Read the Garden Tales Launch Press Release - Fanshawe Gate Hall

Press releaseRef:natmagWednesday 22 July 2009Colourful characters captured in new book for all garden-lovers.Gardening and garden-visiting are quintessential English summer pastimes whichhave been thoughtfully and colourfully captured in Garden Tales, the second bookby award-winning Derbyshire garden owner Cynthia Ramsden. The perfect antidoteto dark winter evenings, Garden Tales, published on 15 th September, goes behindthe scenes at Fanshawe Gate Hall, as designers, builders, gardeners, artists,volunteers and visitors talk about their own lives, and what brings them back to oneof the most popular private gardens on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District.Garden Tales follows the sell-out success of ‘A Garden in my Life’ (2001) and bringsreaders-up-to-date with further garden developments at Fanshawe Gate Hall in theearly years of the 21 st century. Through interviews with over 40 characters associatedwith the Hall and its garden, Cynthia invites the reader to share in the pleasures, andoccasional pains, of opening a private garden to the general public. There are manyinsights into how we live our lives now, and even sex and nudity jostle for a placeamid humorous banter and poignant reflection.The octogenarian sequence dancer, who recalls post-War Fanshawe Gate withsoldiers billeted nearby, is joined by the Art Group leader whose early-morning arrivalat the Hall once startled pyjama-clad owner John Ramsden en-route to collect hismilk. For the local Carers Support Group, ‘going back each year is like visiting aGreat Aunt who you love very much.’“Gardens are meant to be shared,” says Cynthia Ramsden. “They are a gift to thehome-owner to tend and to nurture. Everyone featured in Garden Tales has played

2. Founded in 1927, The NGS has raised more than £25 million for charity inthe last 10 years. Copies of The National Gardens Scheme Yellow Book2009 are available from all major bookshops. Further information atwww.ngs.org.uk3. Follow directions to Fanshawe Gate Hall along the B6054 from Holmesfieldand from Owler Bar. Tel: 0114 289 0391 or go to www.fanshawegate.com fordirections.4. Release issued by Integra Communications: 0115 912 4350. Interviews andphotography available on request.