News Items (2007/2008) In addition to the 2007/2008 news coverage listed on this page, review our:     June 22, 2008
Sir Dennis will be greatly missed by all who knew him. On behalf of the Directors of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc., we send our sincere condolences to Lady Weatherstone and the family.
April 28, 2008  COURT CIRCULAR Clarence House 28th April, 2008 The Prince of Wales, President, this morning held a Meeting for The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health. The Prince of Wales, Patron, St Martin-in-the-Fields Development Trust, and The Duchess of Cornwall this afternoon attended a Service of Thanksgiving for the Renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2, and were received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (Sir David Brewer). His Royal Highness, Patron, this evening gave a Reception to mark the Fifth Anniversary of the founding of the British Memorial Garden, New York. April 28, 2008  ROYAL COUPLE HONOUR MEMORIAL GARDEN  The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have held a reception to honour a garden commemorating the British victims of the September 11 terror attacks in New York. Sixty-seven Britons died during the attacks on the World Trade Centre in Manhattan, 2001. To commemorate the Britons that died, a memorial garden has been designed and opened near to the ground zero site in Lower Manhattan. Charles and Camilla held a reception to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of The British Memorial Garden at Clarence House on Monday evening. The garden has been designed with "British touches" and bears the name of every UK county on its stone floor. Although not fully completed until next year, the garden is open to the public and has already proved very popular, designers said. Camilla Hellman who conceived the idea of a garden for the British victims said: "We are honoured and delighted that His Royal Highness is hosting this gathering for the British memorial Garden. "I wanted the garden to be something that gave something back to the city of New York." The garden is also intended to celebrate the historic ties between the US and the UK, and help revitalise Lower Manhattan. All the elements of the garden have come from the UK, including stone from Scotland and Wales and benches of English stone manufactured in Northern Ireland. April 28, 2008  THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES HOST A RECEPTION AT CLARENCE HOUSE IN HONOUR OF THE BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN TRUST On April 28, 2008, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall held a reception to honour the British Memorial Garden Trust, of which HRH The Prince of Wales is Patron. Visit The Prince of Wales' web site for full details. April 15, 2008  BLOOMING IN NEW YORK Welsh daffodils, the first flowers to bloom this spring in the British Memorial Garden in New York, have provided the inspiration for Owen Sheers’ latest poem. Sheers, who was brought up in Abergavenny and is currently in New York as a Cullman fellow at the New York Public Library, joined Welsh actor Hywel John, who is appearing in a Broadway production of Macbeth, in the garden in Hanover Square in the city’s financial district to see the beautiful Welsh flowers in bloom, where Owen read the specially-written, Invest these Flowers. Owen Sheers, who was asked by the Welsh Assembly Government office in New York to write a poem to commemorate this event, said: “I hoped to be able to touch upon the idea of simultaneous absence and presence which is so evident at the World Trade center site. In listing the many associations the flowers can never represent all at once the poem still suggests these qualities through its statements of denial. This seemed suitable as when you visit the site both the towers and their victims are, in some ways, more present than ever though their absence”. More than 3,000 Welsh daffodil bulbs were presented to the British Memorial Garden by Wales’ First Minister, Rhodri Morgan when he visited the garden on St David’s Day last year and the bulbs were planted by opera singer Bryn Terfel in a special ceremony last November. 1,000 Tenby daffodils were donated by the National Botanic Garden of Wales and a further 2,000 Cardiff daffodils and 50 Katherine Jenkins daffodils were given by Cardiff City Council. The British Memorial Garden is a gift to the City of New York from the British Memorial Garden Trust to celebrate the unity and friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom and in honour of the 67 British victims of the World Trade Centre attacks. The Garden features a number of Welsh elements - all the Welsh counties are depicted on the paving stones, the daffodil will feature on the garden’s railings and a bollard featuring the dragon of the St David’s Society of the State of New York as well as a Welsh slate rill. The daffodil will also be represented in the Memorial fence finials as the symbol for Wales. April 11, 2008  DAFFS AND POETRY RECALL 9/11 DISASTER Welsh daffodils, the first flowers to bloom this spring in the British Memorial Garden in New York, have provided inspiration for Welsh poet Owen Sheers. Sheers, who was brought up in Abergavenny and is in New York as a Cullman fellow at the New York Public Library, joined Welsh actor Hywel John, who is appearing in a Broadway production of Macbeth, in the garden in Hanover Square in the city’s financial district to see the Welsh flowers in bloom, where he read his specially-written new work. The British Memorial Garden is a gift to the City of New York from the British Memorial Garden Trust to celebrate the unity and friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom and in honour of the 67 British victims of the World Trade Centre attacks. The poem is called Invest these Flowers Invest these flowers with no more in their name than their talent for returning from the ashen soil again. Do not mark with grief or prayer their early bowing heads, nor celebration or remembrance in what their crowns and trumpets said. There are no riches in their gold nor youth in their green shoots. There is no peace within their offering nor brotherhood in their groups. Their turning in the wind is not their turning of a cheek. Their leaning in the rain is not their leaning down to weep. Invest these flowers with no more in their name than their talent for returning, however long the winter, from the ashen soil again. Owen Sheers, who was asked by the Welsh Assembly Government office in New York to write a poem to commemorate this event, said: I hoped to be able to touch upon the idea of simultaneous absence and presence which is so evident at the World Trade center site. In listing the many associations the flowers can never represent all at once the poem still suggests these qualities through its statements of denial. This seemed suitable as when you visit the site both the towers and their victims are, in some ways, more present than ever though their absence. More than 3,000 Welsh daffodil bulbs were presented to the British Memorial Garden by Wales’ First Minister, Rhodri Morgan when he visited the garden on St David’s Day last year and the bulbs were planted by opera singer Bryn Terfel in a special ceremony last November. 1000 Tenby daffodils were donated by the National Botanic Garden of Wales and a further 2000 Cardiff daffodils and 50 Katherine Jenkins daffodils were given by Cardiff City Council. April 8, 2008  DOWTOWN FLING Bagpipes and Tartans  Though the sky was overcast on April 4, the breeze off the East River was warm as around a hundred people gathered in Hanover Square, one of Lower Manhattan's oldest. They were there to remember the British citizens lost at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 and to celebrate Scottish contributions to America over the centuries. The British Memorial Garden, a gift from the Anglo-American community to the City of New York in honor of the British victims of 9/11, was a fitting locale for the observance. "We are so proud of the Scottish aspects of the park," said Camilla G. Hellman, MBE, president of the British Garden Memorial Trust. The paving stones, she noted, came from Caithness and Morayshire in Scotland. This was the fourth annual pipe and drums concert of traditional and contemporary Scottish music in New York City - all part of Scotland Week celebrations. Bands such as MacTalla Mor, the Pentland Caledonia Pipes and Drums, and the aptly named Red Hot Chilli Pipers joined in the celebration of Scottish heritage. April 6 is recognized nationally as Tartan Day (after the pattern of fabric known on this side of the pond as plaid) and is a day of recognition for Americans of Scottish descent. February 25, 2008  WELSH GUIDE TO THE BIG APPLE By David James, South Wales Echo A TOUR of New York has been created for Welsh history buffs. To celebrate the fifth “Wales Week” in the US, a dedicated guide to the Big Apple has been put together for Welsh visitors. The guide lists sights from Dylan Thomas’ favourite watering hole, the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village, to the Welsh daffodils growing in the British Memorial Garden. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones will celebrate this year’s St David’s Day in New York. He said: “Wales has always enjoyed strong links with the United States and the guide provides an insight into the many links between Wales and New York.” E-mail travelwales @visitbritain.org. February 8, 2008  From the 'Voices of September 11th' e-newsletter of February 8, 2008: Dear Family and Friends, On Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of attending the British Memorial Garden Trust's fifth annual Gala. As many of you know, the Trust, led by visionary Camilla Hellman, is creating a lovely garden in New York City’s Hanover Square Park to commemorate the 67 British lives lost on September 11, 2001. Charlie Wolf, who lost his Welsh-born wife, Katherine, spoke very eloquently at the event about the important contribution that Camilla Hellman and her committee have made in honoring their loved ones. I had the opportunity to visit the garden Wednesday afternoon and was inspired by the progress that has been made since the dedication of the garden’s Center Stone on November 1, 2005 by Charles, the Prince of Wales. Hanover Square has been transformed into a garden lined with curved benches and shrubs. This spring daffodils will fill the garden. As the National September 11 Memorial & Museum continues to plan the visual and auditory displays for the museum, I am equally impressed by their commitment to convey the story of 9/11 for future generations, while taking into careful consideration the emotional needs of the 9/11 families and age appropriate materials for children. In closing, this week's Feature highlights the British Memorial Garden. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the garden at Hanover Square, I encourage you to do so. I'm sure you’ll find it a very peaceful place of reflection that thoughtfully pays tribute to the 67 British victims who perished on 9/11. Warm regards, Mary and the VOICES staff 9/11 LIVING MEMORIAL: THE BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN A Peaceful Oasis in Manhattan  This week's Living Memorial Feature focuses on the British Memorial Garden in New York, which honors the 67 British victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The idea for the garden at Hanover Square Park in the heart of Lower Manhattan was conceived by Camilla G. Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc. Camilla was in New York on 9/11 and experienced the loss of a personal friend. She felt it was important for families visiting Ground Zero to also have a chance to visit a peaceful place in Lower Manhattan that evokes a sense of enclosure. Camilla immediately thought of a British garden. "I wanted something that had a permanent legacy," she said. "I wanted to do something that would mean something to everybody." The garden is also dedicated to celebrating the strong historic ties of friendship and unity between the United States and the United Kingdom, Hellman said. A gift to the people and city of New York from the Anglo-American community and friends, the garden was funded by donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. Ground was broken on the $6.75 million project in 2005 and the garden opened to the public in the summer of 2007. The British Memorial Garden was designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman, leading British landscape architects who are best known for their work for Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. All of the garden's elements come from the United Kingdom, including stone from Scotland and Wales and benches of English stone manufactured in Northern Ireland. The British Memorial Garden Trust presents free concerts and other events in the garden to promote British heritage, including an Annual 9/11 Memorial Concert. Read the Living Memorial Feature here. November 28, 2007 CAMILLA HELLMAN RECEIVES HER MBE FROM HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE  British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc. president Camilla G. Hellman receives her Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace on November 28, 2007. Ms. Hellman received her MBE for services to British/American relations. 
November 14, 2007  BRYN'S BLOOMING BULBS ARE PLANTED By Ben Glaze, South Wales Echo BETTER known for his booming baritone voice than his green fingers, opera star Bryn Terfel planted daffodil bulbs to ensure a blooming good St David’s Day. Terfel got down and dirty at the British Memorial Garden in Lower Manhattan, New York, where he is starring in the Marriage of Figaro at the Met. Among the various types of daffodil in the garden, which remembers the British victims of the September 11 terror attacks, are 2,000 Cardiff daffodils and 50 Katherine Jenkins daffodils given by Cardiff council. The Welsh national emblem should be the first flowers to bloom in the garden. On St David’s Day this year, First Minister Rhodri Morgan presented 1,000 Tenby daffodils donated by the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Mr Morgan said: “These very special beautiful daffodils will ensure there is a piece of Wales in the British Memorial Garden in New York.” November 12, 2007 INAUGURATION OF THE PLANTING OF 3000 TENBY DAFFODILS IN THE BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN  Commissioner William T. Castro, NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation, Camilla G. Hellman, MBE, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc., Catrin Brace of the Welsh Assembly and Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel inaugurate the planting of 3000 Tenby daffodils in the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square. The daffodil bulbs, which will make a fine showing in the spring, were the gift of the National Botanical Garden of Wales. October, 2007  SECTION OF GARDEN MEMORIAL FENCE ON DISPLAY AT IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON  Camilla G. Hellman, MBE, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc. visits the Imperial War Museum in London where a section of the Garden's Memorial Fence railing is currently on display. With her is Sir Robert Crawford, CBE, Director-General of the museum. 
September 12, 2007  LEST WE FORGET The top item on the Downing Street website for yesterday, September 11, was a tribute from the Prime Minister to the "inspirational" Anita Roddick who died on Monday. While we have no wish to detract from the memory of Dame Anita, perhaps Gordon Brown should, yesterday of all days, have been directing his tribute elsewhere - to the memory of the 67 British citizens killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, on that gin-clear morning, six years ago. Mr Brown's omission was, regrettably, no aberration. Yesterday's anniversary of the worst single terrorist atrocity ever to be visited on this country in terms of casualty numbers simply passed without comment. There were no official ceremonies, no services, no minute's silence. It went unremarked, as if it had never happened. The families and friends of the British victims had to travel to the British Memorial Garden in New York's Hanover Square if they wished to pay their respects. The fact that the British death toll formed only a small fraction of the 2,973 victims in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania appears to have erased the event from our consciousness. The contrast with the United States could hardly be starker. In New York there was a ceremony of remembrance at which the names of all the victims were read out by the members of the emergency services who had tried to save them. In Washington, President Bush led a moment of silence while at the Pentagon, the other target that day, the Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, conducted a memorial service. Most people remember where they were and what they were doing when the planes hit the Twin Towers. The attack has transformed the world in which we live, as no other single event in recent memory. If we do not commemorate such atrocities, how soon before we start to forget them? September 11, 2007  CAMILLA HELLMAN GUEST OF SEPTEMBER CONCERT AT THE RINGING OF THE NYSE CLOSING BELL  Camilla Hellman, MBE, president and CEO of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc. was invited to be a guest of the September Concerts as they rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on September 11, 2007. Other guests shown include Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Monsignor Robert Ritchie of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and William C. Rudin, chairman of the Association for a Better New York. The Directors of the British Memorial Garden Trust are proud to be part of the September Concert series, with which the garden's September 11 concerts in New York and London were affiliated. September 11, 2007  CEREMONY REMEMBERS 9/11 BRITONS  Around 3,000 people died in the 11 September 2001 attacks Around 100 people gathered in New York to pay tribute to the 67 Britons killed in the 9/11 attacks six years ago. Huddled under umbrellas, relatives and friends remembered the victims during a concert in the British Memorial Garden in Manhattan's Hanover Square. Beset by problems with the weather and public address system, speakers were forced to abandon their prepared words and shout speeches to the audience. Speakers included the British Consul General Sir Alan Collins. The ceremony to remember the British victims was one of many held to mark the sixth anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four planes were hijacked and flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. 'Hugest tribute' During the concert at the British Memorial Garden, half-a-mile from Ground Zero, Sir Alan battled to be heard above the wind, rain and sirens from emergency vehicles, which he said were a poignant reminder of the attacks. He said the attacks were "a terrible act of terrorism" but added that the garden and ceremony were the "hugest tribute to those who lost their lives needlessly". Sir Alan praised those who were involved in creating the $6.5m (£3.4m) garden, which is still under construction and expected to open next year. He led a minute's silence as a torn flag discovered in the debris of the World Trade Center site was held aloft. Three soloists - violinist Laura McGhee, of Dundee, Scotland, Welsh singer Rebecca Jenkins and soprano Deborah Shull - gave two performances each during the ceremony, which was cut short because of the increasingly heavy downpours. Camilla Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, said the concert was about looking ahead to the future, as well as paying tribute to those who were killed. Earlier, British and American flags headed a procession of British police officers, the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums Band, and the West Point Pipes and Drums of the Cadet Corp into the garden. September 11, 2007  BRITISH 9/11 VICTIMS REMEMBERED  Around 100 people braved the weather to pay tribute to the 67 Britons killed in the attacks on New York six years ago. Relatives and friends of the victims gathered together under umbrellas for the weather-hit community concert and ceremony in Manhattan's Hanover Square, around half a mile from the World Trade Centre site. When the public address system failed to work, speakers including the British Consul General Sir Alan Collins, put aside their prepared scripts and shouted off-the-cuff to the audience of dignitaries, victims' families and curious onlookers. As he battled to be heard above the wind, rain and sirens from nearby emergency vehicles, Sir Alan praised those who were involved in creating the British Memorial Garden to remember those who died. He said he was "very proud" of the garden which showed the close ties between Britain and America. Sir Alan said the attacks were "a terrible act of terrorism" but added that the garden and the concert were the "hugest tribute to those who lost their lives needlessly" in the attacks. He led a minute's silence as a torn flag discovered in the debris at Ground Zero was held aloft. Sir Alan said the emergency sirens which could be heard during the silence were a poignant reminder of the attacks. As the sky darkened and the downpour became heavier, three soloists - violinist Laura McGhee, of Dundee, Scotland, Welsh singer Rebecca Jenkins and soprano Deborah Shull - were protected by a single red and white umbrella featuring the Welsh dragon as they gave two performances each during the shortened ceremony. Camilla Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, said the concert was about looking ahead to the future, as well as paying tribute to those who were killed. The £6.75 million garden, which is still under construction, is expected to open next year. Earlier, the British and American flags headed a procession of British police officers, the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums Band and the West Point Pipes and Drums of the Cadet Corp into the garden. September 11, 2007  UK 9/11 VICTIMS TO BE REMEMBERED The 67 British victims of the September 11 terror attacks are being remembered in a community concert and ceremony held in New York. British police officers flew in to pay their respects at the service in the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square, around half-a-mile from the World Trade Centre site. In London, a free concert of Transatlantic Friendship and Unity is being held in front of the Roosevelt Monument in Grosvenor Square, featuring Zoe Mace, the Metropolitan Police male voice choir and Tanya Walker. Camilla Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, which organised the services, said they were about moving forward, as well as remembering the victims. "We find strength and purpose in looking ahead, while learning from the past," she said. Scottish violinist Laura McGhee, Welsh singer Rebecca Jenkins and soprano Deborah Shull, are performing alongside the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums Band and the West Point Pipes & Drums of the Cadet Corps. "The British Memorial Garden is being built not only to commemorate the British victims of 9/11," Ms Hellman said, "it is also dedicated to celebrating the strong historic ties of friendship and unity between the United States and the United Kingdom. "A gift to the city and people of New York from the Anglo-American community and friends, this British garden at Hanover Square is being funded by donations from individuals, corporations and foundations." Sir Alan Collins, the British Consul General is speaking at the service along with William Castro, commissioner of the New York City department of parks and recreation. The concert ends with the musicians and audience singing I Believe in Love, by Mac Davis. Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2007, All Rights Reserved. September 11, 2007 RELATIVES REMEMBER 9/11 VICTIMS  Victims of the September 11 terror attacks have been remembered Relatives of those who died in the September 11 terror attacks will remember their loved ones later as they descend a ramp into Ground Zero in New York. Family members will walk in single file to the lowest level of the site where they will be able to lay flowers and pay their respects. The procession was a compromise move following safety fears over the use of the site in Lower Manhattan. Of the 2,973 people killed six years ago when terrorists hijacked aircraft and caused horrific destruction by flying them into New York's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, 67 were British. The ceremony will pause four times for silence, twice to mark the time when each plane hit the Twin Towers, and twice at the time when each tower fell. Those who responded to the terrorist attacks and helped with the recovery efforts will read the names of the victims. Later today, relatives of the British victims will attend a separate commemoration at the British Memorial Garden in New York's Hanover Square, about half a mile from the World Trade Centre site. An honour guard of British police officers will fly in for the free community concert and ceremony to commemorate the sixth anniversary. On September 11, 2001, a total of 266 passengers and crew were on board the four jets, two of which hit the World Trade Centre towers while one crashed near the Pentagon in Washington DC and the other came down near Pittsburgh. In a measure of the carnage on the ground, five hours after the attacks there were no estimates of the overall death toll. September 10, 2007  CONCERT TRIBUTE TO 9/11 BRITS  Violinist ... Brit Laura THE 67 British victims of the 9/11 attacks are to be remembered in a concert in New York. UK cops will fly over to pay their respects at the British Memorial Garden, half a mile from the World Trade Center site. Brits Laura McGhee, on violin, and classical singers Rebecca Jenkins and Deborah Shull will perform with US musicians at tomorrow’s concert. Spokeswoman Camilla Hellman said the event — on the sixth anniversary of the 2001 terror atrocity — will be about “looking ahead” as well as remembering the victims. She added the garden — paid for by donations — was “dedicated to celebrating the strong ties of friendship between the US and the UK”. September 8, 2007  ZOE SINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 11 By Victoria Owen  Oxfordshire singing star Zoë Mace will be performing at a London concert to mark the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Young singer Zoë Mace is to star in a London concert marking the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The 12-year-old, from Freeland, near Witney, was asked to take part by organisers the British Memorial Garden Trust and the September 11 UK Families Support Group. She will be joined by the Metropolitan Police Male Voice Choir and singer Tanya Walker during the performance in Grosvenor Square. A second concert will be held simultaneously in Hanover Square, New York, where a British Memorial Garden is being created to mark the 67 British victims of the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. The Prince of Wales is the patron of the project, covering a three-quarter acre site. Zoë, who was only six when two jets were flown into the twin towers, will sing Puccini's Mio Babbino Caro, and Voi Che Sapete from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro during next week's concert. She said: "I feel really privileged that they asked me to do this concert because it's an amazing event. "I don't remember seeing the twin towers on television but remember seeing mum and dad's faces and everyone being really devastated. "It was just such a shock to everyone and was a really terrible event." Zoe shot to fame across Oxfordshire three years ago after releasing her first album 'Little Ray of Light', which was dedicated to her little sister Jodie and raised money for the Oxford Children's Hospital. Her second album, Songs for my Sister, was released to boost funds for the Down's Syndrome Association following the death of four-year-old Jodie, who had Down's Syndrome and died after major heart surgery in 2005. Her third album, called 'Once Upon a Time', is being recorded at the moment, and is due to go on sale next month. The London concert is free and starts at 6pm on Tuesday. August 30, 2007  BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN TRUST TO PRESENT SEPTEMBER 11TH CEREMONY IN HANOVER SQUARE 
 Free community concert featuring British music part of September Concert Series Published By : Press and Public Affairs, New York The British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc. will present a free community concert and ceremony on September 11, 2007 to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The concert will feature British music and will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan. The concert and ceremony will last an hour. Performing this year at the annual event are Scottish violinist Laura McGhee and the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums Band, among others. There will also be an honor guard of British Police Officers, who will have flown in especially for the occasion. Among the speakers at the ceremony will be HM British Consul-General Sir Alan Collins, KCVO, CMG and Camilla G. Hellman, MBE, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust. The Trust is in the process of building a garden in Hanover Square that will celebrate Anglo-American unity and commemorate the British lives lost on September 11, 2001. “This year’s concert will be about moving forward, as well as remembering the victims,” said Ms. Hellman. “We find strength and purpose in looking ahead, while learning from the past.” The British Memorial Garden Trust’s Memorial Concert is part of the September Concert Series and New York-London Sister Cities Program. It will end with the musicians and audience singing “I Believe in Love” by Mac Davis. An international initiative, September Concerts, are being held all over the world on September 11th, including a British Memorial Garden Trust UK, Ltd. concert in London’s Grosvenor Square. “The British Memorial Garden is being built not only to commemorate the British victims of 9/11,” said Camilla G. Hellman. “It is also dedicated to celebrating the strong historic ties of friendship and unity between the United States and the United Kingdom. A gift to the City and people of New York from the Anglo-American community and friends, this British garden at Hanover Square is being funded by donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.” June 11, 2007 CAMILLA G. HELLMAN AND MARTIN J. SULLIVAN NAMED IN QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST  May 14, 2007  SPRING PLANTINGS AT BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN  The rebuilt gardens commemorate Britons victims of September 11, 2001 The Financial District is getting greener as spring plantings arrive at the British Memorial Garden. Crews are now planting large yew trees and topiaries at the garden, located at William and Pearl Streets, marking the final touches. Within a few weeks, the garden's fence will be removed and the park will reopen to the public. The official dedication ceremony will take place later in 2007. May 12, 2007 WHERE THE ROSES GROW Julian and Isabel Bannerman's unique garden design style, mixing 'ancient' architecture and romantic, fragrant blooms, has led to commissions around the world... including the British Memorial Garden in New York for victims of 9/11. By Stephen Lacey Garden designers by appointment to HRH the Prince of Wales the Bannermans may be, but anyone expecting tweedy formality at Hanham Court is way off the mark. In spite of being right at the eastern edge of the Bristol suburbs, the huge barn and other stone outbuildings are still in their unconverted state, the yards littered with architectural salvage. Pass through the entrance gate tower, and you are in a laidback world of art and history, children and dogs, scruffy clothes and meals consumed alfresco with eclectic chat and lots of cigarettes. 'Garden designers who don't get their hands dirty amaze me,' Julian says, just in from the deepest reaches of the 25-acre site. When it comes to planting and building - unusually, the Bannermans undertake architecture as well as garden design - he and his wife Isabel are a hands-on team. 'Look at my hands, they're just like a mole's.' 
Plot in the city: the site of the British Memorial Garden in New York for the victims of 9/11 They bought Hanham Court - part medieval, part Tudor, with a 14th-century church - in 1994. 'We had restored a baroque house in Chippenham, and were set to buy one in Malmesbury which looked as if Richard III had just left. But we lost it, and with Isabel pregnant and with nowhere to go, a friend said we should come and see this. The house was a wreck, but riddled with history, and the landscape was a joy, with limestone downland full of wildflowers, meeting a ridge of acid sandstone extending from Wales.' The formal part of the garden, on a level bastion between the folds of hillside, he describes as 'like an aircraft carrier, with the lawn as the landing strip', and is constantly being changed and improved. Obelisks of yew now punctuate and organise the flanking borders, and between them is a panoply of shrub roses in infinite variety. 'We've always had the rose bug,' Isabel says, emerging from preparing pizzas for their sons. 'And I suppose one of our planting principles is to put a lot of the same thing in the same place.' In some areas, delphiniums are massed as spiky accompaniments to the roses; in others, it is peonies partnered with Regale lilies. 'We saw that partnership at Vaux-le-Vicomte [near Paris], and have used it in a few projects recently.' Bannerman gardens are unashamedly romantic, with oozing scents part of the repertoire. 'Scent is the main operator of life,' Julian says, as he shows me their placement of fragrant shrubs such as wintersweet at path junctions, and evergreen daphnes at the foot of climbing roses to hide their bare stems. Isabel introduces me to Philadelphus mexicanus, which I had never seen before. The starry white flowers with a crimson blotch deliver a potent fruit cocktail fragrance. 'It is a lot hardier than the books say,' she adds. But the real signature of a Bannerman design is the architectural flights of fancy. Here, a giant treehouse looms behind a gravel terrace, simply scattered with euphorbia, lilac-flowered Iris pallida and box balls. A chunky oak gateway, in the style of Inigo Jones, stands silhouetted against the valley. And the swimming-pool is framed in a courtyard of lime-mortar walls, built as a medieval ruin, with 'crumbling' surfaces invaded by plants and studded with Gothic windows and other decorative stone fragments. They created a similar vision of a ruined abbey for The Daily Telegraph at the 1994 Chelsea Flower Show. Later that afternoon they took me to see the hilltop garden they are making for John Robinson, the owner of Jigsaw, and his wife Belle, where the scale of 'ancient' wall building is on such an epic scale that a sort of magical Oxford college is being conjured up, complete with cloisters. Isabel read history at Edinburgh University, and it was here she met Julian who, after art school at the Ruskin in Oxford, had gravitated north to work in an art gallery. 'It was owned by Ricky Demarco, one of the founders of the Fringe,' Julian says. 'One of my jobs was to organise exhibitions in Europe connecting art with exploration and landscape. At the same time, I was getting to know artists like Ian Hamilton Finlay, who were making connections between modern and ancient art. It was a revelation to me that the two could work together; there is no division between new and old.' With a shared passion for architecture, they settled in the West Country in the early 1980s. Julian was already interested in gardens, thanks to his mother, but Isabel says she was 'bludgeoned into horticulture by Julian', and packed off to Lackham Agricultural College near Lacock. The idea was to design gardens and garden buildings. 'Slowly we started getting work,' Julian says. 'And the leap came in 1990, when Jacob Rothschild asked us to design a water garden and grotto beside the Dairy at Waddesdon Manor. We ended up building the Dairy too - a mix of modern and high Victorian - and it won Civic Trust and Europa Nostra awards.' After that, Sir Paul Getty commissioned them to build a tunnel around his house at Wormsley in Buckinghamshire. 'It's a sort of Beckfordian structure [William Beckford's 18th-century Gothic fantasy at Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, is one of the Bannermans' inspirations] and absolutely huge - you could drive a bus through it.' Their other projects have included gardens in Mustique and at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, for the Marquess of Cholmondeley. 
'Rambling Rector' foams over the Gothic window in the courtyard wall, while along the path, another white rose, 'Aberic Barbier', is grown among lilies and peoniesThe invitation to compete for the job of designing the British Memorial Garden in New York came in autumn 2002. 'It is Camilla Hellman, an Englishwoman who lives in New York, whose brainchild this is,' Julian says. 'She decided there should be a memorial for the 67 British victims of the September 11 attack, and she ran with the idea, and fought for it. I mean, New York does not just hand out its green spaces.' I had the chance to meet this remarkable woman on the site of the embryo garden last autumn. 'I lost a friend in the tragedy,' she told me. 'And like everyone else was very shocked by the reality of the dust, the sights and the smells. I realised how vulnerable we all are and how we need places where we feel safe. So, I approached the St George's Society in New York, and the British Consul General, who were very supportive of the idea of a garden. The Parks Department invited me to walk the city to see if I could find somewhere suitable. And when I came to Hanover Square, it seemed to have the right feeling.' Just off Wall Street, this small patch of public space does indeed seem peculiarly homely. Not only does it have old, low-rise buildings around it, and a quirky triangular shape disconnected from the American grid pattern, but it is also at the heart of the City's original British settlement. It was in sore need of revitalising, having declined into a drab '1970s cement park with benches'. With the support of the bereaved families, a campaign to raise the $6.75 million for the garden began, with the design awarded to the Bannermans. 'Their garden was traditional but fun and unpredictable. And Julian and Isabel are very good at enthusing the parks people in New York.' The planting is now in progress and the park should be open to the public by the end of May. 'We want people to enjoy the park while we are finishing the project, which involves completing the memorial fence line and installing the 14 bollards which have those inspirational shields that represent leading transatlantic institutions such as the City of London,' Hellman says.' It is to be a garden of embracing, sinuous lines. 'We wanted to make something sensuous, but simple and permanent, so that ruled out a giant herbaceous border,' Julian says. 'Then we thought, what could be more British than yew topiaries? You see them in churchyards, villages, grand gardens and small gardens, and they mix solemnity and cheerfulness, especially when they grow out of shape, which I love.' While the yews are growing, their final shapes will be indicated by the metal armatures encasing them, which Julian would like to be 'a luscious scarlet, like yew berries'. The yews are being linked by box hedges, water rill and seating. 'We were told we had to have 220ft of running seating and lots of paving, because like all New York squares it is used mainly for sitting and eating lunch. We wondered how we could make this interesting, and seeing that the shape of the square was a bit like a Middle Ages map of Britain, we came up with the idea of asking the sculptor Simon Verity to carve the names of all the British counties and dependencies on a ribbon of stone right around the garden. We thought that would have a lot of resonances for visitors, who will have connections with many of those names.' Julian asked his client, the Prince of Wales, to become patron of the garden, and the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall dedicated the garden's centre stone in November 2005. It was through their mutual friend, the writer Candida Lycett Green, that he and Isabel were first introduced to the prince, and over the years their fantastical architectural flourishes at Highgrove have included a gilded heron alighting on a Victorian column, a wall eccentrically packed with masonry bric-a-brac, and, most celebrated of all, the Stumpery garden, comprising weird and wonderful temples, carved seats and soaring mounds of contorted tree roots. 'We haven't made our own stumpery yet,' Julian says as he leads me down into the ideal spot, a wooded dell below their garden bastion, already flaunting stands of giant white Himalayan lilies and a small forest of tree ferns. Here they have been adding to the sheets of naturalised bulbs, as well as restoring a pair of medieval ponds. I wondered how they divided the work and the decision-making in their projects. 'Oh, there is no real division,' Isabel says. 'We argue a lot and annoy each other, but we are equally interested and involved in everything. Really, we have been together so long now that we think the same.' Hanham Court, Hanham Priors, Bristol, is open for the National Gardens Scheme on Saturday, June 16, 2-6pm (bannermandesign.com) May 6, 2007  BOTANICAL GARDEN TO HONOR SUPPORTERS STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Garden will be honoring the British Memorial Garden, located at Hanover Square in Manhattan, which commemorates the British victims of the World Trade Center attacks. It is the British counterpart to the the Garden of Healing at the Staten Island Botanical Garden on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Livingston. The Garden of Healing includes two areas on the Garden grounds, the 9/11 World Trade Center Tribute Building and the Healing Garden. To be honored as Friends of the Garden are Randall Manor resident Rona Cusick, director of volunteers at the Staten Island Botanical Garden; Chief Jack Calderone of the 22nd Battalion and Lt. (Ret.) Michael Barone of Westerleigh. Both Fire Department officers were instrumental in the development of the Tribute Center at the Garden. Being honored as Volunteer of the Year are Barbara Gibney of Sunnyside, David Nial of Maplewood, N.J., and Mary Lou Nelles of Grant City who have all given countless hours to the Garden in various capacities. Student volunteers being honored are Crystal Smith of Curtis High School, David Machado and Abrom Sheppard, both of Port Richmond High School. Taking inspiration from "My Fair Lady" and the Ascot races in England, this year's theme is "My Fair Garden." A selection of hats from the collection of Edith Susskind will be showcased as people enter the luncheon event. Renowned for her festive hat collection, Mrs. Susskind has recently opened a gift shop in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. She and Dr. Lucia Bove, president of the Richmond County Psychological Association, are honorary co-chairwomen of the event. Serving as co-chairwomen are Constance Lane of Emerson Hill and Ann Napolitano of Stapleton. April 17, 2007  A GARDEN IN NEW YORK  March, 2007 A DAFFODILS TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS OF 9/11 ATTACKS By Philip Nifield, South Wales Echo First Minister Rhodri Morgan will pay a St David's Day tribute to the victims of 9/11 with 1,000 daffodils. Mr Morgan will present the Tenby daffodils to the British Memorial Garden in New York. A fundraising campaign was launched in 2003 to build and maintain the memorial garden and construction is now nearing completion. The children's choir from New York's Town School will sing in Welsh for the special presentation ceremony and Mr Morgan is being joined by Camilla Hellman, President of the British Memorial Garden, representatives of the city of New York and Charles Wolf whose Welsh wife Catherine died in the 2001 World Trade Centre attacks. The Cardiff West AM is spending three days in the Big Apple as part of the annual Wales Week in New York programme and will make a keynote address at the United Nations. There Mr Morgan will also announce new Champions for Wales - prominent Welsh-born people who have agreed to help to promote Wales around the world. His US visit also includes attending a dinner, hosted by Swansea-born Sir Emyr Jones Parry, the UK Ambassador to the United Nations, to promote Welsh trade and inward investment. Mr Morgan's visit comes as New York takes on a distinctly Welsh flavour with 10 days of activities to showcase the best of culture, music and food. A Welsh culinary team takes over the delegates' dining room at the UN to prepare special lunch menus while the Cardiff Film Festival is premiering two films from Wales, Daddy's Girl and Calon Gaeth/Small Country. Carlo Rizzo of the Welsh National Opera also conducts the famous Metropolitan Opera in their production of La Traviata. February 28, 2007 BUSH PAYS TRIBUTE TO WELSH US President George Bush said the people of Wales and America stood together in a St David’s Day message today. It was delivered by US ambassador Robert Holmes Tuttle to the Assembly in Cardiff Bay ahead of Wales’s patron saint’s day tomorrow. First Minister Rhodri Morgan will fly to New York as part of a three-day initiative to promote Wales in the US tomorrow. He has a series of speaking engagements and will present 1,000 daffodils to the British Memorial Garden in memory of those who died in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. At dusk tomorrow, the Empire State Building will be lit up in the green, red and white of the Welsh flag. Downing Street this week said there were no plans to change bank holidays after 11,034 people signed a petition on its website calling for a national holiday in Wales on March 1. President Bush said: “On this St David’s Day, I send our warmest greetings to the people of Wales from the United States of America. “Today, the people of the United States and Wales stand together promoting liberty and equality around the world, but never forgetting the admonition of St David himself to ’do the little things’.” He said Welsh immigrants and their descendants had made a great contribution to American politics and “added to the richness of America’s cultural fabric“. “Many signers of the Declaration of Independence had Welsh ancestry, as did Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and nine other US Presidents,” he said. Mr Tuttle said: “To me the lyrical call of freedom from your ancient land to the United States, where freedom rings, remains undiminished by distance and unbroken by time, because I believe that those who have shared a dream of freedom, also share the future.” He told reporters there would be “small points of difference” between British and American people when asked if foreign policy had put the special relationship under strain. But he added he had found “great respect” between the two countries. February 15, 2007  AWARD FOR GARDEN IN THE BIG APPLE From 'British Airways News' 
February 13, 2007 
February 12, 2007  A BRITISH GARDEN GROWS By Amanda Gordon, in "Out & About" The first plantings at the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square, honoring the 67 British citizens who died on September 11, 2001, will take place in the spring, with an opening set for later in the year. "This will be a significant addition to the greening of Lower Manhattan," the city's commissioner of parks and recreation, Adrian Benepe, said at the British Memorial Garden Trust's annual gala Thursday, singling out the efforts of the trust's president, Camilla Hellman. The chairman of British Airways, Martin Broughton, and the chairman and chief executive of Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld Jr., were honored.   Photographs are by the New York Sun photographer. See the original article here, and a collection of 45 NY Sun photographs of the event - including these shown - here. Further notes by Amanda Gordon in "Out & About": Mr. Benepe had the honour of presenting a toast to Queen Elizabeth II In one of his first public appearances, the new British Consul General in New York, Sir Alan Collins, gave the toast to President Bush and talked of the "warmest, most enduring and special relationship" between the UK and America. The chairman of British Airways, Martin Broughton, used his acceptance speech to talk about New York and London as twinned cities, the leaders in the financial world. And his airline facilitates the relationship, with 12 flights a day into New York, more than any other airline, he claimed. Once Terminal 5 in London opens, there will be even more flights, he said. "No memorial can ever do justice, but this garden assures that we will remember," the chairman and chief executive of Lehman Brothers, Richard S. Fuld Jr., said in his acceptance speech as an honoree. The table decor at Cipriani 42nd Street aimed to give people the feeling that they were in an English garden at twilight. It worked well. February 8, 2007  BRITS BEAT US TO 9/11 MEMORIAL By Alec Applebaum  A rendering of the completed — and planted — British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square. Photographs by FirstView Believe it or not, you'll actually be able to visit a 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan this summer. But, naturally, it's not ours, of course (don't be silly). The British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square is nearly finished; it's just awaiting a planting ceremony — complete with 65 singing Welsh children — scheduled for March 1 (a mere 22 months after construction began). Tonight, the "Anglo-American community" will gather at Cipriani 42nd Street to toast the near-completion. So how'd it get done so quickly? Garden president Camilla Hellman diplomatically praises the U.S. Embassy in London and the city's Parks Department, which helped find the sloping site. We credit stiff upper lips. "We never tried to list all the victims' names," says Hellman. Instead, a fence line and finials represent the 67 British 9/11 victims, stone from the Isles reflects heritage, and the garden explores the entirety of Atlantic-alliance history. “I thought about families going to ground zero as a harrowing experience, and wanted them to come to Hanover Square and understand New York a bit better," says Hellman. One way to understand New York: Visitors to the Garden will be able to look uphill at that recently opened beacon of freedom towering over it, William Beaver House. February, 2007  THE BRITISH MEMORIAL GARDEN CELEBRATES THEIR FOURTH ANNUAL GALA By Yomi Karade  Co-Chairs Martin Sullivan and Isabel Carden On Thursday 8 February, the British Memorial Garden Trust, will hold its fourth annual Twilight in the Garden, a Gala celebration at Cipriani on 42nd Street in New York. The event, which is to be attended by leading members of the Anglo-American community starts at 6:30 p.m. This year's Gala honourees are Martin Broughton, Chairman of British Airways, and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers, who are to be recognised for their contributions to international relations and transatlantic unity, as well as their support of the garden project. Proceeds from this major fundraising event will go towards building and maintaining the new garden at Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan. Tickets for the event can be obtained by calling 212 682-7945. For additional information, please visit www.britishmemorialgarden.org. | ||||
Telephone: (212) 682-7945 Fax: (212) 682-7597 | ||