Visitors and exhibitors at this year’s CLA Game Fair, to be held at Harewood House in Yorkshire from Friday 31 July until Sunday 2 August, will benefit from enhanced communications technology meaning they can use mobile phones, tablet computers and payment terminals more effectively.

Mobile communications coverage and services will be enhanced thanks to a £130,000 investment in technology, which will fund 12 free Wi-Fi hotspots located around the show site. The funding for the high-speed connectivity has been provided by the CLA as well as sponsorship from interested exhibitors.

In addition, the CLA Game Fair and its technology partner 123 Hire are installing a broadcast network dedicated exclusively to the transmission and processing of credit and debit card transactions. The “123VIP” network, which will supported by six broadcast masts providing coverage of the whole showground, will enable exhibitors to benefit from a congestion-free payment system.

Tony Wall, Director of the CLA Game Fair, commented: “We are aware of the problems visitors have experienced with mobile network coverage at countryside events and this investment will create one of the UK’s best ever show experiences for smart phone and tablet users. It will not only mean they can stay in touch with family and friends during the event but that they can make use of social media and enjoy an enhanced CLA Game Fair experience.”

Robert Sears, CLA Game Fair Exhibitor Liaison Officer, added: “Mobile network congestion has meant past frustration for exhibitors using card payment machines but the new 123VIP private network will ensure they can process card payments quickly and efficiently. We are encouraging all exhibitors to make use of this service to ensure they get the very best out of this year’s CLA Game Fair.”

For more details, visit www.gamefair.co.uk

Harewood House Half Marathon unites 1000 in the fight for every heartbeat.

More than 1000 laced up their trainers this weekend for the BHF’s inaugural Harewood House Half Marathon in a united front against coronary heart disease, the UK’s single biggest killer.

The British Heart Foundation Harewood House Half Marathon which started and finished in the in front of the stately home saw runners cover 13.1 miles through the Harewood estate to raise urgently needed funds for the nation’s heart charity.

BHF Event Organiser Helen Wright said: “I would like to thank everyone who took part, everyone who supported our runners and all of our volunteers particularly the local Raynet group. Coronary heart disease is not beaten yet – it remains the single biggest killer in the UK and it’s because of your support, that we are able to continue our fight to find a cure.”

The BHF hopes to raise £70,000 from the Harewood House Half Marathon to help fund essential research which could create a better future for so many – from babies born with heart defects, to the millions of adults affected by heart disease.  Coronary heart disease is responsible for almost 80,000 deaths each year; that’s over 200 people dying every single day.

Join the fight today and register for a BHF event today. The next local British Heart Foundation event taking place is the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge on Saturday 11^th July from Horton in Ribblesdale. Registration is now open www.bhf.org/uk/y3p

Harewood has been home to a deer park since the medieval era with three types of deer spread over 4,000 acres of land. There are approximately 155 Red, 45 Fallow and 45 Roe with the number fluctuating when the calves are born around June.

The Red deer is one of the largest deer species and, although they were once rare in parts of Europe, they were never closetoextinction. Successful reintroduction and conservation efforts, particularly within the UK, have resulted in an increase of Red deer populations. This species have varying colouration depending on the season and habitat in which they live, with grey or lighter colouration in winter and more reddish and darker coat colouration in the summer.

Native to Western Eurasia, the Fallow deer can be identified by its chestnut coat with white mottles in summer or by a much darker, unspotted coat in the winter. Fallow deer are widespread on the UK mainland and are present in most of England and Wales.

The Roe deer is relatively small with reddish and grey-brown colouring, and well adapted to cold environments. The roe deer is renowned for being very quick and graceful with very short antlers. The world-famous deer Bambi was based on a Roe deer but was changed to a White-Tailed deer upon its feature film adaptation.

Male deer cast antlers each year, usually in April, with the oldest deer’s casting their antlers first. Deer are herbivores meaning they eat fruits, acorns and nuts as well as grass and evergreen plants in the autumn and winter.

You can currently purchase venison from Home Park.

Standing at approximately 150cm wide by 200cm high, this Chippendale mirror has taken four men about two hours to move. One of 24 Chippendale mirrors at Harewood House, this particular piece has been in the Watercolour Rooms since 1994, however, its original location remains unknown.

Thomas Chippendale’s largest commission was Harewood House and many of the original items remain within the collection. As one of Britain’s finest furniture makers, Chippendale created rare and beautiful furniture for the Lascelles family almost 250 years ago.

Harewood is renowned for its beautiful gardens and inspiring planting schemes. In the Himalayan Garden, which is at its peak between April and July, the stream, rock garden, waterfall and mature planting give this enclave of the grounds a natural, untamed feel, not unlike being in a miniature version of a Himalayan valley.

Harewood’s Himalayan Garden contains many rare and unusual plants, many of which were introduced by intrepid plant explorers, and include Blue Poppies, Cobra Lilies, Primulas and Orchids, all planted amidst a host of trees, shrubs, rhododendrons and bamboos.

What to look out for?

These must include the famous Blue Poppies of the genus Meconopsis from the Sino-Himalayan region. There are several kinds of Chinese and Himalayan poppies growing in the Himalayan Garden and many more are being planted this spring. They’re not all blue either, other colours include lemon, white, pink and red. Some species grow as small Alpine plants on thin soil in the rock garden, whilst others can grow to 2 metres on humus-rich, moist soil in the woodland garden.

If you’re looking for orchids there are several types growing in the Himalayan Garden, mainly in the gorge and rock garden area. Terrestrial orchids representing genera such as Pleione, Cypripedium and Calanthe can be found at Harewood.

Cobra Lilies of the genus Arisaema are an exciting and unusual addition to any garden. There are several species growing at Harewood, all of which are very striking plants with their distinctive snake-like appearance. They are very variable too with some having large reticulated hoods with long appendages and very large leaves, whilst some are short and slender with club-like appendages and narrow leaves. One species even has a cobra-like hood and a twisted tongue-like appendage and can grow up to 2 metres tall. Keep a look out for this striking plant in July.

One of the simplest and most striking plants to grow in the Himalayan Garden is the “Candelabra” primula. Flowering between May and June, this is a robust spieces, thriving in wet soils. From western Sichuan, the bright pink flowers stand out against the pale silver stems.

Rhododendron:

One of the finest displays of colour at Harewood in spring is derived from the hundreds of species and hybrid rhododendrons that grow throughout the grounds. From dwarf species with tiny leaves and flowers growing in rock crevices in the gorge to tree rhododendrons standing upwards of 20 feet tall with large trusses of funnel-shaped flowers growing in the woodland garden, there is a huge variety of colour and form here. The best time to see the rhododendrons in flower is between April and June, although we do have a beautifully fragrant white-flowered species which flowers in late summer. This is Rhododendron auriculatum which was HRH Princess Mary’s favourite.

Top Tips for Growing Rhododendron from our Head Gardener:

Trevor has been caring for Harewood’s gardens for over 20 years now and has some hints to help you choose and successfully grow rhododendrons in your own garden.

1. Choose the right rhododendron for your particular site and buy quality plants from a good nursery. There are so many different kinds of Rhododendron available to suit all kinds of situations. Ask at the nursery for advice on the best rhododendrons for your site.
2. Plant in moisture-retentive acid soil. Good drainage is also important, and on some sites it is better to plant in a shallow scoop, firm in with soil and then mound-up to the top of the root-ball with compost rather than to plant in a pit. At Harewood, we add compost at planting but prefer to add this to the upper part of the root-ball rather than sitting the plant onto a layer of compost, which then sinks leaving the plant sitting in a sump which collects water, especially in winter.
3. Keep your plants healthy by applying an ericaceous fertiliser annually in early spring, and giving them a plentiful supply of water during the summer months, followed by a mulch of leaf mould in the autumn.

Don’t forget to come and visit Harewood when we open in April to see these beautiful plants at their best.