The first of our little extra “Cuttings”. Autumn is the perfect time to build a compost heap. Join the staff at Stourhead to learn the science behind “cooking” the perfect organic compost.

Bettany visits the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Avebury in Wiltshire. Here the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world stands at the centre of one of the greatest concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Western Europe and holds vital clues to story of us, and our relationship to the wider world.

Archeologist Nick Snashall gives Bettany the low down on some of our earliest European visitors who brought farming methods with them to Britain, while Ros Cleal, curator of the archives, shares with Bettany a fragment of their ‘Fengate ware’ cooking pot, fresh out of the earth and decorated with the thumbnail prints of Neolithic people from 5000 years ago.

For more information about Avebury, including opening times and dates, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

#bettany #hughes #bettanyhughes #national #trust #nationaltrust #avebury #ten #places #tenplaces #europe #europeandus #unesco #nicksnashall #roscleal #bronzeage #bronze #neolithic

Bettany visits the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Avebury in Wiltshire. Here the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world stands at the centre of one of the greatest concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Western Europe and holds vital clues to story of us, and our relationship to the wider world.

Archeologist Nick Snashall gives Bettany the low down on some of our earliest European visitors who brought farming methods with them to Britain, while Ros Cleal, curator of the archives, shares with Bettany a fragment of their ‘Fengate ware’ cooking pot, fresh out of the earth and decorated with the thumbnail prints of Neolithic people from 5000 years ago.

For more information about Avebury, including opening times and dates, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

#bettany #hughes #bettanyhughes #national #trust #nationaltrust #avebury #ten #places #tenplaces #europe #europeandus #unesco #nicksnashall #roscleal #bronzeage #bronze #neolithic

Beginning the series on his home turf, Alan takes a walk around Stourhead in Wiltshire, one of England’s greatest landscape gardens. Its fabulous tree collection make autumn a favourite time of year for visitors, volunteers and staff alike. We find out what the walled garden tell us about life in the 18th century, and how dormice are thriving on the Stourhead Estate.

PLANTS AND TREES IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

Lavender – Lavandula angustifolia

Agapanthus africanus

Variegated Tulip Tree – (Liriodendron tulipifera aureomarginata)

Poplar trees / Trembling Poplar – European Aspen)

Birch – Betula

Cherries – Prunus Taihaku

Red Maple – Acer rubrum

Willow – Salix alba ‘Britzensis’

Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum

Handkerchief tree – Davidia involucrata seedlings – for tree nursery

Katsura trees – Cercidiphyllum

Guelder Rose – Viburnum opulus

Rowan – Sorbus aucuparia, commonly known as the Rowan or Mountain-ash

Whitebeam – Sorbus aria

Beginning the series on his home turf, Alan takes a walk around Stourhead in Wiltshire, one of England’s greatest landscape gardens. Its fabulous tree collection make autumn a favourite time of year for visitors, volunteers and staff alike. We find out what the walled garden tell us about life in the 18th century, and how dormice are thriving on the Stourhead Estate.

Plants and trees in order of reference:

• Lavender – Lavandula angustifolia

• Agapanthus africanus

• Variegated Tulip Tree – (Liriodendron tulipifera aureomarginata)

• Poplar trees / Trembling Poplar – European Aspen)

• Birch – Betula

• Cherries – Prunus Tai Haku

• Red Maple – Acer rubrum

• Willow – Salix alba ‘Britzensis’

• Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum

• Handkerchief tree – Davidia involucrata seedlings – for tree nursery

• Katsura trees – Cercidiphyllum

• Guelder Rose – Viburnum opulus

• Rowan – Sorbus aucuparia, commonly known as the Rowan or Mountain-ash

• Whitebeam – Sorbus aria