BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time (GQT) is coming
to the shores of Strangford Lough on Saturday 9th June 2018 to hold
their annual Summer Garden Party in the beautiful surrounds of the National
Trust’s Mount Stewart.
Tickets go on sale Sunday 1 April for
the event at which the gurus of gardening, including Matthew Wilson, Christine
Walkden, Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness, James Wong, Pippa Greenwood, Matt Biggs,
and GQT chairmen Eric Robson and Peter Gibbs will be in attendance.
The GQT Summer Garden Party is Radio
4’s biggest annual event – including huge recordings of the BBC’s flagship
gardening radio programme. Visitors will get the chance to meet the GQT panellists,
put their questions to them in person, and participate in demonstrations and
horticultural happenings across the gardens.
In addition to talks, demos and recordings with the
Gardeners’ Question Time team, some of the highlights will include: recordings
of BBC Ulster’s Gardeners’ Corner, talks from RHS Chelsea gold winners Diarmuid
Gavin and Ian Price, cookery demos from Belfast’s The Merchant and The Great
Room, walking tours, plant sales and fun for all the family.
Neil
Porteous, Head of Gardens at Mount Stewart said; “We are
very excited that Gardeners’ Question Time have chosen to come to Mount Stewart
for their Summer Garden Party. It’s fitting that for the National Trust’s first
time as host the Garden Party will take place at one of its best known and most
loved gardens.”
Eric
Robson, Chairman of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time said; “We’re
delighted to be bringing our listeners to Mount Stewart, a critically-acclaimed
garden and a great setting for our annual horticultural revelries. In past
years, the event has attracted listeners in their thousands, and we hope that
in partnership with the National Trust, this year will be even bigger still.”
The full programme of activities as well as how to
take part in the recordings will be announced shortly and tickets will be
available by visiting Mount Stewart’s website from Sunday 1st April
2018. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mount-stewart
Access to BBC Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time
Summer Garden Party recordings and activities will be ticketed: Adult £10.50
& Child £5.25.
-ENDS-
For further Mount Stewart media information and
images contact Hannah.mccloy@nationaltrust.org.uk / 07984
608 579
For questions about Gardeners’ Question Time please
contact radio4publicity@bbc.co.uk
Notes to
Editor
About
Mount Stewart
Located on the shores of Strangford Lough in County
Down, Mount Stewart is one of Northern Ireland’s most loved historical houses cared
for by the National Trust, the 19th-century house has recently undergone a
three year £8 million restoration programme, making it a must-see attraction on
the island of Ireland.
Voted as one of the top ten gardens in the world,
Mount Stewart reflects a rich tapestry of design and planting artistry bearing
the hallmark of its creator. Edith, Lady Londonderry’s passion for bold
planting schemes coupled with the mild climate of Strangford Lough allows rare
and tender plants from across the globe to thrive in this celebrated garden.
Each of the formal gardens exudes a distinct character and appeal.
Further afield visitors can enjoy the beautifully
landscaped and informal grounds surrounding the picturesque lake walk. Or for a
different view, stroll around miles of new walking trails and discover a
landscape lost in time.
Email: eventsmountstewart@nationaltrust.org.uk
Website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mount-stewart
About the
National Trust
The National Trust is a conservation charity
founded in 1895 by three people who saw the importance of our nation’s heritage
and open spaces, and wanted to preserve them for everyone to enjoy. More
than 120 years later, these values are still at the heart of everything the
charity does.
Entirely independent of Government, the National
Trust looks after more than 250,000 hectares of countryside, 778 miles of
coastline and hundreds of special places across England, Wales and Northern
Ireland.
More than 24 million people visit every year, and
together with 5 million members and over 65,000 volunteers, they help to
support the charity in its work to care for special places for ever, for
everyone.
For more information and ideas for great seasonal
days out go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
About
BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time
Gardeners’ Question
Time, Fridays, 3pm, BBC Radio 4 (repeated Sundays 2pm).
Originally titled How
Does Your Garden Grow?, the first edition of Gardeners’ Question Time
was broadcast in 1947 and took questions from members of the Smallshaw
Allotments Association. Since then GQT has become an institution, regularly
attracting over 1.5 million listeners a week.
Over the years the
programme has taken more than 30,000 questions. The team have been
guests of gardening clubs and other groups up and down the UK, including
Leyhill Open Prison, the Palace of Westminster and even a nudist group.
For the first 47 years
the panel were shown the questions in advance, but that tradition was dropped
in 1994. Since then, their encyclopaedic answers have been completely
spontaneous and reveal their huge experience and depth of gardening knowledge.
For further
information:
Email: gqt@bbc.co.uk