Gardens

Garden Stories: Sensory tours among sculptures and trees

The smooth bark of a beech, the feathery plumes of ornamental grasses, the waxy leaves of aeoniums and yuccas …. For people with a visual impairment, touch offers valuable information about a wide variety of trees and plants – and visitors to the Barbara Hepworth Museum Sculpture Garden this spring will also have the chance to get a feel of some wonderful works of art.

Tate St Ives is offering Sensory Explorer Tours at the garden on 7th and 18th May, designed specifically for visitors who are partially sighted. The tours, which include spoken descriptions of plants, were planned in consultation with Hepworth gardener Jodi Dickinson, and will be led by Susanna Webster and Cassie Penn from the Tate’s learning team. Talking Art sessions have been operating at the Tate for nearly 20 years, and in 2019, a greater focus was given on exploring the benefits provided by the natural space of the garden. Georgina Kennedy, Learning Curator: Public Programmes, says: “It can be a challenge for people who are partially sighted to negotiate the garden, and at the first event, we encouraged them to use other senses – to feel textures, smell flowers, taste flavours like mint and lemongrass, and listen to birdsong and the movement of trees. We talked not just about individual plants, but about the garden as a magical environment designed by Hepworth as a site for her sculptures, and then we made miniature gardens with sculptures to sit inside them. “The session was so well-received that we decided we would run then annually. Then Covid came, so we couldn’t do tours in 2020 and 2021. We know that many people still feel anxious about returning to public spaces, and we hope to put them at ease at the sessions in May. We’ll be focussing on the trees as markers, as we move through the spaces between them, and we’ll also aim to give people a sense of the uniqueness of the garden, as an enclosed and intimate space in the heart of St Ives. And if anyone want to hug a tree, we’ll support them to embrace its shape and size.” People will be able to savour the scents and textures of the garden in May: teucrium and cineraria, Arum lilies, Canary Island geraniums, and an abundance of blossom. As Georgina says: “Touching a leaf feels very different from touching a sculpture. Four Square Walk Through is 4.3m tall, and you can go inside it – and you can also feel Barbara Hepworth’s signature at the base of the sculpture. It can give you a sense of scale.”

The Tate is offering tours to small groups of blind and partially sighted people throughout the two days. Participants can bring a friend or support worker. “By having a small group at each session, we can personalise people’s experience of the garden, depending on their specific access requirements,” says Georgina. Each slot lasts for one hour and 15 minutes. The events are free to attend, and no knowledge of art or gardens is necessary.

To book, call 01736 796226 or visit tate.org.uk/stives.

“Amongst the sculptures in the sunshine, the leaves were rustling and there was such a sense of fun – the bustle, the chatter, the laughter … I felt stimulated and connected with others and with the garden and with Barbara Hepworth. I felt blessed to be included in such a special event.” A participant in the first Talking Garden event in 2019

TREGLISSON, WHEAL ALFRED ROAD, HAYLE TR27 5JT LOCALLY GROWN PLANTS

Exotic and unusual plants, including Acacias, Anemones, Agapanthus, Bananas, Cannas, Eucalyptus and Restios. Patio plants, hanging baskets, tubs and containers. Fruit trees, vegetables and herbs. Large range of ornamental trees, fruit trees, native hedging, soft fruit, grapevines, figs and wisteria now here. We look forward to seeing you!

Opening times:- Monday to Saturday 9am until 5pm Sunday – 10am until 4pm (FOLLOW SIGNS FROM LIDL) TEL: 01736 752888 MOB: 07817 435705 FACEBOOK: @HAYLE PLANTS ejmichell@btconnect.com (FREE PARKING AND DOGS WELCOME)

A Plastic Free

family: Making good things from marine ghost gear

We are Castaway Ropeworks – a family team of four, based in Hayle.

Adam is an ex-Royal Navy and Merchant Navy seaman; Amy is a sailing instructor and outdoors guide; Morgan, who is six, is passionate – and very concerned – about the marine eco-system around our coast; and four-year-old Drake is a pirate in the making who loves seals and gorillas – but is frightened of fish!

We started our business in early 2020, after Adam lost his job on a local ship and we desperately needed a way to stay afloat. Castaway Ropeworks was born from a length of rope which Adam and Morgan dragged out of Hayle Estuary after a winter storm. We untangled it and cut out over 130 large hooks. We created a few doormats and throw-and-retrieve toys for dogs from the rope, and they sold quickly, enabling us to pay some bills.

If left on the beach, this deadly tangled-up Spanish longline would have drifted out on the next tide to wrap itself around any marine creature in its path. Ninety-two per cent of encounters with dolphins, porpoises, turtles, seals, seabirds, and even whales, results in a fatality. This is a huge problem, known as ghost gear entanglement. It takes about 600 years for a piece of ghost gear to fully dissolve. During that time, it will break down into ever smaller plastic fibres, which enter our food chain after they are ingested by fish and then larger creatures. Plastic particles are present in the stomachs of at least 70% of deep-sea fish – and are now being found in human blood.

We retrieve as much ghost gear and rope from our beaches as possible. We also take donations from local fishermen to prevent it going to landfill and polluting the land ecosystem. So far, we have recycled nearly six miles of discarded rope into new pet items and homeware such as decorative hangers, doormats and candlesticks. They are all hand-made, utilising traditional ropework and seamanship skills. We work closely with conservation charities and organisations like Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Clean Ocean Sailing, Fathoms Free and Plastic Free, and share ideas with other ethical businesses like Langoustier Rope Mats of St Agnes. We’ve sold our products to a neighbour and to a lighthouse in Wick, Scotland. We have even sent doormats to Ohio and Italy!

Whenever we visit a beach, we not only remove fishing waste, we take every scrap of plastic we find and remove it for proper recycling to ensure our beaches are clean for wildlife and holidaymakers. Our children take an active part in our business by collecting plastic debris and helping to make our items.

We have a growing following of loyal customers, and as a thank you to our community, we’re putting up our Lost Buoys rope and buoy swings in local woods for children and adventurous adults. We’ve recently re-opened Carbis Bay Beaver and Cub Scouts, which had been closed due to the pandemic, and we plan to educate the young people in the dangers of marine plastic, through adventurous activities and beach visits.

We are determined to grow as a business and continue our fight against marine plastic pollution. We’re currently fundraising to buy a light 4x4 vehicle to recover even the heaviest nets and ropes off our shores. We’re not just beach cleaners – we’re sea cleaners!

Follow Castaway Ropeworks on Facebook and Instagram.

www.hearingservicescornwall.co.uk FREE TV STREAMER with every Oticon More purchase by quoting OTTV Hear more with less effort Oticon More™ hearing aids make sounds up to 60% clearer inside the brain. This makes it easier to understand and remember what people say.* Oticon More hearing aids are available from Hearing Services Cornwall.

FREE HOME VISITS covering Cornwall & Plymouth – call 0787 218 3742 now to book your appointment.

Local Independent Hearing Aid Audiologist –Richard Bunce 0787 218 3742. ears11@sky.com Home visits plus appointments also available at Kernow Ear Health – every Thursday 9-5, Willyams House, 63b Fore Street, St. Columb TR9 6AJ

* Santurette, S., Ng, E. H. N., Juul Jensen, J., Micula, A. & Man K. L., B. (2020). Oticon More clinical evidence. Oticon Whitepaper. LIFE SOUNDS GREAT