A LANDSCAPE by artist Diego Velázquez, painted for King Philip IV of Spain, is on loan for the first time from the National Gallery and is on show at the National Trust’s Kingston Lacy near Wimborne. La Tela Real takes pride of place in the dining room, while Kingston Lacy’s The Judgement of Solomon by…
AN extension and redevelopment plan for Dorset County Museum at Dorchester has finally been given the green light by West Dorset District Council. The plans, which will transform the museum’s facilities, include a new learning centre, library, café and shop and, most importantly, additional gallery space. Hidden behind the museum’s 19th century façade lie almost…
SALISBURY and District Beekeepers Association will be in the garden of the National Trust’s Mompesson House on Saturday 10th June for the annual Bee Day. Emma James, the Trust’s visitor experience officer at Mompesson House, says: “Bee Day is a great opportunity for our visitors to meet local beekeepers, see working bees in their hive…
NATIONAL Trust archaeologists who look after and discover the stories of the Trust’s properties have a knack for solving mysteries – and at Kingston Lacy a survey on a 19th century plaster ceiling has helped to reveal the identity of two of the people who worked on the house. Earlier this year while archeologists from Clivedon…
DORSET shepherds hutmaker Plankbridge received a four-star award for its wildlife friendly exhibit at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The Victorian-inspired shepherd’s hut, surrounded by pollinator-friendly plants, such as foxgloves, bugloss and primula beesiana, all supplied by Sherborne-based Castle Gardens, was commended for its inspiring and innovative design, attractive planting, significant scale of endeavour and high…
A RARE Chinese tree is blooming in the tropical climate of the river garden at the National Trust’s Dunster Castle, near Minehead in Somerset. The warm, dry weather over recent months has meant that the unusual handkerchief tree has started to bloom earlier than usual. When fluttering in the breeze, the flowers look like a…
FOOD and drink makers across rural Britain are invited to enter the Rural Business Awards, the only awards scheme designed specifically for the countryside sector. Now in their third year, the Rural Business Awards (RBAs) are run by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and sponsored by Janine Edwards Wealth Management Ltd. There are…
AN exceptional example of Edwardian engineering has been brought back to working order by a team of highly skilled and dedicated volunteers, working with the National Trust at Brownsea Island. The 100 year old engine is believed to be the only one of its kind in its original location – in the former engine house…
BESPOKE tailor and cap-wearer Jeremy Gower is putting his expertise to good use, designing stylish tweed caps that are helping to raise funds for cancer research – and now he has opened his first shop in Shaftesbury. In February 2016, the long-established North Dorset-based tailor was given the horrible news that he had cancer. The…
ONE of the highlights of the refurbished Rural Life Museum of Somerset at Glastonbury, which opens at the beginning of June, will be a panorama by James Lynch, one of the country’s leading landscape painters. He uses the ancient medium of egg tempera – the pure ground pigments, egg yolk and water giving his paintings…