Join award winning poets Mark Waldron, Catherine Ayers and others for a midsummer's evening of poetry reading in our beautiful surroundings. 

The arboretum will be open from 6pm for those wishing to take a stroll, with the option of joining Bernie Cullen, our recent Poet in Residence, for a brief poetry walk to visit some of the sites that have inspired her writing.

Mark Waldron was born in New York and grew up in London. He began writing poetry in his early 40s and published two collections with Salt, 'The Brand New Dark' (2008) and 'The Itchy Sea '(2011), His third collection, 'Meanwhile, Trees', was published by Bloodaxe in 2016.  He was selected as a Next Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society in 2014. Hear him reading 'All my Poems are Advertisements for Me' from his latest collection here. The arboretum will be open

Catherine Ayres is a teacher from Northumberland. Her poems have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies. In 2015 she came third in the Hippocrates Prize and in 2016 she won the Elbow Room Poetry Prize. Her collection 'Amazon' was published by Indigo Dreams in 2016. In her debut collection, Catherine explores illness and life beyond it, with honesty, humour, and a melancholy optimism. These poems skirt ancient myths to arrive in hospital wards, laybys and lakes. This is poetry for anyone who has ever lost their way and found an unexpected view. 

£10 per adult Includes a free glass of wine or a soft drink and nibbles.

Booking required please. To reserve your space book beow, ring the Visitor Centre on 01653 648598 or email us here.