� IN FOCUS l GARDENS & COUNTRY HOMES Star Wars fans to feel the force at Burghley T. rex treks to Longleat


Longleat will host an exhibition this summer about T. rex, using animatronics, casts, models and displays to tell the story of this fearsome dinosaur (May 24-September 3). Called T. rex: the killer question, the exhibition is being held in Longleat’s events space, The Longhouse, in partnership with the Natural History Museum. Meanwhile, the Predators attraction


(March 24- September 3), will feature animatronic animals including a polar bear, great white shark, saltwater crocodile, lion, tiger and sabre-toothed cat. Less scary animals can be seen with


Pop-up Pandas, with more than 100 hand- painted pandas to see (May 5-January 6). Popular events for 2018 include the


Food & Drink Festival (June 23-24) with celebrity guests; Sky Safari hot air balloon festival (September 14-15); The Great British Autumn (October 20-November 4) and Christmas illuminations during the Festival of Light (November 9-January 9) longleat.co.uk


Ascot nurtures new Spring Garden Show


Gardening experts will be giving talks at the inaugural Ascot Spring Garden Show, taking place at Ascot racecourse, in association with the gardens of Windsor Great Park (April 13-15). TV gardener David Domoney will be joined by royal florist Simon Lycett; the keeper of the Gardens of Windsor Great Park John Anderson; and plant pathologist and TV presenter Pippa Greenwood. The show has been planned by


Stephen Bennett, former shows director at the Royal Horticultural Society where he was responsible for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Palace


34 TravelGBI | March 2018


EXPLORERS: Gilbert White and the Oates Collections, Hampshire, is famous for intrepid explorers and White’s nature studies. A trade open day (June 25) will showcase a major development programme. stevereedtourism.co.uk


A full-scale replica of a Star Wars TIE Silencer spacecraft will be the highlight of Burghley’s ‘Otherworldly’ sculpture exhibition (May-October). Visitors to the gardens of the Lincolnshire Elizabethan house can see the model, created from parts sourced on eBay by Stamford inventor Colin Furze. Other exhibits include a UFO, a giant


origami rocket ready to launch from the ice house and a man polishing the moon. Returning for the summer is


Burghley Film Festival (July 25-29) and new for 2018 will be a street-food market-style area.


In the autumn, ‘Twilight at


Burghley’ (October 3-6) builds on the success of 2017’s inaugural event


when the house will be floodlit and visitors serenaded by musicians. The house and gardens will re-open


on March 17. burghley.co.uk


Woburn Abbey plans major investment


Woburn Abbey will close in September 2019 for an 18-month refurbishment project – the biggest upgrade since it first opened to the public in 1955. The Duke and Duchess of Bedford said


they plan “significant investment” at the Bedfordshire attraction. It will close to visitors on September 1 2019 and reopen by Easter 2021. The work will provide updated visitor


facilities, including disabled access, and conserve art collections for future generations. The abbey has been the home of the Earls and Dukes of Bedford since the 1620s. Visitors can see 22 rooms, which house one of the most significant private art collections in the world. There is also 18th


century French


and English furniture, silver and gold collections and porcelain items. ◗ For details about the refurbishment and group visits, contact Lisa Weaver, groups co-ordinator. woburnabbey.co.uk


Flower Show and the launch of major RHS shows. There will be six show gardens and visitors will be able to buy plants at specialist plant nurseries or browse for greenhouses, tools and outdoor ornaments. ascot.co.uk


travelgbi.com


©John Lawrence


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48