Dated: Wednesday 19th July 2023Tickets, Honey, Melons, and being back on TV!
Top tips for Outdoor Theatre joy
The weather is due to be kind, The Lord Chamberlains Men are on fine fettle, the lawns are green again, and Big Pan Parties are cooking up delicious Thai Green Curries (both vegetarian and chicken), Jazzie Bees Bar is fully stocked, and we haven't eaten all the Langage Farm ice-creams yet!! To ensure you have the best time, here are a few of our top tips...
Bring a low backed camping style director's chair - they are comfier than the wooden folding chairs that we can offer as spares. Picnic rugs also welcome.
Bring a jumper, and perhaps a raincoat. The sun sets in the west, the terrace lies to the East of the Castle, so falls into shadow relatively early in the evening. Being cold is NO fun at all.
Car share if you can. While Pentillie is blessed with magnificent views it is NOT blessed with acres of flat space for car-parking. We do our best to get everyone as close to the castle as possible, but if you can car share, it does help us keep you all as near as possible. There is parking reserved for those with limited mobility next to the castle - please let us know when you arrive.
Steps are a feature of a terraced garden. Let us know if you need help negotiating them.
Patience - the gardens do NOT open until 5.30pm as the actors need to rehearse before you all arrive. Even if you arrive early, we will not be able to welcome you onto the lawn until this time. There will be space for everyone.
There are some tickets still available - either online, or on the 'door'. Card payment available. We look forward to welcoming you all.
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Celebrating 80 years
For many of the babies born at Pentillie during WWII, 2023 marks their 80th year. While many were unable to travel, or sadly no longer with us, we were delighted to welcome many Pentillie babies back to Pentillie for afternoon tea last weekend. It was lovely to welcome them back to their birthplace, despite the many many changes on the estate since their birth.
Photograph of our last reunion back in 2019.
Read more on “Our Story”
And evacuees too
We were also thrilled to meet Lyn and her husband Gary when they popped into the estate office 10 days ago. Lyn was clutching a photo of her Mum (Audrey) and Aunt who were evacuated to Plymouth at some point during the Second World War with their two brothers. As a family of four they were the last ones standing on the station platform. I gather that they were brought to Pentillie by one of the staff members at the time, and were able to stay until the house was taken over by the Alexandra Nursing Home for the babies to be born here…
The most wonderful part of Lyn’s visit was when she got her Mum on the phone while we chatted over a cup of tea. Audrey remembers standing on the steps above the tennis court (and you all wonder why we call it the Old Tennis Lawn), and the little table with the jigsaw top in the summerhouse (Wise Old Owls Sunmerhouse), and scrumping peaches and apples from the fruit trees in the walled garden.
Hopefully Audrey will be able to visit us again this Autumn.
Tell us your WWII Story
Honey harvest
While there have been honey bees in the gardens for some time, this is the first year that Sammie and her boys have been tending to some hives.
The bees have enjoyed the huge variety of nectars in the gardens and have been prolific in their honey making, so much so, that the first harvest was taken in June.
Not only does it a make a great addition to the breakfast table for guests staying at the castle, it’s also available to buy from the office… just in case you would like a jar!
Watermelons do grow in Cornwall
Veteran Dave Allwright, aka ‘Pink Dave’, has the greenest fingers of them all... or so we think. He has taken the old Melon house at the walled garden under his wing, giving it his undivided care and attention. Changing the soil, tweaking & mending guttering and broken glass, constructing amazing melon scaffolding, and watching the 'triffids' grow, he now has numerous melons ripening under the glass - not only watermelons, but honey dew and canteloupe too.
He is just one of the fabulous veterans who join 'Veterans Outdoors' at the Walled Garden each week. Between them they are making the very best use of this little corner of paradise and truly making it their own.
Find out more about Veterans Outdoors
Beyond Paradise returns
Lilybond is back at Pentillie Quay for a little paint job, and to check how fabulous the new wild flower meadow looks in the foreground!
Keep your eyes peeled for Beyond Paradise Series 2, and the Christmas special.
Wishing Letty well, and welcoming Briony
After nearly a decade at Pentillie, apart from a 2 year stretch at Jeremiah's Journey, its time to wish Letty well as she leaves us to join The Brain Tumour Charity.
She will be much missed in her role as Marketing Executive, but also as a very supportive friend of us all here at Pentillie. We look forward to welcoming Briony once the summer holidays are over! Good luck Letty.
Left to right: Sarah, Steve, Letty, Briony, Chrissie.