 9697 and complete the booking form within one week. Dinah’s mobile on the day is 07966 297255.

Thursday, 28 September: 8.30am-approx 6.30pmDAY TRIP BY COACH TO CHARLESTON AND FARLEYS HOUSE & GALLERY, EAST SUSSEXAs ‘Sussex Modernism’, a recent exhibition at Two Temple Place in London has shown, Sussex, with its Downs rolling dramatically to the sea, is a county where many renowned 20th-century artists have been inspired to settle. Charleston, where Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and David Garnett created the country home of the Bloomsbury Group during the First World War, has left a legacy of art, literature and liberated living that we can vividly imagine on our private 11am tour. We continue a couple of miles down the road for lunch at the picturesque pub, the Cricketers’ Arms in Berwick, where those who wish can walk to the church to see the murals by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. In the afternoon we continue to Farleys House & Gallery near Chiddingly, for a private tour at c2.30pm of the former home of the Surrealist artist and collector, Roland Penrose, and his wife, the photographer and journalist Lee Miller, a muse of Man Ray. Both houses have gardens to explore – views of the Downs are never far away – and on arrival at Charleston c10.30am we will have coffee and time to look at its shop of Bloomsbury-inspired merchandise. The coach will depart from Parsons Green at 8.15am. It will pass over Putney Bridge and make a second pick-up outside Putney mainline BR station at the top of the high street at 8.30am. The same arrangement will apply to the return journey. Cost: £80. To book, please email joannamwillcox@gmail.com or ring her on 020 7736 5305 and complete the booking form within one week. Jo’s mobile on the day is 0787 6221062.

Wednesday-Saturday, 8-11 NovemberFOUR-DAY, THREE-NIGHT BESPOKE FGAS COACH TRIP TO FRANCE’S CHAMPAGNE REGIONFollowing a good response to our email about the above, FGAS is pleased to say that our specialist wine and champagne tour operator, Arblaster & Clarke, is able to offer a further limited number of places on their bespoke trip to the champagne region of France. Based in Reims, this three-night, four-day trip is designed to give members the chance to visit some of the smaller, family-run champagne houses in the region. We have selected those to ensure a variety of champagne styles and we will enjoy visits to the cellars, tastings and the opportunity to buy champagne at reasonable prices. Each person can bring back up to 36 bottles that will be stowed in the hold of the coach as we go along. An excellent opportunity to stock up for Christmas or bring home a special gift! Cost: £800 per person sharing a double/twin room; single supplement: £105. A deposit of £300 per person will be required by Arblaster & Clarke when they send out the formal booking form with terms and conditions.If you are interested in joining us and would like to see the full itinerary and reserve a place, email Vanessa Scholfield at vanessa@autoanalysis.co.uk or ring 07885 655231. Upon receipt of confirmation of interest Vanessa will send you a bespoke booking form and request payment of the deposit.

It is essential that first you book your place, THEN complete the enclosed booking form and send it with a cheque made out to FGAS

or Fairbridge Garden & Arts Society to Dottie Lundell, 1 Edenhurst Avenue, London SW6 3PD, tel 020 7731 0128.

If you want a receipt, please enclose a s.a.e. Tickets are not issued.

Wednesday, 17 May Visit to Eccleston Square garden, Pimlico

Thursday, 1 JuneKing’s Cross walk with Diana Kelsey

Tuesday, 6 JuneDay trip to gardens in Hambledon, Hampshire

Wed-Thurs, 14-15 JuneOvernight trip to gardens in Wessex

Tuesday, 27 June Visits to gardens at 103 and 105 Dulwich Village

Tuesday, 4 JulyFGAS summer party at All Saints Vicarage garden, Fulham

Tuesday, 11 July Hampstead walk with Diana Kelsey

Wednesday, 13 SeptemberDay trip to Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

Thursday, 28 SeptemberDay trip to Charleston and Farleys House & Gallery in Sussex

Wed-Sat, 8-11 NovemberThree-night trip to France’s champagne region

Overleaf: Nude with Poppies, 1916, and below, The Other Room, late 1930s, both by Vanessa Bell © Estate of Vanessa Bell courtesy of Henrietta Garnett. On show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery retrospective of her work until 4 June.

See opposite for the FGAS visit to Charleston, her Sussex home.

Diary Dates

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