THOMAS TELFORD AT THE 2007 CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
Description
Telford & Wrekin Council has been formally accepted by the Royal Horticultural Society to exhibit a Show Garden at the prestigious 2007 Chelsea Flower Show to mark the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford.
The garden is one of only 19 international show garden entries at the 2007 event and will be seen by Royalty, national and international garden experts, thousands of visitors and broadcast to countries from around the world. Council officers Michael Vout (Planning) and Chris Jones (Environmental Maintenance), both highly qualified in landscape architecture and horticulture, have considerable experience in designing and building RHS show gardens achieving a total of five gold, silver, silver gilt and Best in Show awards since 2001.
Telford & Wrekin Council and their partners have created a garden which uses Telford’s designs for tollhouses on the Holyhead Road as a basis of the design.
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The Thomas Telford Tollhouse garden is not a recreation of an existing garden it is a vehicle to express the essence of Thomas Telford and his designs.
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See above and below for Michael Vout (Planning), to the left, and Chris Jones (Environmental Maintenance) design for Chelsea 2007
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The purpose of the garden is :
– to be a celebration of Thomas Telford
– to bring attention to the work and achievements of Thomas Telford
– to create a beautiful show garden
– to bring attention to the work and achievements of Thomas Telford
– to create a beautiful show garden
The RHS say: Designers from across the globe apply to create show gardens and, with a limited number of spaces, only very special designs make it to the show. A committee of horticultural experts meet three times to assess the applications before selecting around 20 show gardens, which will create the impact and spectacle that Chelsea is renowned for.
Cllr Alan Hussey from the Telford & Wrekin Council working group said, “This is obviously the highlight of an extensive programme to mark the 250th Anniversary celebrations of Thomas Telford’s birth. The acceptance into this internationally famous arena is testament to the quality of work already undertaken by the people involved. It is our intention, following Chelsea to bring the show garden back to Telford where it will be on display for local people and visitors to enjoy”.
Lord Grocott of Telford who is chairing the steering group on the Thomas Telford Celebrations said, “This is splendid news and a credit to everyone involved. This show garden is a really imaginative way of putting Telford on the map and of celebrating the success of the town during the 250th Anniversary of the great engineer’s birth.
David de Haan, Deputy Director, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust commented “Having seen the Chelsea garden, visitors will be able compare it with one of the original 1829 Holyhead Road tollhouses at Blists Hill Victorian Town. We are all excited to see how Michael and Chris’ design will combine historical references with modern day garden designs”.
