The mosaic which Maggy Howarth is creating for the Victorian Aviary Garden is 12 square metres in size, which may not sound much but is the size of the average spare bedroom- in other words pretty damn massive when you think that it’s made entirely of pebbles. I went to Maggy’s workshop today to see how things were coming along. It’s about half finished, with the main part of the design, the Peacock, laid out in one enormous piece outside and the rest , including the border, in sections on several large tables in the workshop. I’m completely taken aback by the intricacy of the work and the quality of the craftsmanship. It’s awe-inspiring. We checked the time table and Maggy gave a big gulp when I confirmed that the mosaic needs to be at Chelsea for May 13th, which is less than four weeks from now. Mark, her only assistant, is away installing a mosaic in Gatehead. As soon as he gets back, it will be flat out for them both until the mosaic is safely installed.

When Sally and I first visited Kirkstone in January it was so cold that Sally’s toes turned to ice and took hours to recover. What a contrast with today- the sun is so fierce that I have to wear a hat to protect my head from sunburn. I’m at Kirkstone with Philippa and Mark for what will probably be our last visit before the show. We have come to discuss the steps and we need to decide how best to lay the slate which will cover them. Nick goes through the options and recommends that we lay the slate in a “pineapple chunk” pattern, which will form a good contrast with the slate on the floor of the Aviary. We try to put ourselves in the shoes of the craftsmen who would have tackled the problem in Victorian times. “Pineapple chunks” is probably not the technical term they would have used. But we get the gist and pineapple chunks it is. Nick has a full size template and lays out the slate as he would like it to be, marking the pattern with chalk. His attention to detail is impressive and after 90 minutes of discussion we leave in good spirits, warmed by the sun.

It wasn’t until I saw it assembled today for the first time (without the roof or any of the joinery) that I realised just how impressive a structure our aviary is. Impressive, firstly, in its bulk- its huge, far larger than I had envisaged. Impressive also in its solidity- it is made of solid steel and the structural engineer who came to assess it today only had to whack it with his foot to conclude that it’s never going to fall down. Impressive, thirdly, in the quality of its craftsmanship- the detailing is astonishingly good. I will be very proud, when it leaves here for Chelsea, to think that the workmanship is all Cumbrian.

The next step will be for the steel to be galvanised. It’s being dismantled today and will go to the galvanisor on Monday, so that it will be ready for Philippa and Mark to view it straight after Easter, by which time the roof should be ready.

Maggy Howarth, who is making the mosaic path which leads from Main Avenue to the Aviary has sent us an exciting progress report. Here’s what she has to say:

‘I had a day out getting the coloured rocks for the peacock’s tail; there’s a glorious Aladdins cave in Yorkshire where you can buy exotic rocks & gemstones from all over the world…. I came back with aventurine (soft bottle green) & amazonite (pale aquamarine… or swimming pool green) & lapis lazuli.. Brilliant blue. All very extravagant, but we need the colours. They are at this moment rumbling away in my big tumbler, & will need a few more days yet to make them like “pebbles”.’

The photo is of the little birds which will be used in the border. The whole process of drying, then firing, glazing and firing again takes about three weeks and Maggy can’t start work on the border until they are all ready. See the posting on February 2nd for a drawing of Maggy’s design.

Excitement is in the air as we have a peek for the first time at our “plot” at Chelsea . Philippa and Alex (the show organisor) are pictured here in exuberant mood on Main Avenue in front of what will, in less than three month’s time, become the Victorian Aviary Garden. The site couldn’t be better because we’re on the main thoroughfare close to the main entrance through which 70% of the visitors enter- that’s up to 50,000 people a day.
The only times I’ve been here before have been on show days, when the site seems vast- almost impossible to get round in half a day- but today when there are no buildings or people- or gardens!- the space seems impossibly small. It’s just a gentle stroll from one side to the other.
The video below shows the full panorama, with a glimpse of Philippa, Alex and Mark Richardson (the guy who will be in charge of the build).

Peacocks have been a feature of our Victorian Aviary Garden from the start. In our first submission to the Chelsea panel, when the garden was called “A Bird Lover’s Garden”, we had Peacock chairs on the Aviary terrace. The idea of the chairs didn’t survive the first draft but the peacock imagery re-emerged when Maggy Howarth designed her lovely peacock mosaic for the pathway leading to the aviary. Today we have learned that the aviary which inspired ours, the one at Waddesdon Manor, was built in honour of a visit in 1889 by the Shah of Persia, the occupier of the Peacock Throne. The Shah’s host was Baron Frederick de Rothschild, who completed the magnificent rococco structure just in time for the Shah’s visit. This is how the aviary was described by the Bucks Advertiser at the time:
“The enlarged Aviary was only completed just before the Shah’s visit and is now a little showground in itself. There is a superb collection of birds such as parrots, doves and pheasants of the brightest plumage, and with every arrangement for their well being in the shape of lofty caged enclosures. The aviary surpasses that of the Zoological gardens…”
It’s good to think that, however inadvertently, this peacock imagery has been carried forward over 121 years.
My thanks to an article by Sophieke Piebenga in the Historic Gardens Review for these fascinating details.

Tina Bone, who comes from Camberton, Cambridge, down Philippa’s way, has produced this exquisitely detailed, wonderful watercolour of our Victorian Aviary garden for the Chelsea Flower Show. This is the image which will go into the official Show brochure and which will accompany all our press and media releases in the run up to the show. I’d be perfectly happy to rest on my laurels now, but apparently its the done thing to reproduce in real life what you promise in the brochure. Will this be possible, or has Tina set the bar too high? I now understand why so many of the gardens in the show brochure are represented by vague artists’ impressions.

Cumbria produces the best slate in Britain, from three mines, but only one mine produces slate with a golden thread. The mine with the golden thread is Kirkstone, whose genial proprietor, Nick Fecit, has kindly agreed to co-sponsor our Victorian Aviary Garden for Chelsea with the supply of the slate for the floor of our Aviary. The golden thread will marry well with the gold-leaf decoration of the Aviary. I spent the morning at the Kirkstone workshop at Skelwith Bridge choosing the slate which we will use. It was fascinating to see the processes used to produce the various slate finishes- from walling stone to polished worktops. This video shows Nick and some of his skilled craftsmen working on the slate.

Wow. This is something else. Philippa is completely dwarfed by the magnificent grandeur of the Aviary at Waddesdon Manor. The House and Grounds of Waddesdon Manor are closed at this time of year but Lord Rothschild has kindly let us visit so that we can look at the finer details of the construction and design of the aviary in preparation for building our own (slightly more modest) building for our Victorian Aviary Garden at Chelsea. We are given a warm welcome on an icily cold day by Vicky Darby, who helps to run the garden on behalf of the National Trust and Paul, their Head Gardener. Paul tells us that the Aviary was restored six years ago following a visit by Lord Rothschild to St. Petersburg where he got the idea for the stunning colour scheme of gold and blue. We will be using the same colours at Chelsea.