Monthly Archives: October 2021

Fireworks Part 2: Marvellous Contrivances and Warlike Music

MUSIC AND FIREWORKS!   By the 17thc the most important state occasions and civic events called for pageants, processions, ceremonies and often  included extravagant firework displays too.   A new generation of gunners used their military skills with gunpowder to devise  entertainments as well as weaponry. Fireworks … Continue reading

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Fireworks – part 1: Here be Dragons!

In honour of the fact that November 5th is looming on the calendar I thought I’d be topical and  investigate the history of fireworks in our parks and gardens. I soon discovered that  fireworks have very little to do with … Continue reading

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100,000 trees might fetch £100,000 and a few medals

We often talk of the English landscape garden with the emphasis on garden but the wider landscape was equally important in design terms and far more significant in economic terms. Landowners  planted trees to ornament their estates for aesthetic as … Continue reading

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Chambord and its new 18thc garden

Chambord is one of the greatest chateaux in France with 426 rooms, 83 staircases, and 282 fireplaces – but apart from a few years in the 18thc – no real garden. It was built  as a hunting lodge in the early … Continue reading

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The Ryder Cup for Gardening

Pre-Covid I was looking for material for a post on Winifred Walker, the botanical artist and discovered that one of the companies who commissioned her flower paintings was Ryders of St Albans.  That name sounded familiar but  didn’t ring any … Continue reading

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