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KENT
GARDENS TRUST ILLUSTRATED LECTURES
2006
Wednesday
29th March at 7.30 pm
at LENHAM COMMUNITY CENTRE
THE
WORLD GARDEN AT LULLINGSTONE CASTLE
by TOM HART DYKE
Plant
and orchid collector Tom Hart Dyke will be telling KGT members
about the creation of his World Garden at Lullingstone which is
now underway. Many of our members will remember that Tom left the
UK in 1997 on a three year plant collecting expedition. Whilst Tom
was away he kept us regularly informed of his progress round the
world until he arrived in Colombia, his last port of call.
Unfortunately he ended up being kidnapped by guerrillas who found
it difficult to understand why anyone would wish to collect seeds
and photograph orchids, even though that part of South America
contains the most wonderful plant life in its vast jungles. During
his many months in captivity, Tom spent many hours planning his
World Garden in his head - he had no access to either paper or pen
- and its creation is now going full steam ahead. The planning and
planting of the garden will be shown in a BBC TV series in 2006
and doubtless Tom will have much to tell us both about his garden
and his appearances in front of the camera!
The
cost of the lecture will be £6 each to members (£8 for non
members) and will include coffee/tea or a glass of wine and
biscuits which will be served after the lecture.
Wednesday
12th April at 8 pm
at MATFIELD VILLAGE HALL
PROTECTING
KENT'S GARDEN HERITAGE
Members
who much enjoyed Elizabeth Cairns illustrated talk on Planting the
English Garden in 2004 will be able to look forward to another
sparkling performance at Matfield Village Hall in April, 2006. On
this occasion she will be joined by other members of KGT's
Conservation sub-committee to present an illustrated talk on
'Protecting Kent's Garden Heritage' in conjunction with Matfield
Horticultural Society.
The
cost of the lecture is free but guests will be expected to buy
raffle tickets to help cover the cost of the evening. The talk
will begin at 8pm.
All
enquiries to Sue Chipchase at
Tel/Fax 01233 811611 (ans/ph regularly checked), by post to
Kent Gardens Trust, Highsted Farm, Highsted Valley, Sittingbourne,
Kent ME10 4HE or E-mail: mail@kentgardenstrust.org.uk
Kent garden wins lottery cash
In November 2003, a Community Trust
in Kent won £50,000 of big lottery Funds in a nationwide
competition. It was one of 6,500 applicants vying for 50 awards of
£50,000.
The Sturry Road Community Garden Trust beat Brighton and Hove
Council in a regional competition to win funds for the most
deserving community project. The money will pay for the cost of
creating a two acre garden which will be planted by local
volunteers in the Sturry Road Community Garden and Doorstep Green
in Canterbury.
The garden will form the final part of a project that began some 3
years ago to turn a former 45 acre landfill tip into a community
park and garden. The garden and park is situated on the edge of
the Northgate Ward in Canterbury which has some of the highest
deprivation levels in the South East. The original initiative to
create the garden and park came from Kent Gardens Trust who began
the project with nearly £200,000 of Landfill Tax Credits. Kent
Gardens Trust was also instrumental in helping set up and acts as
an advisor to the Sturry Road Community Trust which now has
responsibility for the site.
When complete the garden will contain roses, herbaceous plants and
shrubs along with sweet smelling herbs and other sensory planting.
It will also contain raised beds for disabled gardeners and lots
of colourful plants to encourage butterflies, birds and insects.
KGT Chairman, Allison Wainman, expressed delight at the Sturry
Road Community Trust’s success. “It is well deserved” she
said “and shows just how much a local community can achieve if
they have determination and vision. By early next year there will
be a superb garden on the site along with lots of other facilities
for every age group in Northgate”.
Funding news
The Heritage Lottery fund has given
an enormous sum to the Cobham Park Heritage Project of
£4.98million, the largest award of its kind given to a project in
Kent. Kent Gardens Trust is delighted to learn of the park's
success particularly as one area to receive funding, the Aviary,
was the recipient of a grant from the Trust some years ago. The
Aviary was originally designed and built by Humphrey Repton as a
greenhouse and then aviary in the gardens he created at Cobham
Hall. The unknapped flint covered building was in danger of
collapse until KGT provided funds to shore up the building and
make it safe in 1993.
Along with repairs to various other buildings and hard landscape
features the HLF grant will be used to reinstate the North
Pleasure Grounds, for the restoration of the parkland landscape in
West Park and the reintroduction of grazing to restore the
traditional wood pasture habitat of Cobham Woods.
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