River & Rowing Museum’s Ratty’s Refuge Wins At Chelsea
The Princess Royal, Kim Wilde, Martin Clunes and Melinda Messenger visit garden

20 May 2008: First time Chelsea Flower Show garden designers, Ann Robinson and Angela Potter of English Eden won a Bronze Medal for their River & Rowing Museum’s Ratty’s Refuge garden, it was announced today.

Sponsored by the River & Rowing Museum, Henley On Thames, the contemporary urban wildlife garden seeks to inspire gardeners across the country to help save the water vole, one of the UK’s most endangered mammals. The garden also celebrates the 100th birthday of Kenneth Grahame’s classic book The Wind in the Willows, in which Ratty, a water vole, is the star.

The Princess Royal, Duke of the Kent, Lady Helen Taylor, Kim Wilde, Martin Clunes, Melinda Messenger, Ben Fogle and Anneka Rice were just some of the celebrity visitors to the garden at Chelsea.

The Museum - which has a gallery dedicated to river ecology and houses the UK’s only The Wind in the Willows exhibition – has created a website all about the garden, www.rattysrefuge.co.uk, to enable gardeners across the UK to adopt its medal winning design and help make their gardens more water vole and wildlife friendly. The site contains top tips from the Wildlife Trusts as well as advice on saving water and planting guides.

After Chelsea, the garden will be translated to the River & Rowing Museum. Located on the banks of the Thames it will be become a permanent attraction for the museum’s visitors and schools to learn about wildlife and river ecology – as well as hopefully providing a home for Henley’s water voles.

Paul Mainds, Trustee & Chief Executive, River & Rowing Museum, said: "We supported Ann and Angela because their garden fits exactly with what we’re doing at the museum. The water vole’s plight symbolises the care we need to take of our wildlife and via Ratty in Wind in the Willows the delight of rowing and messing about in boats. We’re thrilled the garden has won a medal and look forward to it being translated at the Museum to inspire our visitors about river ecology.”

Ann Robinson, Designer, English Eden said: “We’re delighted to get a medal for our first show garden. We’ve been overwhelmed with the number of visitors to the garden and the huge level of interest there is in saving water vole and creating wildlife gardens. We’re hugely grateful to River & Rowing Museum and our other sponsors for supporting us and enabling the messages of water vole conservation to be heard. We hope gardeners across the country are inspired to take up gardening for Ratty!”

The decline of the water vole
The water vole is Britain’s fastest declining mammal. 1990 records show a national water vole population of just over seven million across the UK. By 1998 numbers had crashed to less than one million, a decline of almost 90 per cent in just seven years.
Predation by American Mink and poor watercourse management have accelerated its decline. The Government has recognised its plight and from 6 April 2008 the water vole was given extra protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. The River & Rowing Museum’s Ratty’s Refuge Garden demonstrates how gardeners can help the water vole, and do so in style.

How gardeners can help (www.rattysrefuge.co.uk)
Any gardener within half a mile (1km) from water can potentially provide a beneficial environment for water voles. Young water voles usually disperse and settle somewhere between 500m-1km from the site where they were born, traveling along watercourses until they find empty, suitable habitat in which they make their home. Gardens beside watercourses that have been planted and landscaped to benefit water voles can be hugely valuable in helping water vole populations to grow. The effect is considerably increased if gardeners work together to create a series of suitable habitats as this helps to join up fragmented water courses and bring populations of water voles together. Full details of River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge including planting lists, ideas and advice can be found at www.rattysrefuge.co.uk

Garden designers and supporters
River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge was designed by Capel Manor College graduates Angela Potter and Ann Robinson of English Eden, in consultation with The Wildlife Trusts, and is sponsored by the River & Rowing Museum. British Wildflower Plants have supplied a range of plants and Water in the South East is also supporting the project.

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	Address The River & Rowing Museum, Mills Meadows, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1BF. Tel. 01491 415600. Web: www.rrm.co.uk
	The museum, terrace café and shop is open every day from 10am - 5.30pm in summer and 10am - 5pm in the winter
	Paid for tickets are valid for re-entry to the museum for 12 months
	Admission for The Wind in the Willows including the Galleries: £7 for adults, £5 for children and £6 for senior citizens and concessions
	Admission for the Museum Galleries: £3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children and £3 for senior citizens and concessions
	Free parking for visitors

English Eden (www.english-eden.co.uk)
Angela Potter and Ann Robinson, graduates of Capel Manor College, founded English Eden in 2006 after leaving careers in tourism and the law to pursue second careers in garden design. The pair have a strong interest in ecology and sustainability. In 2007 they won a runners up prize in a competition to design a water show garden for Grand Marnier and Anglo Aquarium Plant Company. Their design 'Spirit of the Charente' was inspired by the palace of Versailles and the ecology of the Charente River. In the same year they were involved in the Capel Manor College's RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden, Growing Together In Faith which won a Silver Gilt Medal.

For River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge, Potter and Robinson have been assisted by fellow Capel Manor College graduates, garden designers, Jean Thomas and Sylvia Ong-Mörtl.

English Eden provides garden design services across South East England.


Water in the South East (www.waterinthesoutheast.com)
Water in the South East is a partnership of water companies in the South East of England (Folkestone & Dover Water, Mid Kent Water, Portsmouth Water, South East Water, Southern Water, Sutton & East Surrey Water, Three Valleys Water) along with the Environment Agency, Consumer Council for Water and Waterwise. The partnership aims to raise the profile of sustainable water management and use within the South East of England. It recognises that gardeners across the UK have an important role in developing and maintaining wildlife habitats but it is keen to promote respect for the environment and that beautiful gardens are not dependent upon the use of large quantities of top quality tap water.


The Wildlife Trusts (www.wildlifetrusts.org)
There are 47 local Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney, working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. With 726,000 members, The Wildlife Trusts are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK's habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 135,000 of their members belong to the junior branch, Wildlife Watch. Managing 2,200 nature reserves covering more than 80,000 hectares; The Wildlife Trusts stand up for wildlife; inspiring people about the natural world and fostering sustainable living.


British Wild Flower Plants (www.wildflowers.co.uk)
British Wild Flower Plants specialises in growing 400 species of native plants. Their plants have known provenance and guarantee of origin with many plants from their own seed collections and they have been peat free since 1991. British Wild Flower Plants supply and grow plants for gardens at most of the yearly shows. Gardens supplied by them have won 6 Gold and 4 Silver Guilt medals as well the people's award and best in show at all major RHS Shows. British Wild Flower Plants contract grows plants for large planting schemes such as road and landscape projects throughout the UK which has included the Millennium Dome and the Channel Tunnel. The company also supplies Garden centres across the UK with planting packs for the home wild flower gardener.


Andrew Parkinson (www.andrewparkinson.com)
Andrew is a multi-award winning wildlife photographer whose work is represented by nine of the most prestigious image agencies around the world including Getty Images and Corbis. His work has been published in more than 30 countries worldwide and his photo features appear frequently in publications such as BBC Wildlife. He has a passion for British wildlife and when he's not in the UK he can be found on location around the world. So far he's worked on six continents and later this year will be spending two months in the Falkland Islands.


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