The Trentham Estate, which boasts one of England’s most-visited garden attractions, made national headlines when it launched a Virtual Tour of its Spring Bulb Festival – and is now set to offer even more online floral treats for virtual visitors.
BBC Midlands Today and BBC News UK have already covered the way in which The Trentham Estate in Stoke-on-Trent has been able to give garden lovers everywhere a glimpse of the magical colours of its annual Festival – despite the lockdown.
Even the 12 members of staff who planted 200,000 bulbs for the Spring Bulb Festival were unable to see the end result. But the videos of the colourful Spring blooms inspired hundreds of thousands of people during National Gardening Week.
Now, to coincide with #EnglishTourismWeek20, The Trentham Estate has released more footage – this time focusing on Virtual Tours of its award-winning Italian Gardens, and Perennial Meadows (https://www.trentham.co.uk/blog/). The footage has also been posted on Trentham’s YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/3bR9AxZ.
As well as marking English Tourism Week (25-31 May) – an annual celebration highlighting the economic importance and value of tourism, which has taken on added significance in 2020 because of the impact of coronavirus – the new virtual tours will also coincide with Trentham’s birthday.
Friday 29 May marks the 16th anniversary of the re-opening of the historic gardens, and while the attraction continues to plan how it can safely open to visitors as soon as more lockdown restrictions are eased, there will be some virtual birthday treats for garden lovers to browse online.
Anyone interested in seeing some cleverly-crafted “before-and-after” images, of a what was described by the Daily Telegraph at the time of its 10th anniversary as “the garden makeover of the decade”, meanwhile, is now being invited to check-out https://bit.ly/2Xd5uuM
Along with horticultural highlights and a floral feast, there will be some musical treats to enjoy, as well. The Trentham Estate will also use #EnglishTourismWeek20 as the platform to reflect on its Summer Concert Season, which has taken place in a lakeside setting – and grown in popularity over the years – but which, sadly, cannot be staged this year.
So, instead Trentham plans to share images from the past, while also encouraging anyone who would have attended one of their concerts previously to send in their own images and videos – whether that be fancy dress, singalongs or the best bit of dad dancing; or, alternatively, set-up their own summer sunshine “ray of hope” mini-concerts from their own homes and gardens – and then share some footage online using the hashtag #TrenthamGardens.
For more details visit www.trentham.co.uk.
