Latest news with #Ardingly
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Wakehurst celebrates American Prairie anniversary
Wakehurst Botanic Gardens is celebrating five years since its six-acre American prairie was sown. The 500-acre site in Ardingly, near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, is also celebrating 10 years since its Coronation Meadow was opened to the public by King Charles, who was then Prince of Wales. Wakehurst, which is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, said the American Prairie was one of its "most ambitious horticultural projects", with more than 75 species of plants. Ian Parkinson, head of landscape and horticulture at Wakehurst, said mixing American prairie species with British soils was "horticultural alchemy". "The prairie lights up the Wakehurst landscape with colour and character and teaches us that when plant communities are allowed to evolve organically, beauty, biodiversity, and climate resilience naturally follow," Mr Parkinson said. The project began in 2019 when scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank travelled across Illinois and neighbouring states in the USA to hand-collect seeds to create seed-mixes tailored to Sussex's chalk-clay soils. Horticulturalist Jack Harrison, who is in charge of the prairie, said: "You will not be able to predict what plant is going to grow in what spot and the benefit to doing this is that the plants will germinate in spaces that suit them."This means that you will never plant the wrong plant in the wrong place." The Coronation Meadow is also celebrating a decade since it was created as part of the then Prince of Wales' call for more wildflower meadows to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Fake Or Fortune guest gobsmacked by life-changing value of 'Winston Churchill painting' bought for just £140 that almost went undetected
A Fake Or Fortune guest is left gobsmacked by the value of a 'Winston Churchill painting' that almost went undetected during Monday's instalment of the BBC1 show. The programme returns to our screens this evening (21 July 2025) for the first episode of the brand new season. And viewers are in for a treat as an art collector called Barry James is told the true value of his art work supposedly painted by Winston Churchill. The guest tells host Fiona Bruce, 61, and art dealer Philip Mould, 65, that he originally bought the piece for just £140 at an antiques market in the village of Ardingly, in West Sussex. He is later told that if it is the real deal, the art work could be worth a whopping £600,000. In a spoiler posted on the show's Instagram account, Fiona says: 'Barry James, a passionate carer and art collector believes he may have done just that. 'He recently discovered a painting he believes to be by none other than Sir Winston Churchill.' Phillip says: 'So the owner of the painting has agreed to show it to us in one of the houses that Churchill used to stay in. 'You'll love it. A modest sort of place.' In another sneak peek of them seeing the painting for the first time, Fiona says: 'It's very pretty work isn't it?' Philip says: 'Could this painting of an English garden on a summer's day be one of Sir Winston's lost works?' The episode's synopsis on TVGuide reads: 'Fiona Bruce and art expert Philip Mould investigate the complex and controversial stories surrounding the origins of supposedly valuable works of art from around the world. 'In this episode, they discover the story behind a picture of a summer garden painted in 1916 that might be a lost work by Winston Churchill. 'If it is genuine, then it could be worth upwards of half a million pounds. 'However, there is currently no official body authenticating Churchill's work.' Fans have taken to Instagram to share their excitement over the show's return. 'Cant not wait to see knew episodes missed you guys sooooooo much.' 'Best show on Telly!' 'Can't wait to see this episode!' 'This cannot come quick enough.' This isn't the first time recently that someone has been left in shock to find out the true value of their beloved possessions. An Antiques Roadshow guest took an expert's breath away with an 'absolutely superb' item never seen on the show before - which turned out to be worth an eye-watering sum. A rediscovered episode of the BBC show from 2016 sees presenter Fiona Bruce, 61, and the experts head to Scarborough Grand Spa Hall on the North Yorkshire coast. The specialist appraisers met with guests to value their family heirlooms and heritage items - with expert Ronnie Archer Morgan, 75, taken aback by one in particular. He spoke to a woman who had brought in a Polynesian, club-like tribal weapon for evaluation - which was unlike anything he had seen on the programme before. Ronnie, an expert in tribal art and weaponry, opened by asking: 'What's a feminine person like you doing with a big, heavy, aggressive thing like this?' She explained: 'Well, it belongs to my dad actually, it's not mine, and it was passed down to him by his dad who acquired it through some elderly spinster ladies who gave it to him. 'He was a solicitor in Scarborough town so that's how but I don't know anything more.' Ronnie told them that it was a type of weapon called a Fijian Bulibuli and said: 'The market for this sort of thing is more in Paris or in Brussels and in New York. 'But they get very excited and they've got galleries that deal in this sort of stuff and a nice one of these would probably be £8,000 to £10,000.'
BBC News
18-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Wild orchid flourishing in woodland near Ardingly in West Sussex
A company creating "habitat banks", spaces designed to increase biodiversity, says it hopes that a rare orchid species found growing at its site in West Sussex will spread to neighbouring part of its work delivering habitat restoration in line with the government's Biodiversity Net Gain policy, Environment Bank manages a stretch of woodland near was there that a thriving population of early purple orchids, with links to both Shakespeare and Christianity, has been Dodds, associate ecologist at Environment Bank, has spoken glowingly about this "beautiful find". "They're quite strongly associated with ancient habitat bank that we have at Ardingly encompasses a small strip of ancient woodland and that's where we found the orchids," he told BBC Radio Dodds explained that the company created "colonisation points" in the hope of expanding this habitat is part of the wider aim of restoring habitats - in this case, an orchid which remains quite, albeit not "wildly", Bank's work is funded by the Biodiversity Net Gain policy which requires developers to achieve a 10% minimum biodiversity net gain on any Dodds said: "If the company can't deliver the biodiversity net gain on the site that they're developing, then we take the money from them and deliver habitats which are then secured for 30 years on our habitat banks."While rare in modern times, this orchid is mentioned in Shakespeare's Hamlet and also has an association with Christianity."They were believed to be the orchid that grew at the bottom of Christ's meant that they've got little spots on their leaves, and that was thought to be from the drops of blood from the crucifixion," added Mr Dodds.
