If you're looking for something for people who love chocolate and who love to try something that's a bit different, you could take a look at the Chocolate Trading Company.

The Chocolate Trading Company specialises in chocolates from all over the world, so they offer chocolate lovers a great chance to try chocolates such as Zotter, Bonnat, Chocolat Madagascar, Valrhona, Pralus, Amedei, Booja Booja, Callebaut, Chocolarder, Charbonnel et Walker, and the Chocolate Tree.

They've got chocolate boxes, chocolate bars, chocolate gift hampers, novelty chocolates and even the chance to create your own gift hamper!   

The code covers gift hampers from the Chocolate Trading Company as well! 

Indulge in a special chocolatey offer!

And great news!  They've got a special offer for you - 10% off until the 30th June 2025!  The code is site wide, too (it does exclude Sale or Trade/Bulk items).   Just use the code 

CHOCO10Q225

This offer is site wide, so it includes chocolate gift hampers!  Chocolate and champagne (what a combination!), chocolate and prosecco (wonderful!), or you could choose chocolates and red wine, chocolates and white wine,  and some of the hampers have dark chocolate, or white chocolate or milk chocolate - there's plenty to choose from!

Visit the Chocolate Trading Co here.

Please note that you need to keep chocolate goodies away from dogs - please don't put chocolate decorations where they can reach them (or have a good go at reaching them).  If you want to get your dog chocolate goodies, get chocolate made for dogs, not people.  You could look at Lily's Kitchen or Viovet who have Forthglade Christmas Turkey & Cranberry Natural Soft Bites Dog Treats.

The RHS Flower Show  - Tatton Park  takes place from the 17th - 21st July 2024

It will be an amazing event, with lots to see and do and activities for all the family, from the younger members to older children and adults!

For instance, one of the feature gardens I'd love to see if I lived closer is the RHS Nocturnal Pollinator Experience and there's also the Empowerment Garden, a Terrace Garden, which has been co-designed by users of Petrus (people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness). 

Don't miss the Plant Village and Floral Marquee, where you can pick up lots of lovely top tips from expert growers.  There's the Flower School - find out how to create amazing displays - and the Summer Fruit and Veg Competition.  There's family fun and inspiring talks, too.  There's a list of exhibitors here

There's lots to see and do at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show!

There’s lots more information on the RHS website, as always. 

Why not give a gift membership or treat yourself to a membership of the RHS?  Apart from the benefits you will gain, it will help the RHS grow and nurture gardening for all ages.   Find out more about joining the RHS here

Do you remember those days when you went hunting for Easter eggs?  

Well, how about combining hunting for Easter eggs with a great day out?  

The RHS Gardens (Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor in North Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex, Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire and Bridgewater in Salford) all have giant-sized egg hunts!

Harlow Carr's Easter Egg* hunts kicked off today, 23 March 2024 to 7th April, but the other RHS gardens start on 29th March 2024 and finish on the 14th April.  

After you've found all the eggs, you'll be rewarded with a free chocolatey treat from NOMO, and also you can get into the various activities such as storytelling, family friendly planting and arts and crafts workhops. 

The RHS says explorers of all ages can hunt the garden to find the eggs;  the artwork has been designed by local families and school children.

It's a great time of year to get outside and explore, with spring awakening and blossom coming out, so find out more from the RHS here.

*The RHS says that garden admission applies: free to RHS members and children under 5. Activities are included with garden admission (unless marked *).

English Heritage care for over 400 properties in England, and last year, they welcomed more families to their historic venues than ever before.

Over 550,000 families visited English Heritage sites in 2032 – this is the highest figure since records began.  What’s more, the number was up by 54% over the last 10 years. 

Stonehenge in Wiltshire saw its best year ever in 2023 for families coming to visit. 
It saw family visits go up by 23% year on year. 

Nine historic castles, palaces and abbeys saw their highest ever number of visitors in 2023, and 10 more had their best years in over a decade.

English Heritage is thrilled to see so many families enjoying the sites where history happened. 

Tintagel Castle in Cornwall had its best ever figures for the third year in a row.  Their numbers were up by nearly 20% in 2023, compared to the year before.

Helmsley Castle is in North Yorkshire - visit it to find out how it evolved over 900 years.

Other castles also had a great year:  Helmsley in North Yorkshire, Deal in Kent, Portland in Dorset and Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight all had their best ever years.  Leicestershire’s Kirby Muxloe, Pevensey (Sussex) and Stokesay (Shropshire) all had their best years in over 10 years.

Nine of the properties with their highest ever visitor numbers were connected to Henry VIII.   The castles build in Deal, Portland and Yarmound were all build by Henry VIII as coastal fortresses.   His childhood home was Eltham Palace in London, where visitor numbers were up 9%. 

Gainsborough Hall is one of the biggest and best-preserved medieval manor houses in England.
It's in Lincolnshire, and it hosted Henry VIII several times.
Catherine Parr lived there as a girl. 

Roman sites saw numbers go up as well, such as the Richborough Roman Fort  and Amphitheatre in Kent, which welcomed 145% more visitors than it had before it closed for a two year conservation project.   And visitors flocked to Aldborough Roman Site and Wroxeter Roman City in Shropshire had their best visitor figures since 1999 and 2011 respectfully

And monastic sites did well, too, such as Furness Abbey (Cumbria), Lindisfarne Prior (Northumberland) and St Augustine’s Abbey in Kent had their highest visitor numbers in over 20 years.   Battle Abbey (Sussex), Tynemouth Priory (Tyne and Wear) and Hailes Abbey (Gloucestershire) had strong years, too.

SPECIAL OFFER ON NEW GIFT AND ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS

You can see there’s lots to see and experience, and enjoy and discover – and English Heritage have 15% off new gift and annual memberships until the 31 December 2024.  So don’t wait any longer – give a gift membership or take one out yourself!  Use the code  EHAFF2024  to get your 15% off**.  

**This code EHAFF2024 is valid until 31st December 2024 and for use on new  membership purchases only.  Annual Direct Debit only.