Sport and leisure
Walsall Arboretum’s 150th anniversary blooms with Gardeners' Question Time broadcast
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This February, a recording of BBC Radio 4’s well-loved programme Gardeners’ Question Time in Walsall will bring the Arboretum’s 150th celebrations to a close.
Tickets are available for the recording which will take place on Tuesday 4 February 2025 (6-8pm) at Walsall Arena & Arts Centre. Two episodes of the programme will be recorded back-to-back on the night.
Gardeners’ Question Time is a Radio 4 institution, attracting 2 million listeners a week. Recorded in a different location each week, the long-standing radio programme has answered well over 30,000 questions since its inception in 1947.
The programme’s panel of gardening experts: Bunny Guinness, Marcus Chilton-Jones and Matthew Wilson, with Kathy Clugston in the chair, will tackle questions put to them by audience members. The panel’s encyclopaedic, seemingly effortless answers are completely spontaneous and reveal their huge experience and depth of gardening knowledge.
Tickets cost £4.50 + £1.50 booking fee and include a drink on arrival.
“ This event crowns a special year of celebrating our premier park. We’re incredibly proud to host such a prestigious programme as Gardeners’ Question Time here in Walsall. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our community, particularly our green-fingered residents, to showcase their passion for gardening and engage with some of the finest horticultural minds. We hope many will join us, not only to enjoy the event, but to contribute thought-provoking and unique questions for the expert panel. “
The first programme will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 21 February with a repeat on 23 February. The second show will be broadcast on 7 March with a repeat on 9 March.
For more details and to book, visit: www.walsallarena.com
ENDS.
Notes to Editors
Walsall Arena and Arts Centre
Walsall Arena and Arts Centre, Hawbush Road, Leamore, Walsall. WS3 1AG
0300 555 2898. Box Office open Monday to Friday 10am - 2pm.
Walsall Arena is a multi-purpose performance space located in Leamore, just 2 miles from Walsall town centre and 10 minutes from Junction 10 of the M6. It hosts a diverse range of events from live pop music, tribute acts, orchestral concerts to theatre performances, pantomime and comedy. The Arena has multiple spaces to hire and can accommodate large scale performances, conferences, exhibitions along with smaller meetings and seminars.
About Walsall Arboretum
Walsall Arboretum is a rural retreat at the heart of Walsall town centre. First opened in 1874, it now spans 170 acres and includes Hatherton lake, the country park and the extension.
The site attracts over a million visitors a year, with people of all ages enjoying events such as the annual fireworks, funfairs, fun runs and activities such as: cricket, tennis, bowling, informal football, walking, cycling, and running. The Saturday parkrun attracts hundreds of people every week. In summer, the splash pad and children’s play area also attract thousands of visitors. With a trim trail, skatepark and multi-use games area there really is something for everyone. And, in amongst all this activity, there are spaces for quiet contemplation and opportunities to enjoy the vast array of plants and animals that inhabit the space.
The Arboretum has marked its 150th anniversary in 2024 with celebratory events throughout the year. www.go.walsall.gov.uk/parks-and-green-spaces/visit-our-parks-and-play-areas/walsall-arboretum
Find out more about Walsall's parks and green spaces here: https://go.walsall.gov.uk/parks-and-green-spaces
Arboretum facts and figures:
- Attracts over 1 million visitors each year.
- It spans 170 acres and includes the heritage core of the park, the extension as well as Walsall country park.
- The Arboretum is part of the UNESCO Black Country global Geopark with spans the region. It was formerly the site of limestone mines that were active between 1770-c.1835
- Holds a place on Historic England’s National Heritage List for England, a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites
- Home to 10,000 different species of trees and shrubs. A report published in July for the Ancient Tree Inventory revealed that the Arboretum boasts the highest concentration of ancient and veteran trees in the entire region
- Home to the ‘Devil’s Toe’ – a glacial ‘erratic’ boulder which was carried from North Wales on an ice sheet around 400,000 years ago.
