Malton Castle Garden News & Events

Latest News :

HIGH FASHION FOR TREES!

Bird watchers and bulb planters are being invited to Malton’s annual Tree Dressing event in the towns Castle Garden.

The free event organised by the Derwent Riveside Project and Norton Wildlife Watch Group and supported by Ryedale District Council takes place on December 4th.

Organiser Sue Holmes, leader of Norton Wildlife Watch, said:
“ The Derwent Riverside Project is keen to encourage more people into the Castle Garden and as the site is home to many species of birds and other wildlife, at this years tree dressing event we are asking people to come along and create a bird hide.

“Geoff and Angela Norton from Yorkshire Hurdles will work will visitors to create the hide from woven willow and there will also be the opportunity to make fabric pockets to hang from the trees in the garden which will gradually break down and sow wildflower seed on the ground below as they do so.”

The Derwent Riverside Project is also encouraging people to come along and plant more bulbs in the garden.

Project manager, Trish Leach, said: “The garden is a huge area of land and we are trying to gradually plant a wide range of bulbs to give a splash of spring colour for visitors to enjoy.

“So we would like people to come along with a trowel and some gardening gloves and we will provide the bulbs.”

There is a long tradition of Tree Dressing in England and it has become an annual event for the young people of Norton Wildlife Watch. In previous years the group has produced a giant robin from willow and decorated trees on Orchard fields with metallic birds and insects and huge willow and tissue paper lanterns.

Norton Wildlife Watch is a young peoples group that works on environmental projects in the Ryedale area.  Members aged from five to fifteen have worked in the Castle Garden before erecting bird boxes and filming for their latest video on the groups work. The young people get involved in projects such as monitoring local wildlife, encouraging recycling and litter picking, and two members recently attended the Tunza International Childrens Conference on the Environment in Japan.

Visitors wanting to attend the tree dressing event should come along to the main entrance of the Castle Garden, off Orchard Field (Old Maltongate) Malton, wearing warm clothes and sturdy shoes or boots, from 11.30am on Saturday December 4th.
For further details contact Di Keal on 01653 694546 or Sue Homes on 01944 768313

Giant Robin

Giant Robin for 2009 event

Gardeners Question Time in the Castle Garden – August 29 th

Featuring gardening experts Tony Thompson ( Askham Bryan College and BBC Radio York), Rona Ashworth (Mount Pleasant Nursery), Penelope Dawson-Brown (Yorkshire Gardens Trust) and John Clayton (Ryedale District Council Tree expert)

The Question Time will be followed by a delicious Afternoon Tea.

Di's chosen charities are My chosen charities are Next Steps Mental Health Resource Centre in Norton and Jessie's Fund.

Next Steps is the only such centre in Ryedale that provides advice, support and social enterprise employment for people with a variety of mental health problems. In the current economic climate it is struggling to cope, not only with an increasing number of people visiting the centre suffering from depression resulting from unemployment, but also the downturn in grant streams making it increasingly difficult to attract continued funds.

Jessie's Fund provides musical instruments and therapy for seriously physically and mentally handicapped and terminally ill children in specialist schools, care centres and children's hospices. The charities work can bring new experiences and enjoyment into the lives of these young people who have so much to cope with at a very young age.

A Grand Garden Raffle will also be held on the day.

Rural Crafts Day:

On August 30th we are holding a Rural Crafts Day which is free and open to all.

The day will feature Mosaic Workshops run by Rural Arts North Yorkshire, Paper Making with Niki of Pulpitations, bird box making, willow weaving with Geoff Norton of Yorkshire Hurdles and a host of other activities for young and old.

The mosaic workshops will make natural panels that will form a trail around the Castle Garden – giving participants the chance to leave a lasting contribution to the park!

And there will also be craft stalls with artists selling their hand crafted goods.

The day will run from 10am to 5pm. Parking will be available at Ryedale House with entry to the Garden from Orchard Fields.

 

Come along and have some fun!

THROUGH THE NEW GARDEN GATE! - OCTOBER 2008


The stunning new gates for the main entrance to the Castle Garden are due to arrive over the next couple of weeks. The gates feature steel leaves on top of the main structure of the gate and will make a wonderful feature at the entrance to the garden.
Most of the fencing of the veteran trees on the site is now complete, along with the furniture in the open-air classrooms. The first two information boards, designed with the help of local people and Rural Arts North Yorkshire, are also soon to be installed by
BTCV. Work on the Castlegate steps is almost complete with the addition of new coping stones and some general pointing and restoration work. A new locally made oak door will be installed soon at the base of the steps and a handrail placed alongside the steps as they are rather steep!

UPDATE: New Gate Have Arrived!!

photo

 

‘ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN’

WITH HOUSEMARTIN’S NURSERY - OCTOBER 2008

Groups of tiny-tots from Housemartins Child Care Centre are already enjoying using the Castle Garden for playing outside and learning about nature. Groups of children have been visiting the garden up to three times a week and enjoying activities such as collecting leaves and twigs and doing ’brass’ rubbing of tree bark!
The children’s next project is to ‘take over’ a section of the garden that they will clear, weed and plant up. Housemartins Marsha Turnbull said: ”The children just love going to the garden and really enjoy the activities that we can do there. They are all being kitted out with waterproofs, wellies and mini gardening tools and will learn so much from getting involved in gardening.

VOLUNTEER DAYS - OCOBER 2008

As promised we have our first two volunteer days planned on Sunday 12th October and Tuesday 14th October. We have literally thousands of spring bulbs to plant across the site and on Tuesday 14th BTCV will be back to clear, flatten and seed the formal lawned area of the garden. The children from Housemartins will also be coming along to help stamp their little feet! Anyone and everyone is very welcome to come along to the garden and lend a helping hand - or feet or spade! On both days BTCV will be on hand to offer help and advice and on 12th October we hope that 40 army cadets from Harrogate will also be helping out. Please come along and help—anytime between 10am and 4pm both days!

OPENING SUCESS - minus ‘the star of the show’ - AUGUST 2008

The official opening of the Castle Garden went ahead on August 16th and was a huge success, despite the fact that Time Team’s Phil Harding didn’t appear to carry out the official opening ceremony. Around 200 people came to the opening event and took a stroll around the garden.

Fortunately the sun shone which showed off the garden at it’s best. Although it is still very much a work in progress everyone agreed that the project is proving a great asset to the towns of Malton and Norton.

Thank-you to everyone who came to the opening — we hope you enjoyed the afternoon and have revisited the garden since. Many thanks must go to all who helped make the opening event such a success by putting up marquees, carrying tables and doing last minute weeding and woodwork! Special thanks to Mary Newton for providing the musical entertainment, to the artists who came to show of their skills and to The Old Lodge for the wonderful scones!

For the time being we are only opening at the weekends because work is still being carried out on the entrance from the Castlegate steps.

PROGRESS REPORT. - June 2008

As We are rapidly heading towards our official opening, work is speeding full steam ahead on site. The Paths are being laid, the interpretation boards are at the manufacturers and the finishing touches are being put to the furniture for the open air classrooms. Our Project manager Trish Leach, is working incredibly hard to try to make sure everything that we can get finished by August 16th is in place - it won't be perfect but it will be well on the way.

Wherever possible we have used local craftsmen and contractor to carry out work in the garden. For example Mark Bennett of woodlark has produced some amazing tables and chairs for the education areas using huge slabs of oak from ampleforth and utillising some of the cut timber already on the site to make natural seating. We would like to say a huge thank you to all the people who have worked on the site - craftspeople, contractors and volunteers - they have all played their part in making the garden become the very special place that it is.

One slight Disappointment is that the steel gates that we have ordered for the main entrance to the garden from orchard fields will not be ready in time for the opening due to delays in funding and planning permissions. Once fitted they will be spectacular - featuring large cut-out leaves on a steel frame. Just as a taster there will be an example 'leaf' at the opening event so that visitors can get an impression of the finished gates. Many thanks need to go to the volunteers from the British Trust for Conservation volunteers who painted the existing gates to brighten them up for the opening. Sadly due to lack of permanent gate and the ongoing work on the castlegate steps, for the first few weeks we will only be able to open the garden at the weekends due to health and safety concerns. This is a real pity - but we have to make sure our visitors are as safe as possible whilst the final bits of work are completed.