Herefordshire high-end wedding venue to set stage for celebrities

Held at the Three Counties Showground, the Malvern Autumn Show is a three-day food and farming event.

From giant vegetables to RHS floral displays, vintage machinery to food and drink and the chance to meet favorite farm animals, it’s a much-anticipated fixture on the county’s rural calendar.

This year, Crumplebury’s creative director Keeley Evans and executive chef James Mearing, play starring roles at the show, which takes place from Friday, September 23, to Sunday, September 25.

Crumplebury, near Bromyard (Image: Green Cow Kitchens)

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Ms Evans, who designed the contemporary spaces at Crumplebury – a stunning events venue and fine dining restaurant with rooms in Whitbourne – and runs Keeley Evans Design, has been invited to design the Garden Theatre stage.

With her sustainability-inspired room set of vintage farm implements planted with seasonal greenery, vegetables and woodland finds foraged from the Whitbourne Estate, celebrities including TV’s Nicki Chapman, Escape to the Country’s Jules Hudson and Gold medal-winning RHS Chelsea garden designer Adam Frost will gather to discuss everything from bulbs and spring planning to perennial planting schemes.

In the Kitchen Theatre, James will be joined by MasterChef’s John Torode, Suki Pantal, from Jamie Oliver’s Great Cookbook Challenge, River Cottage’s Mark Diacono and Chigs Parmar from the Great British Bake-Off.

Ms Evans, who runs Crumplebury with her husband Joe, said she is thrilled to be designing the Garden Theatre Stage and it is an honor to be bringing Crumplebury to the show.

James Mearing, chef at Crumplebury (Image: Rob Davies)

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“I hope to blur the lines between inside and out – much like the design at Crumplebury.

“I’ve been working with Jon Wheatley, who’s planted up some enormous old farm troughs I found on the estate, and we’ve filled old Herefordshire apple crates with apples, pumpkins, and gourds.

“I love to take farm rubbish and make a feature of it.

“I’ll be creating a snug lounge interior with comfy sofas, lamps and rugs and throws and I’ve pressed and framed wild meadow flowers which I’ll hang alongside a painting by Bill Evans, my father-in-law, on the back wall.”

All three days, Mr Mearing will be cooking seasonal dishes inspired by the organic meat reared on Crumplebury’s home farm.

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The 1,500-acre Whitbourne Estate, where Crumplebury is based, is home to a game shoot and herds of Shorthorn, Saler and Hereford beef cattle, along with Lleyn sheep and Gloucester Old Spot and Tamworth pigs.

A productive kitchen garden supplies salad crops, root vegetables, squash, onions, brassicas, beans and more, along with old English apples – all of which feature on fine dining restaurant Green Cow Kitchens’ tasting menus.

“Every month, our menus are a celebration of the season – what’s at its very best on the home farm and estate,” said Mr Mearing.