2007 was the start of something new at Althorp.

Specialist nurseries gave advice to help visitors take a fresh look at their gardens – it was amazing to see so much colour on the plant stands at this time of year – truly inspirational.

Even those not that interested in gardening enjoyed their time at the art, design and gift stands - keeping the keenest shopper happy.

Not only all that, but Althorp estate , traditionally closed by this time of year, re-opened its gates for visitors to wander the grounds and gardens - all included within the garden show entry price and there was a special show rate entry for House Tours.

A great day out for everyone – a time to celebrate the garden and enjoy the last rays of what has been a brief summer – the weather wasn't too bad all weekend, with the odd chilly moment but at least the rain clouds stayed away!

To celebrate this new event there was a Jazz Cabaret Evening on Saturday. The Introduction of ‘Coralie', a new mellow voice on the Jazz circuit, followed by ‘The Cotton Club Revue' and the Jiving Lindy Hoppers, set feet tapping and hands clapping and all joined in and danced at the end of the evening. It was a great way to enjoy a late summers evening in a wonderful and evocative place.

As Thomas Cooper said ‘A garden is never so good as it will be next year' and this certainly applies to The Garden Show in Autumn. We will be back and the show looks set to grow and grow.

Although the show has existed for thirteen years in Hampshire and has developed into an established event – it too began from a small seed.

The organisers are keen, along with visitors and exhibitors, to see this new autumn event grow in the same way. An element of every aspect of gardening was there – a taster session and a promise of more to follow.

In response to both exhibitor and visitor feedback we will be introducing and improving the following

• A proper shuttle service to and from the car park – along with better disabled parking facilities
• A larger Shopping Crèche & Carry service – this worked well but needs some ‘tweaking'
• More stalls (as said this was a taster show and we plan to double the event next year)
• We are keen to hit base with any gardening societies in the area who might be planning an event to link up with us and even take part in our show – so please do contact us
• The Country Food stands were seriously missing and we will work hard to find local companies who would like to join in and promote their produce. Do please contact us if you are interested in this element of the event – either as an exhibitor or running a cooking demonstration to promote your business
• Re: Free Talks and Gardening Q & A sessions . This year they didn't take place due to unavoidable circumstances - we will ensure we have back up speakers for 2008
• Although we did advertise and market the show to a very large extent – it seems that there were areas / towns / villages we missed and we need to find other publications in adjoining areas to Northampton and we would be grateful for any information / recommendations on this front – most especially if you can ‘house' one of our advertising boards if your land adjoins a main road or if you know someone who can
• We are keen to have more children involved and really make it a family day. So if anyone is interested in starting up and running a ‘Young Gardeners Club' or an activity centre of some sort at the show – then please do let us know
• The Jazz Show will take place again on the Saturday evening – we are keen to have The Cotton Club return but would also like to have local jazz band involvement both during the garden show and on the Jazz evening – get in touch!
• We will be holding the show on Saturday & Sunday only in 2008 until visitor numbers increase and we will then re-introduce the Friday

Many thanks to everyone for all encouragement and support and we look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you next year at Althorp. If there is anything else you think is important and we should know about then please don't hesitate to contact Jane and Emily 01243 586323 info@thegardenshowonline.com