00:00Welcome here for once again the Open Gardens, a noble event that good causes benefit from.
00:07So, now we have sunshine, let us open the event.
00:11Would you please pray silence for Miss Sandy Toxford.
00:20I mean I'm up here, I'm never getting down again.
00:24Less of a stage, more of a Sandy extender.
00:26Thank you very much. How lovely. I have to tell you I come here as a garden enthusiast,
00:33but also as your neighbour. So today is a day of celebration, I woke up this morning pouring with
00:36rain. I thought, oh no, what are we going to do? But you know what I thought, I thought we
00:40will dance today. If it rains, shall we just dance in the rain? Do you not think this is to celebrate?
00:44And actually the rain made me feel good, because this is the reason why we don't live in a city,
00:48we live out here, breathing this fresh and clean air. And apparently, I don't know if you know,
00:54this is one of my sort of QI facts, we burn more calories in the rain.
00:59I know, I know, this is a good reason to have a cream tea, I think.
01:06But also, I'm obsessed with the English language, and today we can bask in something called
01:11petrichor. And petrichor is just one of the great, we have a word for everything in Britain,
01:17Dacipygle is a medical condition of having hairy buttocks, so there's a word for everything.
01:24Petrichor is a word, it's derived from the ancient Greek, it combines the word
01:27rockpetra and ichor, which was the sort of ethereal fluid, the blood, if you like,
01:31of the ancient gods of Greece. And it's used to describe that unique smell, which if we all take
01:37a big breath in now, we can smell it, it's that unique smell that rain brings when it hits the
01:42earth. And what it does, it's a combination of the chemicals that are released from the good
01:46bacteria in the soil, the oil in the plants, and the specific mix of ozone that we get when it
01:53rains. And this heaven-scent smell soothes the mind and makes us all feel good. So I am thrilled
02:01to be out, even in the rain. I am so impressed by what's happening here. I'm so impressed by
02:06all the money that is raised, by the community spirit, by the fact that money will go to cancer
02:12care, to palliative care, to the Lip Hook food bank, to education, and also, can I say, absolutely
02:18obsessed with the Bramshott Sunken Lanes project. Now, yes, I think this is a marvellous thing.
02:24Can I just say that I know that you get professional tree surgeons out to help trim and so on. I am
02:29currently, a lot of us are, currently rewilding 40 acres of ancient woodland in Greyshott,
02:35and every time I called out the people to come and do this, it cost 500 pounds,
02:38so I went on a chainsaw course. If you need me,
02:46I have discovered a passion for chainsawing. I absolutely love it, and I love the regeneration
02:52that you see when the light suddenly comes down through the trees. I'm free. That's the other
02:58thing, completely free. I won't charge you a penny, although I do like a cream tea.
03:02I think this is wonderful. I think you should be proud. I think this is the best of Britain,
03:07to get together like this and enjoy the gardens, but also to make new friends,
03:12and that's what I'm doing today. Please come and say hi. I'm absolutely delighted to have
03:17been asked and delighted to declare officially. Oh, it's our poet. You're our poet, aren't you?
03:25What would you like me to do? Yes, tell me. I shall cut the ribbon and declare things
03:28officially open, and then I need 12 people to get me down.
03:33Right, are we ready? We have to do a big cheer when it's done. Okay,
03:36officially declare Bramshott Open Gardens Day open!
03:49What, have you signed it?
03:52Angela, this is thrilling. Everybody should get a copy of this. I think it's five pounds,
03:55is that right? And the money will also, some of the money will go, it's all going to charity.
03:59Our poet laureate, our London poet laureate. Fiona, Fiona comes up here. Wait, we're doing
04:08a handover. You all right? I know, right? I'm going to just stand here and pretend I can get
04:13down. Tell everyone how wonderful these postcards are. Okay, these postcards are wonderful.
04:21Yes, these have all been designed by both Michael Furl in the village, basically.
04:28Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm here to help. I know. So yes, these postcards are for sale on
04:33the plant set, on the plant stall, and they are absolutely beautiful, and they've all been made
04:38by people in the village, and we think they're rather stunning. So please do buy those. You've
04:45already done a wonderful sale for Angela's poems, so those are for sale. They will be here, I think.
04:54You're going to stand on stage as well. And also they are for sale as well on the ticket
04:59tent. Hopefully most of you have got your tickets already, but please head over to the
05:03ticket tent if you haven't. We've got a barbecue over here, we've got a bar, we have the wonderful
05:07tea tent full of lovely, lovely cakes, cream teas included, I'm sure. We have a tombola,
05:13we have a lego mosaic where you can help us build a wonderful lego picture of Bramshott,
05:19which we're very happy about. Now what have I forgotten? The beekeeper Brad is over here next
05:24to the plant. He is selling local honey, but he will also give you a lovely demonstration and
05:29discussion of bees, which is fantastic. In the church we have a wonderful flower display,
05:36which you've seen already, haven't you? Very nice. And also the scroll of remembrances in there,
05:41and oh, and there are also gnomes hidden in some of the gardens. If you manage to find them all...
05:52Wow, it's a really strange way to tell me. It sounds like my whole family's here.
06:01And if you find all the gnomes, you can get applied at the ticket tent. Have I forgotten
06:07anything? I think we've covered everything. So in the programme, it's a map, all the gardens are
06:16marked on there, the toilets are marked on there. If you need first aid, which hopefully you won't,
06:21there's a first aid kit on the bar. So yeah, I think that's it. Have fun.
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