Crafty Kika is back with this fantastic workshop – book direct with Kika
“On Sunday 10 August Martineau Gardens played host to Folksy Theatre’s marvellous production of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. Utilising the children’s play area to the full, the young cast of fine actors (most playing more than one part), treated the audience to a performance full of energy fun and verve, not to mention the use of quirky props of every description. The audience were intimately involved and enchanted as every raised eyebrow and comic pose brought a laugh, as the manipulations of the various characters were revealed during Petruchio’s wooing of Kate. Indeed my grey cap featured in several scenes whilst one ‘lucky’ young lady was taken from her seat to be serenaded on ‘stage’.
The very informal nature of the production fitted in perfectly with the relaxed atmosphere and staging provide by the gardens. Cover against the very real threat of rain was provided by the marquee adorned by a variety of picnic hampers, collapsible seats and cool boxes overflowing down the sides of the arena. In the end even ‘Hurricane Bertha’ decided to behave which capped a great occasion where the audience were thoroughly entertained by this very funny production. A triumph for all involved and one I especially enjoyed as it was my birthday treat!”
David
Please do check back to our What’s On Pages to find out details of 2015’s production from Folksy Theatre here at Martineau Gardens
The NatWest T20 Cricket Finals is taking place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, close to Martineau Gardens on Saturday 23 August 2014. Martineau Gardens will be running our car park as a cricket car park on this day. Cricket fans attending the match will be able to park the car in our car park (subject to availability) for £10, we have space for 24 cars. (No advance booking available.)
If you’d like to see where we’re located in relation to the cricket ground, visit this page .
Thank you for choosing to park here.
Your car is parked at your own risk. The gates will be locked or staffed, and volunteers will be on site throughout the match. If you wish to collect your car, before the end of the match, please phone 0121 440 7430 when you are outside the Gardens and we’ll unlock the gates.
At the end of play, the gates will be open for half an hour. Our volunteers will need to go home, so if you arrive later than this, you risk your car being locked in until 9.30am tomorrow morning, or an additional £15 charge.
Enjoy the cricket!
Non-cricket fans …visiting the Gardens
If you’re planning to visit Martineau Gardens on Saturday 23 August, the car park will be full all day – we’d love you to come and visit but please leave the car at home, (or arrange to be dropped off) and use public transport. For a more tranquil visit, arrive after 11.30am when all the cars will be parked (but note we close at 4pm). Martineau Gardens is well served by buses. The nearest bus routes are 1, 45, 47, 61, 63, X64. To plan your journey by public transport, visit TransportDirect and use the postcode search – Martineau Gardens postcode is B5 7UG. Alternatively, arrive by bike and bring your bike down to our bike rack, close to the Pavilion.
When you arrive, the gates will be locked, please phone the office on 0121 440 7430 and we will unlock the gates for you.
Sun 10 August, The Taming of the Shrew, Martineau Gardens, 2pm. With Folksy Theatre (Gates open at 1pm)
We’re really looking forward to ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ which is coming to Martineau Gardens this Sunday, 10 August, presented by Folksy Theatre. Folksy Theatre have been touring the South with this production since the middle of July – there are some great reviews and pictures on their facebook page (facebook.com/folksy-theatre). To find out more about the play at Martineau Gardens and how you can buy tickets, click here.
Photos by: Photographs by Emma Holbrook (Laconic Film) and Trevor Bithell
Our volunteer wildlife recorder Brian Perry has just popped in with his latest wildlife report. Once a week he records sightings as he walks around the Gardens. The data is logged at Eco Record . Today, the lunchtime sunshine encouraged the butterflies. He spotted a peacock, a small tortoiseshell and a small white. Insects included a shieldbug and a St Mark’s fly. Birds included the tree warbler and summer visitors, the warblers chiff-chaff and blackcap. New flowers this week include the blue bell, the white flowering garlic mustard, red campion and cow parsely. Within the last fortnight one of our younger visitors, spotted a newt under a stone by the pond. We’ve also seen newts hibernating in the compost heap. Now is the time when they return to water to breed. If you like to know more about newts and their lifecycle – there’s a good introduction here on www.marinebiology.co.uk/freshwater-life/newts
Muddy hands was the order of the day at our first event of the year. Stewart and Rachael led a series of family-friendly gardening workshops, as part of our Big Dig Event on Saturday 22 March, 2014
Our free event was aiming to inspire you to grow your own, no matter how big or small your grow space is or how much or how little experience you have. There were drop-in food growing workshops and family-friendly activities to inspire even the most reluctant gardeners to don their gardening gloves.
With all the wet weather we have been having, Stewart and the team have had to work round the challenges of saturated clay soil by using paths, stepping stones and small boards to keep up with the garden tasks!
Some volunteers just don’t know there own strength!
But the hard work was worth it. Thanks to J and L for transforming this flowerbed, near the entrance, the bed has been planted up with helebores and snowdrops. Close by catkins quiver in the breeze, their lime yellow in brilliant contrast to a fresh, blue spring sky.
The Garden team have also been turning their attention to the Orchard. There are over 30 different varieties of fruit tree in the orchard. Spartan, Worcester, Russet, Egremont Russet, Worcester Pearmain, Ellisons Orange, Conference and Williams are some of the apple and pear varieties. There are also Fig (Brown Turkey), Damson and Plum trees all producing plentiful and delicious fruit in the summer. At the centre of the orchard is a magnificent Mulberry (Morus nigra) tree. Sadly, we lost our medlar tree in the wet weather this year. In it’s place a new plum tree has been planted.
You can read more about gardening with Stewart and Jean’s top gardening tips for March, in this article which has just appeared in the March issue of Harborne, Edgbaston & Moseley Life (see page 24).
Returning to Martineau Gardens in January after the winter break finds the volunteers with plenty of work to do, in spite of all the recent rain. The lawns, vegetables beds and borders are still waterlogged this week. So today the Garden Volunteers are making the most of the sunshine and giving the green glasshouse a spring clean. The shelving is being scrubbed and washed down to reduce the threat of pests and diseases overwintering. Come summer, this glasshouse will be full sweet black Hamburg grapes and the benches laden with plants propagated by our Garden Volunteers.Across the path, the hot house next to the orchard is also receiving some TLC. Thanks to a donation from The William Dudley Trust, damaged glass panes are being replaced by Jericho Construction. This green house, which dates back to the origins of Martineau Gardens, is where the more tender plants are cultivated. There are also Camellia sinensis (tea plant), orchids, a bird of paradise plant and a wide variety of cacti and succulents. In spring, cascades of jasmine fill the air with a sweet scent.
Volunteering at Martineau Gardens continues over the winter months. It’s a perfect day for gardening today – it might be cold but blue skies, bright sunlight and a fire all make for a good day of volunteering. Not to mention the sounds of the birds and scuffles of the woodland animals closeby in our wildlife area. Today the Garden volunteers have been mulching paths, sweeping up the last of the leaves and are about to stop for a well earned teabreak around the fire. Tree surgeons donate wood to Martineau Gardens, which over the winter months, volunteers chop into logs. The logs are then sold to our customers for wood burning stoves and open fires and profits are ploughed back into the running costs of the charity. Pictured here, Stewart and our Garden volunteers have been sorting out wood that’s suitable for chopping. The pieces that are just too knobbly to work with are creating a welcome warmth on this wintery day.
Don’t forget that Martineau Gardens is open throughout the winter months. Do visit us over winter, for a breath of fresh air, a stomp through the woodland or pick up some preserves and compost.
Opening times over the Festive Period:
Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 4pm, except closed Tuesday 24 December and reopen 10am Thursday 2 January.