THE team at the National Trust’s Trengwainton Garden, near Penzance, are celebrating the reopening of a section of the historic walled kitchen garden, thanks to a generous bequest from a National Trust supporter.

Doreen Newman was the membership secretary of the Penwith National Trust Association for over 25 years and alongside the other members, helped raise money for conservation and development projects through all kinds of events.

Originally from the Midlands, her enthusiasm for the places looked after in west Cornwall by the National Trust never wavered, including in the generous legacy left in her will.

Doreen’s bequest was administered by the Penwith National Trust Association, who settled on the project at Trengwainton.

The project has seen the creation of a fruit garden within Trengwainton’s 200-year-old walled kitchen garden – reputed to be built to the dimensions of Noah’s Ark.

Two large fruit cages, each measuring nine metres by 16 metres, were put up first to protect the plants from pests. They were then planted up with blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and blueberries. Behind the scenes, exotic hybrid berries are being grown on, ready to plant out at a later date.

Head gardener, Cat Saunders, said: “It’s unlikely that we would have been able to do this project without Doreen’s amazing bequest, so we’re incredibly grateful for her generosity and the support of the Penwith National Trust Association in choosing Trengwainton as the recipient of her legacy.

“There was a substantial amount of landscaping needed to level the lower fruit cage as the garden sits on a slope.

“So, we’re having to wait for the worms to do their job by helping the soil to recover before planting up the whole of the area. Hopefully we’ll be able to start harvesting the fruit in a couple of years’ time.’