News
(01/06/2008) Gallery and Gift Shop Now Open The gallery is not only a showcase for our own work but also the very best in contemporary British arts and crafts. An eclectic mix of original work by local and national designers and makers. It brings highly beautiful and unique works and small and sumptuous gifts together in one space. Work includes fused glass, jewellry, ceramics, pottery, studio glass, metalworks, textiles prints and paintings. The gallery is situated in the heart of Whitchurch next to the Whitchurch Heritage Centre just off the high street. Take a look at the gallery www.downtoearthgallery.co.uk
Ellesmere Arts Centre Exhibition
Community Art Exhibition Opening & Peter Messenger Memorial Concert
Friday 22nd February - Exhibition showing until Thursday 20th. March
A selection of our work can now be seen at The Farmhouse Gallery, Maes-y-Groes, Iscoyd, Whitchurch SY13 3AU Telephone 01948 780 203
The gallery features monthly exhibitions by local and national artists, with a wide selection of original art, prints and greeting cards.
Opening times Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 3 pm
Saturday 10 am - 1pm
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Knutsford 2007 - 18 -22 July
“Balancing Act” Sculpture as featured in the Vale Royal Borough Council Show Feature Garden:
Reflections of our future - The impact of climate change
19/07/2007
RHS SUCCESSES FOR COUNCIL Vale Royal Borough Council is celebrating receiving two awards at the RHS Tatton Show
16/07/2007 Extreme weather conditions threaten Council’s climate change garden Gardeners are working flat out to finish Vale Royal Borough Council’s climate change show feature at RHS Tatton, after torrential downpours threatened to wash the garden way.
Martin Thornhill, one of the show feature’s designers, explained how the worst July weather in years has set the building timetable back by almost a week. “The gardeners have only had one dry day to work in since they came on site two weeks ago.
“Last year we finished the garden two days before the show opened and worked in blazing sunshine the whole time. Right now we are working in knee high mud, the dry pond bed has flooded and the grass is in danger of floating away. But with everyone else working in the same appalling conditions you have to laugh at the ironic theme of our show feature – the impacts of climate change!”
The garden’s other designer, Melanie Seacombe, believes the team’s problem are not just been weather related. She explains: “This garden brings to life the findings of an internationally acclaimed scientific study into the effects of climate change.
“This meant we had to design three separate gardens, each illustrating a differing rate of climate change. It has also meant that at 20 meters by 20 meters we are building the largest exhibit in the show.
“I have to say though, despite the trials of the last few weeks we’re already getting compliments from other gardening professionals. And if this garden can convince the thousands of visitors to change their lifestyles just a bit to tackle climate change, then all this hard work has been very worthwhile.”
12/07/2007
Bold and beautiful butterflies flock to RHS Tatton Pupils at Hartford Manor Community School have used their creative skills to construct a flock of colourful butterflies to feature in Vale Royal Borough Council’s show garden at RHS Tatton.
Butterflies were chosen over other wildlife because they respond very quickly to changes in their environment. Also they are so easy to observe that there is years worth of records available for scientists to study.
Recent investigations of these records have shown some species are migrating north as climate change robbed them of their common food sources and habitats. On the plus side many new species, including the Comma, Painted Lady and Speckled Wood, can been seen in our gardens for the first time.
Local environmental educator, Virginia Hunt, was asked by the Council to work with the pupils. She said: “The flocks of butterflies created by the children will bring a riot of colour to the gardens, but also carry with them a serious warning about the imminent dangers from climate change facing our wildlife.
“I hope visitors to the garden learn as much about climate change, and how to tackle it, as the pupils did.”
Class five’s teacher, Natalie Barwise, said: “The children are thrilled they were chosen to make butterflies for the Council’s climate change themed garden.
“They have particularly enjoyed seeing their drawings come to life in such a vibrant way and are excited at the thought of thousands of people viewing their handy work.”
06/07/2007
Government Minister sends words of support to Council Ian Pearson, Minister for Climate Change, has praised Vale Royal Borough Council for its show feature garden at this year’s Royal Horticultural Show (RHS) at Tatton.
“I hope your garden will achieve its aim of heightening public awareness around the effects of climate change on our gardens and show what action we can take to adapt our gardens so we do not contribute to future environmental problems.”
The show feature, called Reflections of the Future – the impact of climate change, contains three gardens in one. The individual gardens illustrate:
· The current effects of climate change
· The impact on our gardens if we take enough action now to reduce emissions
· The potential implications for a garden if we take no action and exceed a 2°C temperature increase
The designers took their inspiration for the feature from the stark findings of an internationally acclaimed study by the United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP).
In the ‘UKCIP02’ study, it was scientifically proven that average UK temperatures could rise between 2 and 4°C by 2080. The report predicted the drastic consequences of such climate change, and concluded that the level of temperature change experienced would depend on the amount of harmful greenhouse gases we released into the atmosphere over the next 10 – 20 years.
Martin Thornhill, one of the designers, believes this could be a unique garden at this year’s RHS show. He said: “This is the first time I have ever known a scientific study to be the subject for an RHS garden.
“We have had a few headaches with the design, given the complex nature of the study. But by working with the experts from UKCIP I believe we have created a stunning garden with a strong message. We hope that by giving visitors a glimpse into the future they will begin taking positive action to tackle climate change“.
Press Release Vale Royal Borough Council 06/06/2007
Climate change garden set to star
Climate change is the theme for Vale Royal Borough Council's show feature garden at Tatton's Royal Horticultural Show this July.
Climate change garden set to be hot favourite Council on track to star at Tatton's Royal Horticultural Show
The unique design from last year's RHS Award of Merit winners was revealed for the first time on World Environment Day (5 June).
'Climate change - reflecting on our future' comprises three gardens in one. Each garden illustrates how our actions are causing climate change and demonstrates the potentially devastating effects on a North West garden.
Visitors journey first into a typical garden you would find locally today, complete with traditional planting, water feature and house. Then they move forward in time to 2080, the furthest point in time we currently have climate change predictions for. There they will see the impact temperature increases of 2°c and 4°c could have on their gardens.
Renewable technologies and adaptive planting and landscaping techniques are explored in these gardens. Stark messages about the catastrophic effects of this level of climate change on the developing world are also placed in these gardens to offer a balanced perspective.
Cllr Mark Stocks, Lead Councillor for Environmental Policy, explained why the Council had chosen the hot topic of climate change. He said: "The feature has been created as part of the Council's work to increase public awareness around the need for us to take positive steps to tackle the issue of climate change.
"We hope that by seeing the challenges you will face in your own gardens from global warming, you will consider the wider issues facing mankind from this international threat. Important as our gardens are to us, climate change will deprive us of far greater things if we do not take very real action today to tackle this global warming."
Experts from the United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme, who wrote the influential UKCIP02 report into the effects of climate change in the UK, advised on the garden's design. They will also be joining the design team in the garden throughout the show week to answer questions on climate change.
Vale Royal Borough Council's garden is a unique offering at this year's series of RHS events. Despite many designers examining the issue of adapting gardens to meet the challenges of hotter climates, this is the only one directly showing the effects of climate change.
In another first for the Council, its bedding plant display in the RHSBall Colegrove National Flower Bed Competition shares the same theme as the show feature.
The bedding-plant feature, 'Climate roulette', will use wheels of colour to depict two extremes of climate change. One having cooler colours to illustrate what might happen is measures to deter climate change are adopted, and the other employing hot reds and oranges to depict the alarming changes expected if nothing is done.