Ring in the Olympics at Clumber Park

At 08:12 on 27th July 2012, thousands of people across the UK will be joining together to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the 'All the Bells' project.

Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes by Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed is a London 2012 Festival commission and will be performed by you.

Join the Clumber Park team and be one of millions taking part in this historical event.

The theme at Clumber Park is bycicle bells - so bring your bike and join us by the Lake outside the Chapel just before 8.12am.  The first ring of the Chapel's tonne bell will mark the start of a 3 minute bicycle bell ring at Clumber.  If you have a bike, but don't have a bell you can pick one up from the cycle hire centre.  If you don't have a bike, why not come along and listen to the bells anyway or hire a bike and take a cycle ride around Clumber after the bell ringing - we're hoping it will be a unique 3 minutes to remember!

If you're not an early bird and need a pick me up, the Clumber cafe will be opening early on the 27th so you can pick up a coffee to wake you up!

We hope to see you there.

 

Flowering Fairies and Gardening Gnomes

It will soon be summer trail time again in the garden.  This year we are celebrating our garden helpers, the flower fairies and the garden gnomes.

The gnomes are great fun to have in the garden! They work very hard helping us with our jobs. They collect slugs and snails which damage our plants. They help feed the plants and they are great at weeding.

Some of them are very sporty. They’ve even entered a team in the London 2012 Olympics.

Mr Pilwinkle Gnome is always running laps around the garden. He’s entered the Marathon! Some of his friends have also entered other events, you’ll be able to see them practicing if you visit when the flowering fairies and gardening gnomes trail is running.


The fairies have been growing lots of flowers and fruit for everyone to see during the summer and our garden scarecrow fairy has been looking after the fairies in the soft fruit garden. She’s called Ruby Pomona. They have been casting spells on all the strawberries to make them delicious and juicy!
 

Everyone is really looking forward to the garden trail, and to seeing all our visitors dressed up as gnomes and fairies!

The trail will be running from 22 July to 2 September daily in the garden.

The trail is free to enter (normal garden entry fees apply).

Don't forget to keep a look out for the golden gnome!

Hope to see you there,
Hazel
Clumber Gardener

On yer Bike!

You know what it’s like, some-one asks a question and although you umm and arghh you mostly say “yes”. In reality, it was one of those moments when the answer to the question should have been no! Here am I memory fading slowly – well, when it suits! when someone asks to relate your tales of cycling. 

Where do I start? Do you want to know from the moment I sat on a cycle, bought my first cycle, or “accidentally” pushed my brother into a bunch of nettles as I let go of his bike, leaving him to fall off and be covered in nettle rash? Question, questions, questions!

I like cycling, having covered many miles during my years. Nowadays, most of my cycling takes place in Clumber. Then I have to make the next decision ...... should I go early, mid-morning, afternoon or evening? Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Suddenly, whilst looking at the various posters on the information board staring right at me was the answer to my questions and the decision made. Oh so easy! There was a cycling activity the next day – Saturday. My bike had a puncture – well to be truthful it needed two new tyres and inner tubes – so I used one from Cycle Hire ……… a brand new Raleigh Mountain Bike. Great I thought, much better than mine! 

Bikes are available to hire from our Cycle Hire Centre

We set-off in a relaxed manner, riding along the cycle tracks, woodland rides and the occasional bit of tarmac road. We learnt what the green strip of material was for on the weir near Hardwick Village, saw the Longhorn cattle and Jacob sheep busily eating their way through grass, young tree shoots and who knows what else! 

We saw some volunteers busily repairing a fence, heard the cuckoo with its distinctive call. There was the Common Buzzard flying high above us, through the trees a short distance away a small herd of wild deer looking inquisitively at us. 

It seemed only 10 minutes ago that we left Cycle Hire and here we were back! It was in fact an hour ago! Our leader told us we had covered about 7 miles in that time. That didn’t matter to me, I had been cycling again. Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

And now it's National Bike Week, so I can get back on the saddle and out in the sunshine (at last).  To find out what we have going on at Clumber this week, check out the Clumber Park website... or, just hire a cycle, get a map and enjoy yourself!

Roy,

Clumber Park Ranger

Macmillan’s Big Walk

On Saturday 8 September, Clumber Park will be the setting for the first Macmillan’s Big Walk. Alex Talcer, National Events Programme Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, tells us more.

Hi. I’ve been at Macmillan Cancer Support for two years and work on our national walking programme, Miles for Macmillan.

On the 8 September we launch our first flagship walking event, Macmillan’s Big Walk, at Clumber Park. It’ll be a great day out for all of the family and in a picturesque setting. With both a 2 mile and 10 mile walk, there’s a route for everyone. We’re expecting hundreds of people on the day to walk together to support people affected by cancer.

Some of the lovely Miles for Macmillan supporters at
the finish line of Macmillan's London Walk earlier this year.

I love walking. We have two dogs at home so I’m lucky that I can walk with them everyday. It’s also something that I can do with everyone, whether it’s a long walk exploring new places with friends or a short trip round the village with my mum.

It was also something I could do with one of my best friends whilst she was undergoing treatment for cancer. For her being able to get out helped her have good days. Some of my favourite pictures of her are on the beach in Cornwall just enjoying the fresh air even if it meant she had to sit down to rest every now and again. I don’t think I ever realised just how important even just a short walk to the shops could be for someone.

Walk for someone you love and support people 

with cancer by signing up to the Big Walk

We have a great team at Macmillan that work across the UK on Miles for Macmillan. Between us we organise over 55 walks up and down the country. Together with our partner Boots UK, we’re inviting people to enjoy the great outdoors, get active and raise money to help improve the lives of people in their community living with cancer.

From L - R: Alex with Beth and Ruth from the Macmillan team

There’s a walk for everyone and lots of our walks feature multiple routes so that everyone can take part. So whether its 1 mile or 26 miles, there is a challenge for everyone. Or we can help people organise their own route.

So sign up today for Macmillan’s Big Walk, it couldn’t be easier to achieve Miles for Macmillan. Visit macmillan.org.uk/bigwalk or call 0300 1000 200.

Life as a full time volunteer

When looking to choose a placement for my current degree in Events Management, I was immediately drawn to a position with the National Trust’s Clumber Park; it presented itself as being both a great opportunity and very exciting as I would be involved in a huge variety of events on offer to a wide spectrum of the public. It was for these reasons, and many more, that finally led to me making the choice to volunteer with them and I have now been working at Clumber Park for a year.

Me! On Father Christmas's sleigh

Whilst working here, I have been given the space to create my own events, such as a Halloween Pumpkin Trail, Pancake Fun Day, Easter Celebrations and much much more. On top of this, I have also had the chance to meet, and work with, a number of external companies, including Race for Life, Trailblazer and Illyria, who all host events here at Clumber Park. This gave me the chance to expand my skills in managing events and communication, and also allowed me to help with Traffic Management Plans, Event Plans, Staff/Volunteer rotas and Risk Assessments. 

Enjoying our Easter Egg trails

Completing and finding out about writing and carrying out a Risk Assessment has been a huge learning curve for me. Each detail constantly needs to be checked and staff and visitors need to be made aware of any risks or dangers that could occur from the events. This is particularly important when I help set up the events, i.e. putting up marquees and gazebos. I have to make sure that the area we will place the structures has been checked, that the staff and volunteers who help are aware of the risks and that they are given clear information on how to erect the structure safely.

Not only have I had the chance to plan, organise and execute these events, I’ve also been given the opportunity to market them, which includes creating posters, dealing with printing companies, creating poster and leaflet schedules and making sure our Admissions and Admin team who deal with the public directly know what information needs to go out to the visitors.

One particularly exciting part of my work here is that I am responsible for wedding enquiries that the organisation receives. It is then my job to process the enquiry, show the couple around our various reception and ceremony sites, create a contract, collect the deposit and final payment, set up the area and also be there on the night to make sure the evening runs smoothly. This is hugely rewarding because you are able to take part in a very special day in the couple’s lives.

This is all just a tiny fraction of the work I do at Clumber Park, and while it is a lot of hard work, it is an extremely fun and rewarding experience. I have gained a great deal of knowledge that I will be able to carry on into my final year of University and in any job I go into. 

My view of the Pleasure Ground and Lake

It also helps that all of this hard work is accompanied by an incredibly beautiful setting. I am able to wake up every day with a breath-taking view to look out on, which makes the whole experience truly worthwhile!

Miriam Kirby

Events Assistant

Core Collection

Clumber's beautiful 4 acre Walled Kitchen Garden grows hundreds of varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs, with stunning herbaceous borders, a rose garden and cut flower borders which produce colour and scent across the seasons.  


It's also home to the longest stretch of glasshouse cared for by the National Trust and the Museum of Gardening Tools. Here on the blog, our gardeners will update you on the latest comings and goings in the garden - what's being planted, what's in season and who's up to no good...


Photographed today - the apple blossom is looking good.  


From right to left in the foreground are three Nottinghamshire varieties - 'Malster', 'Bramley's Seedling' and 'Domino' - part of our collection of East Midlands and Yorkshire  varieties.  

We need some sunny days and frost-free nights over the next few weeks to ensure blossom is pollinated and fruits are formed. Fingers crossed this rain stops!


Look out on the Clumber Park website for info on our Apple Festival later in the year.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our brand spanking new blog, bringing you all the latest news, behind the scenes action and stories from the team.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the blog and how you've enjoyed your visits to the Park. If there's anything you'd like to see us posting about, let us know.

So, what's new at the moment?

We are all working very hard behind the scenes to try and get Clumber into the Guinness Book of World Records.

So, dust off your sewing kits, as part of the Big Jubilee Lunch on 3 and 4 June,  we are attempting to break the world record for the longest string of bunting, and we need your help!

The official Guinness record is currently held by the Fairtrade Foundation in London who created a line of bunting measuring 3,427.94 meters long (that's a lot of sewing!).  To break that record, we need to string nearly 20,000 pieces of bunting together.

We are working with community groups including nursing homes and schools to make as many unique pieces of bunting as possible, and throughout May there will be opportunities to make your own bunting at the Discovery Centre on the Park, based on ‘your place in history’. This could be a significant event in your life, a particular trip you really enjoyed or something that just represents you.

If you’d rather make your piece at home, you can drop it off to the Discovery and Exhibition Centre during your next visit, or send it in for the team to assemble. In order to break the record, we must use the official Guinness world record template which you can find on our Facebook page.

We need to receive the finished pieces before 3^rd June so that a bunting maze can be assembled in the events field in time for the Big Jubilee Lunch. Prizes will be awarded for the best bunting in several categories - so get crafting and come along to the Big Lunch and try and find your piece in the bunting maze!

To find out more about the Big Jubilee Lunch, take a look at our website.