Fertile ground for stories

In a special book to raise funds for the National Garden Scheme and the Oesophageal Patients Association, garden owner Cynthia Ramsden has chronicled the lives and loves of these willing helpers at one of Derbyshire's most popular private gardens, Fanshawe Gate Hall on the edge of Derbyshire's Peak District National Park.

In Garden Tales, gardeners, designers, builders, artists, volunteers and visitors talk about their own lives and what brings them back to Fanshawe Gate year after year.

Jean Thorpe is a retired teacher who used gardens and nature as a way of inspiring her pupils. She volunteered to help at the hall and found herself on the kitchen team. "There's a special magic about Fanshawe Gate. People get so much pleasure from Cynthia's garden, and from eating the delicious cakes. It's a winner for everyone, the charities and the visitors."

For six-year-old Samuel Hardy, scone baking with the adults is the highlight of his "volunteering" day. Although he covers the floor, the table and himself in flour, visitors still enjoy, his scones.

"Encouraging a new generation of garden volunteers is just one of the many pleasures of opening under the National Gardens Scheme," says Cynthia Ramsden.

Penny Snell, chairman of the National Gardens Scheme says that the 3,700 gardens open under the NGS rely very heavily on volunteers to do so.

"We are indebted to all those whose efforts raise so much for our charities."

Garden Tales (16.99, cheques payable to Grafika Limited) can be ordered at 01629 813300 or by post from Grafika Limited, Riverside Studio, Riverside Business Park, Buxton Road, Bakewell DE45 1GS, or www.fanshawegate.com