Talk by Dominic Janes - The Extraordinary Reginald Farrer

Join us for a talk by Dominic Janes on The Extraordinary Reginald Farrer and the Craze for Alpine Plants at the beautiful Italian Garden at Great Ambrook!

Reginald Farrer was an Edwardian celebrity who inspired a craze for rock gardening across Great Britain. He was one of a small number of dare-devil individuals who risk their lives by travelling to the wildest parts of the planet in search of new and exotic plant species. But it was not public knowledge that Farrer was homosexual, and that he struggled to align his taste for beauty with the alpha-male culture of exploration. Personal letters now allow Dominic Janes, an expert in LGBTQ lives in Britain, to picture one of the more fascinating personalities to shape the history of the English garden.

Dominic Janes is Professor of Modern History at Keele University and a Professorial Fellow in research at the University for the Creative Arts. He is a cultural historian who studies texts and visual images relating to Britain in its local and international contexts since the eighteenth century. Within this sphere he focuses on the histories of gender, sexuality and religion.

He has published with a range of publishers including Cambridge, Chicago and Oxford University presses. His latest book is Freak to Chic: ‘Gay’ Men in and Out of Fashion after Oscar Wilde (Bloomsbury, 2021).

Gates open at 5pm - explore the garden and enjoy a glass of prosecco on the terrace

Talk from 6-6.45pm