The Sharpham Estate is opening its doors for a free summer celebration day for the first time since the covid pandemic.

Taking place on Saturday 10 June from 10.30am to 4pm, the open day will feature family fun, workshops, music, food and crafts, plus house and garden tours. Sharpham’s swimming pool will also be open, with lifeguards in attendance.

Entry to the event is free but there is a £2 charge to enter Sharpham House and a £5 charge for parking, which must be purchased in advance. 

Up for grabs are free mindfulness taster sessions and the chance to see inside the 18th century Sharpham House, currenly run as a retreat centre, which boasts a rare, floating oval staircase

For children, the estate is hosting a woodland exploration and a dissection class with bird expert Mile Langman, who will invite youngsters to cut open an owl pellet to learn what the bird had for dinner.

The event will also feature live music including shimmering Indonesian Gamelan instrumental sounds from Bali and Java, and the Blue Jewel Ceilidh Band.

And roving shakuhachi – Japanese flute – player, Mike McInerney, will perform hauntingly-beautiful and meditative sounds throughout Sharpham’s gardens and grounds.

Workshops include wild food and foraging led by forager and author Brigit-Anna McNeill, while Professor Katerine Weare will lead a mindfulness meditation taster session.

As well as a cafe offering teas, coffees, cakes and biscuits, the event will feature a beer tent.

For more information visit www.sharphamtrust.org/summer-celebration

On the same day, the charity is staging a bioblitz event offering visitors the chance to become ‘citizen scientists’ for the day, exploring and counting the varied flora and fauna on the estate.

For more information and to book visit www.sharphamtrust.org/bioblitz