Events and Outings
HGT's next event:
Strawberry Hill Revealed
A remarkable story of this Heritage site and
its recent restoration with Peter Inskip, Conservation Architect
Ashridge Tuesday 13th April 7.00pm
The story of a house and garden, now nearing completion of its £8.9 million restoration and also the story of Horace Walpole, the most important English collector of the 18th Century.
A stunning lecture with wonderful illustrations by the Conservation Architect involved with the restoration and who has also worked on the restoration of Stowe Landscape Gardens, the Albert Memorial and Somerset House and several country houses including Chatsworth, Osborne and Waddesdon.
Tickets, inclusive of glass of wine £10.00 members, £12.00 non members from Penny Figgis, The Limes, Essendon, Hatfield AL9 6HS 01707 261400
Garden Open and Plant Stalls
at Benington Lordship
Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May 12.00 - 5.00pm
A spring fundraising event in stunning gardens and grounds, full of glorious spring flowers adding to the joy of the 12th century moat, the neo-Norman folly, the lakes and the walled kitchen garden. Stalls with a fine collection of perennials, shrubs and unusual plants for sale. Soup, tea and cakes in the Manor House Tea room. Free Parking. No dogs.
Benington Lordship SG2 7BS. Four miles ease of Stevenage in the village of Benington next to the church. Tourist signs off the A602 between Stevenage and Hertford and the A507 between Buntingford and Baldock.
Admission: Adults £4, Under 16s £2, under 12s free. RHS members free.
Recent visits to gardens for Members have included:
Coton Manor Northamptonshire, Abbot's Ripton Hall and Childerley Hall Cambridgeshire, Great Fosters Surrey, Waltham Place Berkshire, Fermyn Woods Hall in Northamptonshire, Rousham Gardens in Bicester, Pettifers at Banbury, Chippenham Park near Newmarket, Great Comp in Sevenoaks, Squerryes Cout in Westerham, The Priory Stoke by Nayland and Hemingham Hall in Suffolk.
Fundraising events
We have musical evenings both indoors and out, bridge days in the winter months and plant fairs with stunning open gardens – as at Serge Hill, Abbots Langley, held jointly with the Hospice of St Francis, Berkhamsted. View pictures and write up
Lectures are held twice a year – at Ashridge near Berkhamsted and at Haileybury near Hertford with some exceptionally distinguished speakers :-
Jane Roberts, Librarian and Curator of the Print Room, The Royal Collection Windsor Castle, "Royal Landscape: The History of the Royal Parks at Windsor"
Dr. Peter Burman, Director of Conservation & Property Services, The National Trust for Scotland, "New Art, Old Landscapes. The Role of Contemporary Craftsmanship in Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes"
James Bolton, Garden Designer and Historian, "From the Picturesque to Paxton: The Changing Style of Gardens in the early 19th Century"
Tom Stuart-Smith, Award winning Landscape Architect (six times gold winner at Chelsea and designer of the Queen's Jubilee Garden at Windsor Castle, "New Gardens Historic Landscapes. Articulating between old and new with inspiration from music, cell biology and cultural history to create new gardens that are contextual and modern"
Anna Pavord Gardening Correspondent of the Independent, "The Tulip"
Jennifer Potter, Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund King's College London and Reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, "The Curious Gardeners: The lives and times of the John Tradescants"