Perennial Announced as Official Show Charity for the 2014 Woburn Abbey Garden Show

The Woburn Abbey Garden Show, which takes place on the 21st and 22nd June, will have an official 'Show Charity' for the first time this year. Woburn Abbey is delighted to announce that the Show Charity for 2014 will be Perennial, a national charity supporting people who work in horticulture when they are facing adversity in their life. Perennial was established in the 19th century and is celebrating their 175th anniversary this year.

Woburn Abbey Garden Show

Perennial will be offering unique VIP experience packages at the show that support their fundraising efforts which provide information on the assistance they can offer to those working in horticulture.

Martin Towsey, Estates Gardens Manager, is delighted to be working with Perennial: “We are pleased to be able to support this charity, especially in this anniversary year, and hope that visitors to the Garden Show will enjoy finding out more about what they do. Perennial was born out of the great estates like Woburn, supporting the estate gardeners in times of need, so it’s fantastic that we are able to help with their fundraising campaign.” 

Visitors to the Woburn Abbey Garden Show will be able to learn new gardening skills, talk to experts, and purchase an array of unusual plants and garden items, all within the stunning grounds and gardens of Woburn Abbey. Gardening experts Pippa Greenwood, Martin Fish and Alistair Fraser will share their knowledge through a series of talks and Q&A sessions during the event. Top UK nurseries will be there, including Heucerholics, Nobottle Nurseries, Flit Bonsai and Palm Exotics. Whether you have a courtyard garden, a window box or a large country garden, there will be inspiration for every outdoor space.

The Food Hall will be filled with various refreshments from stalls including Breckland Orchard, Buckingham Brewery, Deli Vegetaria, and Friar's Farm. Pet Piggies are returning to the show with a chance to see some very cute micro pigs, and a range of artists will be exhibiting their work including Rachel Carter, Alistair Howie and Abigail Mill.

For the past ten years The Duchess of Bedford, along with Martin Towsey and his team, have been working hard to restore Humphry Repton’s original plans for the ‘Pleasure Gardens’. A newly restored feature from these original plans and a contemporary addition to Woburn Abbey Gardens will both be opened by The Duchess of Bedford at the Garden Show on the 21st and 22nd June 2014. Woburn Abbey’s RHS qualified gardeners will also offer guided tours of the gardens throughout the weekend, included within the admission price, giving visitors a behind the scenes look at the ongoing restoration project.

Tickets for the Woburn Abbey Garden Show are now available to purchase online. For more information, visit www.woburnabbey.co.uk or call 01525 290333.

Blenheim Palace Flower Show is set to bloom

The much-anticipated Blenheim Palace Flower Show is set to burst into bloom in June to celebrate the very best of gardening in the UK.

Blenheim Palace Flower Show

Thanks to the overwhelming success of its debut in 2013, the stunning show, which is organised by Aztec Events, will return to the grounds of the Oxfordshire stately home from 20-22 June 2014.

Packed with inspiration and vibrant colour, the sweet-smelling event will feature over 150 floral and garden exhibitors. Some of the UK's finest landscape designers such as Nicholsons, Green Art, Slate Grey and Prime Design will be displaying breath-taking outdoor spaces to showcase their exquisite design work.

Elsewhere the stunning 25,000 sq ft Grand Floral Pavilion, which forms the main centerpiece of the show, will play host to a selection of the UK's finest nurseries including D’Arcy Everest, Eagle Sweet Peas and Oska Copperfield Nurseries. It will also provide the perfect place to speak to the show’s growing crop of celebrity experts.

Monty Don

On hand to open the three-day show will be horticultural expert Monty Don. Best known for presenting the BBC television series Gardeners' World the writer and speaker will be welcoming and sharing his extensive gardening knowledge with visitors.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, June 21, presenter, author and gardener Joe Swift will be joined by ITV’s Love Your Garden presenter Frances Tophill in the Experts Theatre.

Joe will be talking about landscaping, garden design and home gardening while Frances will be encouraging people to get out into their gardens and to make the most of whatever space they have.

The ever-popular Ground Force television duo Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh are back in action on Sunday, June 22. Charlie will be entertaining visitors with expert advice on choosing and installing water features and Tommy will be sharing knowledge and tips on various garden building projects.

Charlie Dimmock

“No summer flower show could hope for a finer setting than Woodstock’s Blenheim Palace,” said Aztec Events director Matt Upson who, given the success of the 2013 show, expects to attract 40 thousand this year.

“Once again we’re expecting visitors of all ages from across the UK and not just keen gardeners. Our show is also popular with those passionate about food, local heritage and the great British outdoors as the elegant palace provides a stunning backdrop to rival those offered by the Chelsea and Hampton Court shows,” added Upson.

Built by Vanbrugh and now home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and his family, visitors to the Blenheim Palace Flower Show can also visit the beautiful surrounding landscaped parkland and gardens free of charge. The inspirational World Heritage Site, which was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, offers a memorable day out in its own right.

For more information or to book discounted advance tickets to the Blenheim Palace Flower Show, visit: www.blenheimflowershow.co.uk. Tickets are priced from £12.50 adults and £6.50 for children at the gate. Concessions and family tickets are also available.

Blenheim Palace Flower Show

When: 20-22 June 2014
Where: Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1PP
Doors: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Parking: FREE
Dogs: Allowed on a lead (no dogs are permitted inside the Palace building)

Treasure Houses Win at Hudson's Heritage Awards 2014 - HIGHLY COMMENDED: Woburn Abbey Gardens for The Woburn Abbey Garden Showl Win the Award for BEST EVENT

Woburn Abbey Garden Show

WINNER:  Woburn Abbey for The Woburn Abbey Garden Show

BEST EVENT

The gardens team at Woburn Abbey wants to gain international recognition for the garden in its own right not just as an adjunct to a famous great house. Like all heritage gardens its history is complex, successive designers, including Humphry Repton, Henry Holland, Sir Jeffry Wyattville, and Percy Cane, have all had a hand in it.

The annual Woburn Abbey Garden Show in June is now in its fifth year and is a gardeners’ Garden Show, not only in the practical approach it offers its visitors but because it is an enterprise entirely organised by the gardeners. The show has popular talks by influential contemporary gardeners like Pippa Greenwood and Diarmuid Gavin. In 2013, the team added a Potted History of the Gardens to the Garden Show exhibits, telling the story of the design and restoration of different areas of today’s gardens in a series of 9 giant flower pots specially planned to explain the character and period of each element of the gardens’ history; a simple clever way to tell the story of its past and of the 9 year restoration programme which is still ongoing..

2014 Hudson's Heritage Award Winners

About Hudson's Awards

The Treasure Houses Of England

The Treasure Houses of England are 10 of the most magnificent palaces, houses and castles in England today. Together they attract in excess of 2.8 million visitors annually.

Members are Beaulieu, Blenheim Palace, Burghley, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, Harewood, Hatfield House, Holkham Hall, Leeds Castle and Woburn Abbey.

One of the most compelling features of the Treasure Houses of England is that they all offer the visitor a living history. Most are still homes to the great families who have owned them for generations. Others keep their heritage alive by re-creating scenes and events that have dominated and shaped England from the 9th century to the present day.

Between them they house some of the most important art collections in the world with famous works from artists such as Van Dyck and Gainsborough. The connoisseur of fine furniture, porcelain and china will find priceless examples of Chippendale, Wedgwood and Meissen.
Each house is an architectural masterpiece surrounded by beautiful parklands and gardens.

Celebrate Father’s Day With Dad At The Custom & Hot Rod Festival Sunday 16th June 2012

1931 Ford Model A

Instead of buying Dad the usual socks or beers for Father’s Day, why not treat him to a day out at Beaulieu’s fun-filled Custom and Hot Rod Festival on Sunday 16th June? A great day out for all the family, this fantastic festival features the Custom Car Show, in association with Victory Wheelers, as well as the Custom Motorcycle Show, also taking place over the weekend.

On the Sunday, anyone owning a Hot Rod, Custom or Classic American car or motorcycle can drive to Beaulieu and display their vehicle alongside hundreds of others in the beautiful grounds of the National Motor Museum.

Admire some of the quirky and unusual designs that can only be found on the colourful custom scene, and enjoy some great entertainment, including live music from The Mad Bones as well as free rides on the fairground dodgems. You can also browse a number of trade stands selling clothing, Americana memorabilia, merchandise, accessories and the latest custom magazines.

In another exciting feature at the 2013 show, Europe’s first dragster, Sydney Allard’s 1961 Allard Chrysler, will be on display in the grounds alongside Andy Robinson Race Cars’ Pro Mod 1969 Camaro and both will be firing up at intervals throughout the Festival to demonstrate their engine power to visitors.

Custom Motorcycle Show

The Allard Chrysler, which is owned by the National Motor Museum Trust, has been fully restored by a group of enthusiasts, the Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG), in a lengthy, but very successful five year project.

All custom vehicles at the Festival will have the opportunity to win one of the Beaulieu awards up for grabs in categories including Best Hot Rod, Best Chopper, Best American and Best in Show. Each winner will receive a Beaulieu Trophy in the afternoon awards ceremony, before taking part in a cavalcade around the attraction’s grounds. There will also be a People’s Choice Award, given to the owner of the vehicle voted for the most by Beaulieu’s visitors that day. The winner of this category will receive an exclusive trophy from Willydog Hotdogs.

The Custom Motorcycle Show taking place on Saturday and Sunday, a “World Class” event promoting engineering excellence and celebrating the wonderful world of custom and modified motorcycles, will be making a welcome return to Beaulieu as part of the Festival. This show gives visitors a rare opportunity to view a unique collection of stunning custom bikes and check out the bike-related trade stands in and around the Grand Marquee. As part of the show, a UK affiliate round of the AMD World Championships will be taking place, with the winner being invited to attend the Grand Finals of the World Championships in Essen, Germany in May 2014.

Admission to the Festival includes entry to the whole Beaulieu attraction, which features the National Motor Museum, BOND IN MOTION exhibition, World of Top Gear, Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House and the grounds and gardens, plus unlimited rides on the high-level monorail and open-topped veteran London bus.

On the day ticket prices for those participating in the Sunday Drive-In with a custom vehicle are £10 per adult. One child will receive free entry when accompanied by a paying adult, and any additional children will be charged £5 each.

All those wishing to visit the Sunday event as spectators should buy normal Beaulieu attraction admission tickets on the day from Visitor Reception.

Or why not take advantage of a special discounted rate for advance tickets for both participants and spectators, available online at www.beaulieushop.co.uk or on ticket line 01590 612888.

For those arriving in a custom vehicle on Sunday, entry is from 8am, when catering will be available. The show opens to the public from 10am.

If you fancy making a weekend of it, camping tickets for the whole Festival weekend are also available. These weekend tickets give access to the whole Beaulieu attraction and on-site camping all weekend, and entry to the Custom and Hot Rod Festival, with the opportunity for custom car or bike owners to take part in a Saturday Cruise Out in the surrounding New Forest. Each day, evening entertainment and catering will be available from 7.30pm, with a pub-style atmosphere and background music in the Brabazon Restaurant on Friday night and on Saturday night a DJ and karaoke in the restaurant plus a live set from The Mad Bones near the Beaulieu Arena. To find out more about weekend tickets please visit www.beaulieucustomfestival.co.uk

For more information about the Custom and Hot Rod Festival, please visit www.beaulieucustomfestival.co.uk or join the conversation with @Beaulieu_Hants on Twitter using #customfestival