Dear Friends
The current grounds and gardens at Townhill Park House were designed and created in 1912 by Leonard Rome Guthrie and Gertrude Jekyll, so 2012 is our centenary year! I hope all Friends will be able to join us to celebrate our 100th birthday. In particular our open day on the 1st July will see many guests and the unveiling of our new Centenary Arch by both Gilly Drummond, Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire and current President of Hampshire Gardens Trust (HGT). Our arch would not have been possible without some very generous donations and a special mention in this respect should go to The Hampshire Gardens’ Trust. The arch will take pride of place between the hedges as you enter the gardens from the front of the house.
To start our celebrations Jane Balfour has agreed to talk at our March open day at 2.30pm. Jane is an expert on Gertrude Jekyll and the talk will have particular reference to the gardens at Townhill Park House. The talk is free but with a retiring voluntary collection should attendees feel a small donation would be appropriate.
The formal gardens were again wonderfully presented and maintained during 2011 and my grateful thanks as always go to our wonderful volunteers, Janet and David Harley in the Sunk Garden and Rosaleen Wilkinson in the Herbaceous Borders and Herb Garden. Their work receives very valued support from Rod Clay who has also been involved in all other areas of the grounds. Rod’s expertise is very much appreciated and this year this also spread to re-tiling and mending the summer house roof in the Sunk garden with his brother Nigel. Very grateful thanks go to Nigel and his roofing supplies company, Formerton Ltd, for undertaking this very urgent work voluntarily. An excellent job has been done!
This has been a year of change with Matt Hunt (the school’s groundsman) recently moving on. Matt had made significant improvements to the presentation of the grounds over the last 10 years and will be very much missed. My considerable thanks go to Matt for all he has achieved and also to the Southwell family who have decided to take a step back. Volunteers Ian, Ann and Jonathan have worked tirelessly in the school grounds over a number of years, bringing enthusiasm, dedication and organisation. The Southwells have been instrumental in forming the arboretum help group ‘The Posse’ whose significant clearance work is now very evident. The Southwells also championed the Orchard and the North Terrace Borders with equal enthusiasm and have achieved so much and will be sadly missed.
A special thanks also goes to all those very willing volunteers within the arboretum posse who will be carrying on their excellent work.
Tim Lee-Harper has become the school’s new groundsman and has already enthusiastically thrown himself into the grounds and wil,l I am sure, be an excellent asset. Tim will also be taking over the organisation of the Arboretum Posse who, this year, will be helping with planting as well as their normal clearance work.
My thanks also go to all other very valuable members of the committee and in particular to Peter Wilkinson who continues as our very able and important treasurer. Peter has undertaken the treasurers’ duties for many years and deserves a special mention. Thanks also to Jacky Searle, Brian May, Jenny Haines and Adrienne Harris who have added so much to help the publicity and fund raising efforts at our open days and to Paul Young for all the considerable effort he continues to put in. Steve Harris and Anne Clay also deserve thanks for their continued support.
This year we held a number of ‘Members’ days towards the end to the season. These added value to membership and we will be reviewing their success to see if we should continue. If this is to happen again this year we will of course advise all members to ensure all are aware of what is happening.
Finally, our open days would not be the same without the teas and wonderful cakes made and served by Sue Field and Michelle Morrissey so grateful thanks again go to them. I am sure everyone would agree that Sue’s cakes are a major attraction!
I do hope that all members will renew their membership for 2012 as this will help with the continued development of the wonderful Gertrude Jekyll gardens and other emerging areas.
Don’t forget to look out for our wonderful DVD of the gardens highlighting their seasonal changes and set to the music of Peter Wilkinson. All funds of course being reinvested in the gardens.
I do hope you will be able to join us this year to celebrate our 100th year.
Sunday, 11th March from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.
Come and see our daffodils and stop for tea, cake and a chat.
Please also note that there will also be a talk by Jane Balfour at 2.30. Jane is the Hampshire Gertrude Jekyll expert and will talk about Gertrude Jekyll and her gardens with particular reference to Townhill. The talk will be free although it is intended that there will be a retiring collection in aid of the gardens.
Monday, 7th May (Bank Holiday) from 2.00pm to 5.00pm.
Enjoy the bluebells and blossoms in the arboretum. The school’s Jazz band will be playing.
Sunday, 1st July from 2.00pm to 5.00pm – CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS!
This is when the gardens are most colourful and Meridian Winds will again be playing. Join us for the unveiling our new Centenary Arch with honoured guests Gilly Drummond, Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire and current President of Hampshire Gardens Trust (HGT), Rachel Bebb, previous Chair of HGT and who was also instrumental in setting up the Friends and Leonard Rome Guthrie’s daughter Murlo Primrose.
Sunday, 9th September 2.00pm to 5.00pm
This is Heritage Day and the house will again be open for guided tours by the school’s students.
You can see the progress being made within the gardens and grounds, and enjoy some wonderful photographs taken at different times of year on the Gardens web site. Many thanks go to Lynn Black for the work she undertakes to improve and update our web site.
If anyone would like to get more involved they would be very welcome, please contact any member of the committee.
The current members of the committee are as follows and can be contacted through the school office on 023 8047 2133 or by email.
Vince Davies
Chairman & Secretary (School Bursar)
Peter Wilkinson
Treasurer
Janet & David Harley
Co-ordinators of the Italian Garden
Janet is Minutes Secretary
Rosaleen Wilkinson
Co-ordinator of the Herbaceous Borders and Historian
Tim Lee-Harper
Grounds Manager
Committee Members
Jacky Searle (Local Publicity)
Paul Young
Adrienne Harris
Steve Harris
Rod Clay
Ann Clay
(by Janet and David Harley)
It has been a good year with the garden looking especially pleasing in the latter part of the summer while the lavender was still out. We have replaced some of the lavender with new plants which have yet to reach their full size. We have removed shrubs that were out of proportion to the rest of the sunken garden. Rod Clay has been a great help pruning the climbers on the pergola and mending the summer house roof besides other general work. We rely greatly on his expertise in all horticultural matters. Thank you Rod!!
Badgers have continued to spoil some of the grass under the pergola and deer have had the occasional snack! The pond is in good condition – not our work I hasten to add – but it has reached this state by the growth of some green plants and lilies. So it will be more of the same- weeding, replacing, trying new plants and tidying up and maybe this year we will get round to the raised areas by the yew hedges.
(by Rosaleen Wilkinson)
The Summer of 2011 was an average sort of British summer after an unusually warm and sunny Spring. The herbaceous borders were quite colourful and the mild Autumn weather meant that many plants and seed-heads continued to look attractive in shades of brown and green untouched by frost. I left them as long as possible, but since Christmas I have had to work hard to get the borders tidied and plants divided and replaced, always with one eye on the weather forecasts, in order to complete the job before any really severe cold set in. I just managed to do so before the cold spell in February saw the ground frozen too hard for digging.
Unfortunately, the deer have now started eating plants which I have relied on for colour for several years. Previously there has been a lovely display of red Penstemons as the climax of the upper herbaceous borders, but now the flower stalks are neatly removed, as with the other pink, purple and white Penstemons in other areas. It’s difficult to think of suitable unpalatable alternatives. However, I have now planted some very aromatic red flowered Bergamot, which is used to flavour Earl Grey tea, so we will see what the deer make of that!
The deer have become increasingly tame and do not run away when those of us who work regularly in the gardens approach. Recently, as I wheeled my barrow down the garden, I came upon four does sitting in the pergola. They got up when they saw me and stood watchfully. I was interested to see what they would do next, so I sat down on the wall and took my coffee flask out of my pocket. They settled down again, and we enjoyed the winter sunshine together, as I drank my coffee and they chewed over their recent meal of Penstemons.
As ever, Rod Clay and Paul Young are invaluable helpers around the gardens, with their “know-how” and muscle power always available to solve both horticultural and practical problems. I was sorry to see Matthew Hunt leave us after ten years, which saw the gardens restored from their derelict state, but we welcome Tim Lee-Harper in his place. We are sure Tim will share our enthusiasm and love for the Townhill gardens.
The North Terrace Border has now become a well established area thanks to the hard work of the Southwell family. Many new plants were planted to add significant colour and the display of Aliums to greet visitors drew much admiration. Our grateful thanks go to the Southwells who have now decided to step back. This area is currently being tended to by Rod Clay but if anyone else would like to take it on then please let a member of the committee know as soon as possible. Help is always very much appreciated!
(by Rosaleen Wilkinson)
The herb garden has begun to look established, as the box hedges, now three years old, have filled out and grown taller. The borders round the edges of each “room” are fairly successful although my original idea of having a blue and white colour scheme has been abandoned in favour of more colours.
However, the central beds are more of a problem. It is difficult to fill a large open area and make it look shapely as well as colourful, especially when the deer make such problems for us. I considered the possibility of grassing over the whole bed, but in our committee meeting it was decided that this would be inappropriate because it goes against Gertrude Jekyll’s original plans, and after all we are trying to re-create her beautiful designs. So I am going to try a planting of small shrubs such as Potentillas and Cistus instead of the herbaceous perennials which have proved so tasty to the deer. There is also a problem in that the attractive Foxglove trees (Paulownia) in the centre of the beds, are not really suited to the site because they grow rapidly to 30ft tall with a spread of 15ft. It is always sad to cut down trees, but perhaps we will be forced to take this decision in a couple of years.
(by Jacky Searle)
The Orchard population now stands at 31 trees with the planting of two new pear trees this year - a Conference and a Family Pear which is three varieties of pear grafted on one trunk. Our thanks for the donation which made this possible and to Rod Clay for doing the digging.
It's a joy to see the Orchard improving year-on-year and being increasingly enjoyed by the visitors on Open Days. All credit to Rod Clay who has the unenviable task of the annual pruning and to the school grounds team for keeping the Yew Hedges tidy and the grass under control.
Our especial thanks go to Stephen and Julia Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples (http://www.fruitwise.net) who have generously donated their expertise for the Orchard's benefit this year. Despite a bumper year themselves we were most grateful to Julia for her time in analysing samples from every tree to identify the 'unknowns' in the Orchard and to validate what we thought were the 'knowns'. Thanks to Julia we have discovered a rare 'Duchess' Favourite' which is very exciting. Also due to their advice we installed codling moth traps in May and have continued to replace the bugbands, which the badgers seem to enjoy shredding, all year round. These actions have increased the orchard's yield and quality enormously this year.
Our thanks to the volunteers who helped to pick 30 crates of apples for sale at the September Open Day and for picking more on the day when we'd sold out after 90 minutes! Our thanks to our visitors for donating £133 in return for the apples - the proceeds of which will be ploughed back into further improvements.
Another new item in the Orchard in 2011 was the installation of and population of a bee-hive. Our thanks to Steve Smith for volunteering to look after them and we look forward to perhaps offering honey for fund-raising purposes in future.
With the pergola now fully restored the wisteria has returned in force, in turn this should ensure an excellent display this year. The unsightly overhead cables have now been re-routed under-ground and that will add to the visual impact of this lovely secluded area behind the school hall.
The drainage pipe from the pond is blocked (or broken). This means the fountain cannot now be used on Open Days. It has been suggested that a solar-powered one be used. The brick path around the pond is damaged and when this is replaced or repaired it would be the time to consider a new pipe.
Our thanks go to the small but dedicated band of people, affectionately dubbed 'the posse', who gave their Sunday mornings once a month in 2011 to improve the arboretum, orchard and other areas for the enjoyment of our guests on Open Days.
We were very grateful to Ian Southwell for his organisation, enthusiasm and inspiration. Further tree identification and labelling has been made possible by these valiant volunteers taming the bramble, holly and other undesirables which have obscured what was once Lord Swaythling's proud collection of rare and beautiful specimens.
Now that the area is more accessible visitors may wish to hunt the slate identification tags highlighting such specimens as the Persion Ironwood tree with its camouflage bark and the Davidia Involucrata (also known as the handkerchief tree and at its best in late April) amongst the Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
Given the increased light in the arboretum we can now look forward to another spectacular blanket of bluebells and if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the resident deer amongst them the beauty takes your breath away.
We have a further list of improvements in plan for 2012 and have organised 8 sessions this calendar year. Work sessions will take place on Sundays from 10am to 1pm on 4 March, 1 April, 13 May, 17 June, 22 July, 2 Sept, 7 Oct and 18 November. Please feel free to attend as many or as few as you wish and for as long as you wish. All physical levels of ability are welcome so do come along for some fresh air, exercise, good company (well we hope we are) and a great sense of achievement in a beautiful and unique setting. Volunteers of help or enquiries can be made via Tim Lee-Harper or Vince Davies, the Bursar at Gregg School on 023 8047 2133.
This update would not be complete without the posse's grateful thanks to the school cooks for providing refreshments mid-way through the sessions - some people will do anything for free cake.
To renew your membership of the Friends of Townhill Park House Gardens for 2012, please download and complete the membership form. Membership is £5.00 for single membership, or £8.00 for family membership.
Rosaleen Wilkinson has recently published a book called the Life and Times of a Gertrude Jekyll Garden about the fascinating history of Townhill Park House and its gardens. The book brings to life the world of the grand country estate through the eye-witness accounts of members of Lord Swaythling's family, their servants and gardeners, and the people who have lived and worked at Townhill up to the present day. It is a "must" for Gertrude Jekyll enthusiasts. The book, price £12, is available at Open Days, from the Gregg School, Bitterne History Society shop, or by post - Tel 023 8078 1012
Visits by members of The Friends of Townhill Park House Gardens can be arranged by prior appointment. Unfortunately visits during school ours are not possible.
Vince Davies
(Chairman)
