EVENTSSunday 23 March
Easter Sunday. House Opens

Sunday 6 April. 2 - 5pm
Spring Fair. Crafts and food by local producers and sellers.

Saturday 19 April
Spring Concert. A trio of international artists with a programme of Purcell, handel, Gluck, Mozart, Massenet. Jane Leslie MacKenzie, soprano. Michael Bochmann, violin. David Watkins, harp. An Espressivo promotion. Tickets £15 to include a glass of wine from 01386 791044

Saturday 10 May
Concert. Making the world go round. A celebration of love in words and music. From Beethoven to Ravel, from Dylan Thomas to Shakespeare. With actors Sue Best and Philip Bowen and pianists Roger Nichols and Anthony Powers. 7.30pm. Tickets £10. Ploughman’s supper included. Please book tickets in advance from Cathy 01981 550243 or Sarah 01432 850090.

Saturday/Sunday 14/15 June
Garden Festival. Grand garden festival with plants, demonstrations, crafts, food, children’s activities and more.

Friday/Saturday 20/21 June
Gardens Open. Our annual opening of the gardens on behalf of the NGS.

Sunday 1 June
Crafts, food, and gifts fair, all by local producers.

Saturday 21 June
Virgil Boutelis, violin. Friends’ concert.

Saturday 26 July
SSAFA Jazz. The Ken Collier tribute band in aid of SSAFA. Tickets available.

Saturday/Sunday 11/12 October
Much Marcle’s Big Apple celebrations, fair, and market. All welcome.

ActivitiesPerry Making
The Mill House here at Hellens was built during the 19th century for Charles Radcliffe Cooke. At that time Hellens was surrounded by apple and pear orchards. Ancient perry pear trees can still be seen along our drive and we are planting a wide variety of apple and pear trees to continue the tradition.

Each year we make cider or perry in the traditional way at Hellens. First the pears are sorted to remove unwanted twigs, etc. Our horses and donkey aren’t used to being harnessed, so we use volunteers to turn the millstone.

As the pears are crushed they are wrapped in hessian to make “cheeses” then formed into a stack, ready for pressing. When the stack is complete, pressure is applied to squeeze out the juice.