A Weekend of Success for ShelterBox
25th April 2013
This weekend saw masses of visitors descending on Tregothnan for its most successful Charity Garden Open Weekend since the annual event began in 1963. This year’s chosen charity was Helston-based disaster aid organisation ShelterBox, which delivers shelter and lifesaving equipment in distinctive green boxes.
Mr and Mrs Boscawen, owners of Tregothnan, said: “It was a record breaking weekend, an absolute pleasure to host and so well supported by volunteers. Donations are still coming in for the main charity, ShelterBox, which has already reached £25,000 – possibly a new record for fundraising at a single event for the disaster relief charity.”
The crowds enjoyed the space and tranquillity of the extensive gardens, while many more simply tucked into the fabulous menu of refreshments including Tregothnan venison and cream teas. Live music from Local Vocalz and Truro & Penwith College Jazz Band received rapturous appreciation and a three hour live broadcast by Radio Cornwall was enjoyed by many more. Due to the glorious sunshine on the Saturday, cakes had sold out entirely by 2pm, but luckily there is always an abundance of Tregothnan tea on the estate!
Alison Wallace, Chief Executive of ShelterBox, said: “I am extremely grateful to the staff at Tregothnan who nominated ShelterBox as the beneficiary of this year’s event. And, of course, to the Boscawens who generously open their magnificent grounds every year for charity. The event gave enormous pleasure to thousands of visitors, and the sum raised exceeded all our expectations. I must also say how seamlessly and professionally ShelterBox’s staff and volunteers worked with Tregothnan’s people on making all the arrangements, and the entertainers and displays who helped to make it a very special occasion indeed.”
Proceeds are still being counted and will also go to a number of smaller local charities. For those that could not attend the UK’s largest garden opening or as a little reminder of the weekend, a ShelterBox bouquet of flowers from the Tregothnan gardens is available to buy here, with a percentage of these sales being added to the final figure. We're also running a photography competition for all budding photographers to send in their images to win@tregothnan.co.uk (a winner will be selected on 21st May.)
Next year's event will be on 12th and 13th April, with Young People Cornwall chosen as the charity.
The UK’s Largest Charity Garden Opening
17th April 2013
Green fingers, green tea, green boxes! The UK’s Largest Charity Garden Opening will benefit ShelterBox
We're looking forward to our Garden Opening, with proceeds going to Helston-based disaster aid organisation ShelterBox, which delivers shelter and lifesaving equipment in distinctive green boxes.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, visitors will enjoy exclusive access to our 100 acre estate, home of the Boscawen family since 1335. Explore the new tea plantation in the Himalayan Valley alongside the pagoda, and see rare and endangered plants. There are also South American and South African gardens, a camellia maze, deer park viewing points and a lime avenue.
A full programme of entertainment will include falconry, cookery demonstrations, music from choral to jazz, classic car displays, a treasure hunt, talks, storytelling and a possible helicopter flyover on Sunday. And, capturing the spirit of a true garden party, there will of course be homemade cakes, ice creams and lashings of tea.
ShelterBox Events Coordinator Liz Mulloy says: ‘This is going to be a very special weekend in a very special venue. ShelterBox is extremely grateful to our hosts - the Boscawen family and the Tregothnan estate - for this generous fundraising opportunity. I urge everyone with a love of beautiful gardens, stately homes, family entertainment, and most importantly tea and cakes, to spend the weekend with us. Every penny raised will go towards ShelterBox’s vital work helping displaced families worldwide.
Among the attractions for the weekend are:
- Ancient Art Falconry – a chance to see hawks, falcons and owls close up
- Local Vocalz Choir - a lively mixed voice choir with members from all over Cornwall (Saturday only)
- Celebrity cookery demonstrations with Thom Hunt – of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Channel 4 programme ‘Three Hungry Boys’
- Truro & Penwith College Jazz Band - A jazz band from Truro and Penwith College (Sunday only)
- Cupcake Decorating with ‘The Baking Bird’ - Truro’s cupcake expert will be holding special workshops (Sunday only)
- Big Wave Flags - a beautiful display of huge colourful flags from Redruth-based ShelterBox supporters
Tregothnan’s Charity Garden Opening Weekend is signposted from Tresillian near Truro towards St Michael Penkivel. The gardens will be open from 10.00am to 5.00pm, with last entry at 4.00pm each day. Entry prices are £7.00 per adult, children age 16 and under free, dogs on leads welcome. Earlybird discount tickets at £6.50 are available via the web address www.tregothnanshop.co.uk.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013
19th March 2013
We are delighted to announce that we have been invited to exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year in the RHS Environment Area of The Great Pavilion with a display entitled "Tregothnan's Wardian Case - The Unique Travelling Greenhouse" (as well as our usual trade stand at MW2.)
Tregothnan houses the world's only surviving Wardian Case and will showcase the enthralling history of the unique invention plus its equally exciting future in these water-saving and time straitened times. Originally designed in the 1830s as a shipping device to safely travel plants around the world, this interactive garden will explore the journey of pioneering plant introductions and how this ingenious travelling mini-greenhouse changed the horticultural world.
The garden will be designed as a ship with the original Wardian Case as its focal point. We will also be selling replicas constructed from FSC certified recycled timber. To celebrate the centenary of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it is fitting to bring back the Wardian Case for use around the world on terraces, balconies or even indoors. The display hopes to inspire, inform and engage in its historical context as well as leaving a legacy that the Wardian Case can be incorporated in the modern age too.
The Mayflower Project
18th March 2013
The Harwich Mayflower Project was initiated as a Charity in 2010 in order to build a replica of the iconic Pilgrim Ship in her original home port of Harwich, Essex. Our US subsiduary was established in 2011 and interest from the other side of the Atlantic is already strong. The Project effort is already concentrated upon providing young people with training in shipbuilding skills which will expand as the main shipbuilding process expands. The Project has procured about 70 oak trees which have already been partly processed to provide vessel components. It is anticipated that the completed vessel will require about 350 oak trees for the hull and 7 major Douglas firs for masts.
Most of the oak already acquired has originated in East Anglia but because of the major shipbuilding there for the Royal and Merchant Navies in the 16-18th centuries, the forests are relatively depleted versus the West of England. Accordingly, the Project decided some time ago that sourcing the oak from further afield was a sensible commercial prospect and with support from Tregothnan this process is being completed in an environmentally sustainable manner. The first 2 loads of wood will be shipped to Harwich in the next couple of weeks and we expect that these will be followed by as many as another 20 loads over the rest of 2013; this will provide the main part of the vessel’s hull.
The Mayflower will be floated at the end of 2015 and will sail for America on her maiden voyage at the end of 2016. However, the 400th anniversary of the original voyage will be in 2020 and we expect very high levels of enthusiasm for the re-enactment voyage. More information can be found here.
Tregothnan’s Diamond Woodland
15th March 2013
Yesterday we began planting Tregothnan's Diamond Woodland to celebrate The Queen's historic Diamond Jubilee, in association with The Woodland Trust. There will be 60 of these special woods throughout the UK, with 6 million trees in total. At Tregothnan, 35,000 trees will be planted totalling 60 acres - the only one of its kind in the Southwest. Tregothnan staff and residents of the parish of St Michael Penkivel each planted their own tree to provide a lasting, meaningful and living tribute to Her Majesty. Photos can be viewed here.