Some along Sunday from 1-6pm, Faughan ValleyLandscape Partnership and Ashbrook Estate have come together to deliver this exciting heritage event. Come along to learn more about this historic house and family that helped shape the Faughan Valley area. Meet characters from the past while you enjoy a guided tour of the house. Explore the estate with the help of expert foragers who will help you recognise food for free from the woodlands and gardens. Try your hand at heritage skills such as basket weaving and wood turning and children can enjoy nature activities in the woods. Lastly all are invited to enjoy the sights, smells and tastes at the cookery demonstrations with chefs using foraged and home grown produce.
Faughan Valley Landscape Partnership and Ashbrook Estate have come together to deliver an exciting heritage event on Sunday 21stApril from 1.00pm – 6.00pm. ‘A Country Estate Forage Day’ has something for everybody and will offer the public a chance to learn more about Ashbrook’s historic house, estate and family that helped shape the Faughan Valley area in the 1600s.
The event will also offer the public the opportunity to take a step back in time and meet characters from our plantation past, and try their hand at activities of the time such as archery, falconry, basket weaving and wood-turning.
To help the public explore the estate, expert foragers Dermot Hughes and Gareth Austin will be on hand to assist the public recognise food for free from the estate woodland enjoy the sights, smells and tastes at the cookery demonstrations with chefs using foraged and home grown produce. Children can enjoy nature and environmental activities on offer from organisations such as RSPB, Loughs Agency and the Playtrail to name a few. Derry City Council’s Museum Services and Rural Tourism Officer will also be in attendance with information for the public.
Mayor Councillor Kevin Campbell who has already met the Plantation bard and landlord urged local people and tourists alike to attend the event. He said: “This is an exciting event and a first for the Faughan Valley and Derry City Council area. With so many activities on offer it will be a great day out while learning about the history of the area in the plantation times.”
Guided tours of the historic Ashbrook House will be led by Melanie Cunningham Ash, who said: “We are looking forward to sharing the stories from our families past and guiding visitors around the Ash family home which was built around 1610 by my ancestor General Sir Thomas Ash. It will also be exciting to see plantation characters in dress roaming the woodlands again.”
Faughan VAlley Landscape Partnership
