Alan Titchmarsh
Personal Information
Description
Alan Titchmarsh MBE VMH DL was born and raised on the edge of Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire. He left school at 15 to be an apprentice gardener in the local nursery, then trained at horticultural college and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. After a spell as Supervisor of Staff Training at Kew he became a horticultural journalist, then a freelance broadcaster and writer. Alan has written gardening books, several fiction best sellers, and his memoirs. Alan has appeared on radio and television both as a gardening expert and as an interviewer and presenter. Among others, Alan’s TV credits include: BBC2's 'Gardeners' World'; 'Ground Force'; 'How To Be A Gardener'; 'The Royal Gardeners'; 'British Isles - A Natural History'; and 'The Gardener’s Year'. Alan is a Freeman of the City of London. He was appointed MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours list, and a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Hampshire in 2001. In 2004 he was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's highest accolade—the Victoria Medal of Honour—for outstanding services to horticulture. He is a patron or president of more than 35 charities and organizations, as well as being the founder and trustee of Alan Titchmarsh's Gardens for Schools, which makes grants to primary schools for gardens and nature areas. Music has always played an important part in Alan’s life. As a young boy he sang treble in the church choir, and as a young man he joined the Ilkley Amateur Operatic Society. Speaking about his Radio 2 show, Alan says: "I'm delighted to have a regular spot on Radio 2 having contributed to the station intermittently over the last 30 years. I'll be playing a mix of popular and classical music that I love, and hope that my listeners will enjoy it too." Source: [BBC Radio](
Books
Folly
Jamie Ballantyne and Artemis King were never meant to fall in love. The feud between their families has run for generations. But whatever Jamie's head might tell him, his heart will always belong to Artemis. After fifty years, perhaps it's time for the Kings and the Ballantynes to bury the hatchet. But when they begin to uncover their shared past, what they find will rock the foundations of both families, as a web of deceit and intrigue is ruinously exposed.
Tales from Titchmarsh
Britain's favourite gardener Alan Titchmarsh has also been the most popular contributor to Gardeners' World magazine for the last twenty years. This collection of his very best columns demonstrates just why he is regularly voted the readers' favourite. His brilliant writings are, in turn, practical - just how far back should we prune our roses? - opinionated - I always rail at people who go out on a Sunday afternoon to tidy their gardens. I mean, a garden is not a sock drawer - cheeky - I have a theory that gardeners grow to look like their soil and wistful - You've got to be a bit of a dreamer to get the most out of your garden. So lay down your trowel, take off your wellies, sit back and enjoy a bit of quintessential Titchmarsh.
Bring me home
It seems a perfect afternoon in the Highlands. Standing at the door of the lochside castle that has been his family's home for generations, Charlie Stuart welcomes his guests to the annual summer drinks party. Conversation, laughter and the clinking of glasses soon fill the air as friends and neighbours come together to toast the laird's happiness and prosperity. But Charlie sees the truth behind the facade: the sacrifices made to safeguard the estate; the devastating losses that have haunted him for decades; the guilt that lies at the heart of it all. In a few hours, he knows, the perfect afternoon will come to an end. The past, with its dark secrets of love, death, loyalty and betrayal, is about to catch up with him. And it could finally tear his family apart ...
Mr Gandy's grand tour
Timothy Gandy has kept his lifetime's ambition secret for forty years. Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realise his dreams. He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the eighteenth century. He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships - and possibly even love - along the way. It seems that Mr Gandy has embarked on the journey of a lifetime ...
Love and Dr. Devon
Christopher Devon tries to make a new life and, after a bit of persuasion from his daughter, to meet a new woman. But how to find one? And how to placate a son who thinks you should never have split up in the first place? Dr Devon is not the only man with woman trouble. Tiger Wilson has been married just a little too comfortably for thirty years, and Gary Flynn is a serial womaniser who refuses to settle down. But during one month in spring they are all about to have their lives turned upside down, and not just by women. In seeking to add a little excitement to their lives, they get rather more than they bargained for. They all have their secrets, and they are all exposed to danger. The result? Death, danger, intrigue and passion. Will Dr Devon find true love and live happily ever after? Or will the bitter pill of reality prove a fly in the ointment of his dreams?