Gift wrap goes green at The Gardens Group

Proudly, I can announce that all of our gift-wrapping at The Gardens Group is now environmentally friendly. The new wrapping is made from a variety of ingenious materials including plant-based raffia, bio-plastic film, and recycled paper, meaning our complimentary gift-wrapping service has never been greener.

Looking after the environment is at the heart of what we do at The Gardens Group, so it is brilliant to be able to give all of our customers confidence that their gifts are eco-friendly. The new materials, which come in a vibrant array of colours, complement the plants beautifully and are going down very well at the centre.

Mike

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Adam Frost comes to Brimsmore Gardens

As part of the Yeovil Literary Festival we will be welcoming Adam Frost to Brimsmore Gardens on Monday 22 October at 7pm. Best known for his work presenting Gardener’s World and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Adam is an award-winning garden and landscape designer, and an enduring plant enthusiast.

Tickets are now on sale at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil, as well as Brimsmore, Castle and Poundbury Gardens and cost £12 per person, discounted to £10 for The Gardens Group Gold members, YCCA members, Footlights and Waterstone’s card holders.

Doors will open at 6pm at The Apple Tree Restaurant for refreshments before the main event.

Mike

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Illyria outdoor theatre returns to Castle Gardens

Bringing Shakespeare’s greatest courtroom drama, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson’s most baffling case and many more classic tales to life along the way, Illyria returns to Castle Gardens this summer.

Sitting under the night sky in the walled garden with a picnic in tow, all you need is a blanket and a playful sense of humour to enjoy the critically-acclaimed, outdoor theatre company’s latest productions.

This summer’s Illyria performances will take place at Castle Gardens on:

The Merchant of Venice – Friday 13 July
The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle – Saturday 21 July
The Pirates of Penzance – Thursday 2 August
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Thursday 30 August

Doors open at 6:30pm for a 7:30pm start and tickets are on sale from Castle Gardens or online via www.illyriatheatre.co.uk.

Mike

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Tarts & Tortes at The Apple Tree

The Apple Tree Restaurant at Brimsmore Gardens is holding a Tarts and Tortes baking and making competition on Friday 20 July. The judging will be led by Brett Sutton, multi-award-winning chef patron of The White Post, Rimpton, so you can be sure that your creations will be subject to culinary scrutiny of the highest order.

Commencing at 2pm, judging will take place over four categories, sweet and savoury tart, or sweet and savoury torte, and each winner will receive a brilliant prize. The competition is free to enter, and the overall winner on the day will have their tarte or torte featured on The Apple Tree Restaurant’s menu and will receive a voucher for The Gardens Group.

Mike

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FOLD restores Coldharbour Hospital memorial

(L-R) The Coldharbour Hospital memorial stone before and after restoration. (Credit: Appleby & Childs.)

FOLD (Friends of Learning Disabled), which has been supporting and enhancing the lives of people with learning disabilities in North Dorset since 1955, recently commissioned a restoration of the Coldharbour Hospital memorial stone, which is situated in Sherborne Cemetery. The memorial stone is one of only a few references to the devastating hospital fire, which claimed 30 lives back in 1972, and had become weathered and illegible over time.

Coldharbour Hospital was a fundamental part of the FOLD’s heritage and its memory continues to shape the way it offers support today, so FOLD committee member Monica Atkinson arranged for Yeovil-based Appleby & Childs to carry out the repair.

The fire not only saw the end of this wonderful facility but claimed many lives too, so the FOLD’s members felt it important to restore the memorial stone to honour the victims and capture this moment in time, which affected so many people locally.

Mike

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