Save Ventnor Botanic Garden

Ventnor Botanic Garden is currently local authority owned.  It is a much valued and loved local resource.  It also houses a significant and beautiful collection of plants.  The public future of the garden is currently in question, as the Isle of Wight's local authority reviews its spending plans and tries to find ways of spending money.

The visitor centre at Ventnor Botanic Garden

Vine walkway

Some of the Wightstay team spent last weekend at the garden, supporting the Hop Festival, which was a celebration of arts, crafts and local produce from the Island.  A beer produced from the garden's own hops was also launched at the event (hence the name).  We want to see this fantastic and beautiful resource stay in public hands for future generations to enjoy.

The Hop Festival 25-26th September 2010

There is a limited time public consultation.  If you feel the garden should remain in public ownership, please complete it here.

Resources like this are a fantastic place for all ages.  The Botanic Garden is a fantastic place to visit if you're visiting the Isle of Wight.

James May is invading!

Well, OK he's only talking about it, but it's great that he thinks the Isle of Wight is worth invading!

Excerpt from his new book here.

As noted in the comments the Isle of Wight is getting a Waitrose this winter.  At Wightstay this is something particularly exciting as the new Waitrose will be only a couple of hundred metres from our HQ.  As you can see it's getting tantalisingly close already: