Weekend Gardening Update: Bringing grandeur back to Biddulph

THE rescue and restoration of Biddulph Grange, an extraordinary Victorian garden in Staffordshire now owned by the National Trust, is told in a four-part series on Channel 4 starting this Tuesday at 8.30pm. The garden was laid out by James Bateman and his friend Edward Cook, the marine artist, over 20 years in the middle of the 19th century.

During those years, Bateman brought the world to Biddulph: orchids from Colombia and Mexico, Wellingtonia pines from California, rhododendrons from Sikkim and Bhutan.

He also built the world at Biddulph: a Scottish glen, an Egyptian court, an Italian parterre and, the most spectacular, China, with the Great Wall, willow pattern bridge and pagoda. Roy Lancaster introduces the people who have been responsible for the restoration of Bateman's creation.