Cumbria Life Home & Garden Show 2016

Liz and Phil Newport
Liz and Phil Newport

The full line up of experts has been announced for the 2016 Cumbria Life Home & Garden Show.

The event takes place on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March 2016 at Rheged, near Penrith, with a preview evening on Friday 11 March where the guest speaker will be BBC antiques expert Paul Laidlaw, of Bargain Hunt and Flog It! fame. The event is a celebration of the best of the region’s homes, interiors and garden experts and designers, giving visitors the chance to meet the exhibitors in person, accessing not only their creative products, but also their expertise.

Fourteen demos will take place over the weekend with some nationally-renowned experts sharing their skills. Visitors will be able to quiz the likes of Helen Morris, Britain’s foremost expert on stencilling, who now designs and cuts stencils for a worldwide market. They can also meet Bill McIntosh and Roy Sweetman from Carlisle’s Town and Country Interiors who have fitted kitchens and bathrooms in some of the UK’s most luxurious homes, and learn from Sarah Osmond who was a high profile employment lawyer before she swapped city life for interior design.

Laura Miller of Miller Clear Architects has worked on projects as varied as the Grade I listed Holburne Museum in Bath and the RIBA award-winning 60 Threadneedle Street in London. Stepping outside, Phil Newport of Wildroof Landscapes has featured on Channel 4’s Restoration Man, while James Smith and the team at Growing Well in Low Sizergh have won national awards for their farming enterprise.

Those who love a challenge can hear about Christopher Boyle’s mission to restore Kirklinton Hall, near Carlisle. Spring gardening will be in the air for Tom Attwood of Abi and Tom’s Garden Plants, Tom Dutson of Heartwood Enterprises, Neil Huntley of Hartside Nursery Garden and Jamie Normington of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and there’ll be professional tips from the team from More Handles in Carlisle, Judith Nicol of Farben Mosaics and Stephen Ball Upholstery.

Maureen Whitemore, of Whitemore & Thwaytes Interiors, is Home & Garden Show curator, along with Liz Newport of Buzy Lizzie Garden Design.

Maureen said: “We are really excited about the range of expert speakers we have lined up. They are a fascinating group of people and really know their fields. And what’s great about this show is that visitors won’t only learn from the experts in the main auditorium, all our 70+ stallholders are willing to share their knowledge too. There will also be plenty of demos going on too so you can really see these unique, high quality craftsmen at work.”

The show will feature more than 70 exhibitors, carefully chosen to complement each other, as well as 14 expert talks and demonstrations over the two days. There will also be an ‘Interiors Question Time’ with a panel of creative professionals, and a plant clinic, hosted by the horticultural team from Newton Rigg College. Visitors will also be able to see a stunning photographic exhibition by Ian Lawson featuring the Hebrides and the famed Harris Tweed – Ian attracted royal acclaim for his show at Rheged last year focusing on Cumbria’s Herdwick sheep.

Tickets for the Home & Garden Show on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March are on sale now, priced at £5 if purchased in advance, or £6 on the day. The show’s doors are open from 9am to 5pm. Accompanied children (aged 16 and under) are admitted free.

Tickets for the preview evening cost £12.50.This includes entrance to all the exhibition halls from 6pm to 9pm, admission to talks by Paul Laidlaw and the chance to meet photographer Ian Lawson, as well as complimentary fizz and canapés and entertainment from the Ragtime Rascals jazz band.

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