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| David Shepherd CBE
Photo: BeckyThomas |
Wildlife artist and conservationist David Shepherd CBE will reveal his secret passion to Exbury visitors at the beginning of August.
The acclaimed artist, 78, who was rejected by the Slade School of Art sixty years ago and whose life was changed by a rhino on a runway, will formally open Exbury’s steam railway engine shed extension and confess to his own love of steam engines.
Visitors will get the chance to see and buy his work in the Engine Shed and in Exbury’s Mr Eddy’s restaurant.
David Shepherd will be the star of the evening on Saturday August 1, when he will talk about his amazing life and work.
Mr Leopold de Rothschild will host the ‘Audience with David Shepherd’ evening when visitors will not only hear the artist’s talk, but be able also to enjoy a ride on the Gardens’ steam railway.
Younger visitors can join in with the weekend’s Woodland Adventures during the day when the trains will be running at full strength to take them on a ride filled with exciting characters and sing-a-long fun.
They’ll be able to enjoy a colouring competition, take part in the summer holiday Family Trail through the
Gardens and have the chance to win tickets for the Ghost Train and Santa Specials later in the season.
August at Exbury also sees the hunt for pirate treasure – buried deep in the heart of the giant Exbury maize maze.
When school’s out, the maize that covers the six acre site opposite Exbury Gardens is high enough to get lost in – and many visitors accept the challenge to find their way through the fiendish twists and turns to the heart of the giant puzzle which stays open until the end of the month.
Fuchsia lovers are in for a treat over the second weekend in August with a fantastic display of the flowers in Exbury’s Five Arrows Gallery.
The colourful show is organised and manned by the New Forest Fuchsia Society who will offer many of the plants for sale.
Britain’s favourite drink is the focus at the end of the month when Exbury explores everything about tea – the drink made from the plant Camellia sinensis – which grows in the Gardens.
Talks, trails and tastings in and around Exbury’s own Tea Garden will be the basis for the inaugural Tea Festival, celebrating a nice hot cup of tea.
And falling in love is the theme on the last Saturday of the month when Chapterhouse Theatre bring Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility to Exbury.
Sisters Marianne and Elinor Dashwood are both in love – the older Elinor with a quiet hope and younger Marianne with a wild passion. Will they both find happiness or will it all end in tears?
Bring a picnic and prepare for an evening of drama in a lovely setting.
- An Audience With David Shepherd, tickets £22.50 include all day entry to the Gardens, free evening steam train ride, exhibition and entry to the chat show with the artist, wine and canapes on Saturday August 1st.
Profits from art sales to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
Tickets on 023 8024 5750. Exhibition continues the following day.
- Woodland Adventures for children August 1st and 2nd.
- New Forest Fuchsia Society at Exbury Saturday and Sunday August 8th and 9th. Plants for sale.
- Exbury maize maze open throughout August.
- Exbury Tea Festival from August 29th – Aug 31st.
- Sense and Sensibility (evening show from Chapterhouse Theatre) on August 29th. Tickets (£12) from 023 8024 5750.
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