Saturday 30th June (10.30am start): The Cart Shed's Literary Lunch at Newport House with Jules Hudson author of recently published Walled Gardens.

Join writer and broadcaster Jules Hudson and hear first hand about his fascinating voyage of discovery around some of Britain s most beautiful and productive walled kitchen gardens.

For centuries, walled gardens have provided a wealth of food, fruit and flowers for our great houses. Beginning as simple medieval enclosures, they evolved into powerful status symbols and centres of world-class horticultural expertise. Yet during the 20th century their fortunes failed, and most were lost or abandoned, as were many of the skills needed to run them. Happily, today many have been revived.

From the fairy-tale enclosure of Knightshayes Court in Devon to the garden that Churchill built by hand at Chartwell in Kent, from the recently revived garden at Blickling in Norfolk to the atmospheric ruins at Plas Newydd in North Wales, and the stunningly restored gardens of Newport House, Walled Gardens is the perfect guide for anyone who shares a fascination for these unique and enchanting spaces.

Well known for presenting the BBC s series Escape to the Country and Countryfile , Jules Hudson is an archaeologist and historian. 

Jules will take guests round the walled garden at Newport House, and guests will be served a sumptuous finger buffet created with some of the wonderful produce grown in Newport House's walled gardens.

Tickets for the talk, tour and lunch are £35.

All profits go to The Cart Shed.

To book and for info: info@thecartshed.co.uk

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After a month of opening to the public, Out Of Nature 2017 closed on 29 October. We welcomed around 4,000 visitors from all over the UK and beyond, who had come to enjoy, see, feel, touch, walk into and in some instances, play on, over 240 sculptures exhibited around the gardens and grounds of Newport House.

Out of Nature’s prime objective was to raise funds for and awareness of The Cart Shed, a charity about which I am passionate and of which I am a trustee. It provides daily evidence of how “just being” outdoors in a safe and embracing human environment allows the body and the mind to restore, refresh and manage debilitating mental health conditions such as depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, substance misuse and anxiety.

Images from the exhibition linger on - of sculptures coming alive in the autumn light, of cosiness and yummy, wholesome food in the food tent, and of enriching encounters with visitors.

The garden and the sculptures brought awe and wonder. They were a portal into a natural world that is stunningly beautiful, nurturing, embracing.

Visitors commented that it was “inspiring”, “uplifting”, “breath taking”. Even on the rainy, chilly days.

It was heartening to see so many people of different ages, backgrounds and views share the experience: we live in a wonderful natural world, and it is there for us to dip into whenever we need it. Be it through delicious fruit and vegetables, the scent of flowers or dead leaves, through a walk outside with the dog… or through days at The Cart Shed.

We raised around £5,000, increased awareness of The Cart Shed, enrolled many new volunteers and continued to develop community understanding around the impact of poor mental health and what can be done to support those who live with it. What the implications of this experience are is yet unclear. But warm memories stay in one’s mind for a long time, like a teddy bear that can be pulled out when needed. Connections have been made.

May that awe, wonder and trust in natural processes be integrated into our lives more and more!

Jenny Watt
Newport House, November 2017

Heartfelt thanks to:

• The artists - many made pieces for the show and transported them from far afield. Forty-three artists showed 247 pieces, most of them outdoors. Admire them here: www.outofnature.org.uk/programme/artists-2017 and in our photo gallery: www.outofnature.org.uk/gallery/out_of_nature_2017. Some sold, but some are still available for sale, please email us to enquire: jenny@thecartshed.co.uk.
• The vibrant Cart Shed stand, manned by volunteers and participants from The Cart Shed, gave weekend visitors an opportunity try their hand at turning wood on the pole lathe, or discuss the therapeutic benefits of being outdoors with a member of the team.
• Paula and Pedro cooked every day creating an array of different soups, quiches and cakes with produce from the walled garden – you can try their recipes for yourself! The food was served by an international team of enthusiastic WWOOFers, and by no less enthusiastic gardeners and Cart Shed staff, including CEO Katie Eastaugh. Check out Paula & Pedro's blog for recipes for the cheese scones, Hungarian mushroom soup, salted caramel tart, and all the rest!
• Every person who worked on the show or who visited it; they all created the overall experience with their hard work and enthusiasm.
• The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph for their support, as well as the Hereford Times and BBC Hereford & Worcester: www.outofnature.org.uk/press/coverage.

Some highlights:

• Our events brought in people from different areas, with a different buzz every time. You can get a flavour of the activities on offer here: www.outofnature.org.uk/programme/workshops-and-activities.
• Garden historian Kate Feluś spoke of the history of Newport House and its people: find out more about her book on the subject.
• Sculptor Mark Richards took part in a conversation with Richard Heatly on what drives his work, in a talk initiated by the Powys Art Fund.
• Mike Abbott and Gudrun Leitz organized a “Winds of Change” weekend on the warmest weekend of the month, with demonstrations of green wood craft and talks about how to manage woods and why. They invited some of their friends, such as writer Rob Penn, writer and photographer Archie Miles, and illustrator Jackie Morris, to talk about their work. Jackie spoke about her latest book “The Lost Words”, illustrated by her and written by Robert Macfarlane, celebrating and reinstating the ‘lost words’ that have been recently taken out of the Oxford Junior Dictionary, such as acorn and conker. It sold out within three weeks of publication.
• Watch a video of the show! Out Of Nature seen from the air.

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Top UK garden photographer Clive Nichols had two hours of good light when he came in early September.

www.clivenichols.com

Nanette Hepburn has been a professional photographer for 10 years, after working on BBC documentaries.

www.hepburnphotography.co.uk

Andrew Legge is project manager at Newport House; he oversaw the refurbishment and building of the green houses, dove cote, library, parquet flooring, wooden panels in the billiard room and much more. He’s also a photographer in his free time.

www.andrewlegge.co.uk

Sean Crawford has a demanding job as adviser for the Government on rural issues, but sees himself foremost as a photographer and lover of the great outdoors.

www.facebook.com/seancrawfordphotography

John English is a friend of artist Ed Elliot.

Jenny Watt is organiser of Out Of Nature. As she lives on site she could rush outdoors every time there was an opportunity for a photo.

Retired Royal Navy officer and Cart Shed volunteer Phil Morris enthusiastically manned the Cart Shed pop up site during every weekend of Out Of Nature. This photo of his grand-daughter captures wonderfully the sense of wonder inspired by the sculptures.

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