‘A Garden Party To Make A Difference' Historic premier event at Clarence House covered by Pukka PR
On 15 September '10 a fairly windy but bright day my daughter Gina and I strolled through leafy Green Park to see Prince Charles's gardens at his London residence Clarence House and, to see the gardens of Lancaster House & Marlborough House all 3, venue to ‘A Garden Party To Make A difference.' A unique, vibrant green, eco festival and follow-up to Prince Charles's ‘Start' initiative encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle in Britain. The Prince welcomed visitors to his Garden Party which was organised with the help of experts and professionals in many fields and we heard that Prince Charles got permission to use energy-saving Solar panels on the roof of historic Clarence House former home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The 12 day event had a packed programme with various artistes, designers, musicians, speakers (at debates) and comedians participating in live performances throughout the day - one of summer's enriching fun festivals bringing the message green is good.
While strolling in the gardens of Clarence House we were delighted to see gargantuan green pig sculptures (hedgy topiaries) of big mama sow with her plump piglets so sweet... all created by Steve Manning. Strange sheep were represented too climbing up a ladder trying to hop on a cloud, one of the B & Q exhibits featured around the gardens.
We saw attractive plant displays grouped against the building walls created by various plant nurseries also saw Prince Charles's own little vegetable patch and the rose garden in honour of The Queen Mother.
A gigantic shower head was an unusual exhibit in the grounds of Lancaster House - standing under that is like standing under a rain cloud, felt a bit like Alice in wonderland with all the gigantic exhibits featured in the gardens.
As we wandered about to the sound of music with a cello being played in the wind, we came across Beth Chatto's neat ‘Gravel Garden' for all seasons and then we arrived at the ‘RHS Variety For Life' stand where we were given a pack with sample seeds & beans to grow a giant tree on top of which we'd probably find the scary giant from ‘Jack & The Beanstalk!'
In the gardens of Marlborough House we found stands and displays representing business and industry such as M&S, EDF, Eden Project, Waitrose etc and I thought Virgin's carousel-like stand was prettily decorated with pink & pastel ribbons and cards floating in the breeze as did the odd steely Ford sculptures float in the trees.
The refreshment area spilled out onto an enclosed part of the Mall where we found cafes, food stalls, more display stands including energy-saving cars, we stood and admired the 1897 Bersey electric Taxi in yellow & black and, giant silhouette-painted corks at the natural Cork display.
After our T/coffee break I noticed a poet's stand with a wigwam set up for children and I went and chatted to Berkshire poet Coral Rumble and her assistant Nick. We then saw the British Gas hut and further up I spotted an aluminium solar oven probably capable of cooking the good old all-day English breakfast Gina and I enjoy. Met and chatted to David Wrathall science teacher at Crispin School responsible for the aluminium dish - he told us Crispin is an award-winning, eco school and has its own money! Crispin vouchers for ‘fair trade' produce.
Finally we arrived at the Friary stage where we saw zany comedian Ben Elton performing and we went and sat in the front row to watch the show. We enjoyed his jokes and one of his quips "men can't find anything or multitask" raised many laughs and so we left the Friary smiling. The entire outdoor festival was a lovely experience and luckily it didn't rain.
© Article by Amita Chatterji Photos by Amita Chatterji & Gina Chrysanthou
Gina Chrysanthou of Pukka PR
Amita Chatterji Poet/Writer
Poet Coral Rumble and Nick Science teacher David Wrathall
Above: Comedian Ben Elton
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