CARTMEL’S Lord Cavendish has entwined the themes of family and gardening in a new book tracing the history of Holker Hall.

The peer’s account - A Time to Plant: Life and Gardening at Holker - will be launched during the 20th Holker Garden Festival from June 8-10.

On each day at 11.30am in the Holker Festival Garden Theatre, Lord Cavendish will read extracts from his new book and describe the challenges of writing it.

This will be followed by a half an hour book signing session.

Described by the publishers Frances Lincoln as ‘an entertaining and thought provoking read’, A Time to Plant is the story of a family, of a life, of a community, of continuity with the past and adaption to the modern age.

A spokesman for the publisher said: “Hugh Cavendish writes about the history of Holker which dates back to the 16th Century and has never been bought or sold but has passed by inheritance through the family line. He describes his own life, as a child at Holker and later as the owner of Holker, finding a way of managing huge resources and responsibilities and also immense debt. And, of course, he writes about the garden.”

For more information visit the website www.holker.co.uk. Advance copies available from the Holker Gift Shop.