A RETIRED National Trust gardener returned to his old place of work this week as he helped build the famous Cotehele House garland for the 42nd year running. Don Stidwell has been helping the gardening team build the Christmas garland, the longest in any National Trust house, since he began working for the trust in 1963. David Bouch, Cotehele?s head gardener, said: ?Don has been a key member of the gardening team for many years and we are thrilled that he came out of retirement to help build the garland again this year.? David said the garland was made from flowers grown at Cotehele gardens and collected throughout the year. ?The only problem is we never know exactly how the garland will look until it is finished,? said David. ?This is because some flowers grow more successfully than others, and their colours become the dominant spots of colour in the garland.? The garland takes two weeks to complete and will measure approximately 60ft when finished. It can be viewed in the hall at Cotehele until Friday December 23, between 11am and 4pm.
