Aroundtown MEETS
Aroundtown meets the Wentworth Woodhouse
garden team
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. Never has a truer word been spoken for the extensive gardens at Wentworth Woodhouse.
But it is the selfless hard work of the team behind its upkeep that is cultivating a bright future for the people’s stately home.
The magnitude of the gardens and its multifarious design means the task at hand is no mean feat. Indeed, when Humphry Repton originally laid out the 50 acres of pleasure grounds in 1790, he deemed it his most prestigious project – that coming from a prominent name who had landscaped Clumber Park, Harewood House and Rudding Park. At its peak, there would have been 33 full-time gardeners employed by the Earls Fitzwilliam. So, how gallant that the majority
of today’s garden workforce are volunteers.
Under the leadership of head gardener Scott Jamieson and his deputy Andy Smith, there are two groups of volunteers – the Tuesday Welly Wangers and the Wednesday
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Bramble Bashers – who tend to the gardens week in week out. They are also supported by members of Artworks South Yorkshire, a creative organisation for adults with disabilities, who have an ongoing volunteer placement scheme for service-users to build workplace skills in the gardens.
Come rain or shine, this hardy bunch lace up their boots, grab a barrow and some tools, and head out into the gardens for a full day’s graft. “You couldn’t buy a ticket to do what we do,” says Martin Brook, a Welly Wanger. His thoughts are echoed by Bramble Basher Julie Meese who decided she’d never work for money again after retiring from Sheffield City Council. “It wouldn’t be the same if we got paid. None of us have to be here but we are all so proud of the legacy we’re creating.”
It was a glorious morning in early
March when we met, the spring sun emphasising the natural beauty (and sheer size) of the landscape even before its abundance of flowers were in bloom. Considering just a few hours earlier driving into work I had the wipers on, hastily clearing the pelting rain from the windscreen naively thinking our outdoor meeting would be cancelled, we couldn’t have timed it better. As Welly Wanger Sue Chadwick says: “It doesn’t matter what the weather is doing, we’ll still be here in force. We get a bit wet sometimes
but who cares when this is the backdrop.”
If it does rain, the team now has a brand-new cabin to shelter in at lunch and tea breaks, bought for them personally as a thanks from chair of trustees, Dame Julie Kenny, after their old one had seen better days.
Thirteen volunteers were there on the day to tackle the last week of snowdrop jobs which had been delayed due to lockdown. Some volunteers are amateur or hobby gardeners, while others, like Sue who they dub the ‘Plant Lady’ due
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