INTERVIEW
'The site we took over here was
rundown and needed a fresh
start; gradually over the years it
has grown into a very popular
plant centre'.
Above: Mrs Thompson working at her Garden Centre in Newchurch Inset: David working at Petham, Canterbury in the spring of 1977
village. He also had an area of land,
which was absolute wilderness but
he said we could use it for growing
shrubs, and that is how our shrub
nursery began. We called it Woodlands
after him – Bill Wood! When he died
we discovered he had left the land to
us in his will. He was a lovely chap,
and when he came out of hospital he
came to our home and I nursed him
for 10 days before he died.”
Ursula and David begged hardcore
from passing lorries, and then
shovelled it by hand into place to
make a car park at the nursery. They
later took over another derelict site
at Chislehurst in 1982, with David
again realising the potential. Over the
next few years Welling garden centre
and a large production nursery was
added. This mainland nursery of 2.5
acres of glass produces the autumn and
summer bedding plants for all our five
garden centres.
Thompson’s are now celebrating 20
years of being at their Isle of Wight
Garden Centre. David’s parents moved
to the Island when they retired because
his uncle was Rev. Arthur Thompson
who was the Congregational Minister
at Newport.
Mrs Thompson explained: “He went
to Guyana as a missionary, and then
returned to settle on the Island, so
David’ parents retired to Bembridge.
As my children grew up we came to
Bembridge for summer holidays, so we
knew the Island very well. When the
garden centre here was in the hands
of the receiver, we were in Canterbury
and David said we ought to come and
look at it.
“Again the site we took over here
was rundown and needed a fresh start,
gradually over the years it has grown
into a very popular plant centre. My
husband used to see potential in sites
that were either abandoned or derelict
and make something productive and
beautiful of them. He had tremendous,
vision and worked so hard. He
was absolutely amazing,” said Mrs.
Thompson. “David was the grower
and I was the retailer.”
Four of the Thompson Garden
Centres are on the mainland,
including one near Windsor and one
at Welling, Chislehurst and Petham,
Canterbury. As well as the Garden
Centre at Newchurch, there are also
three nurseries here, where all the
herbs, alpines, perennials and specialist
plants are grown for sale.
Incredibly around 300,000 plants a
year are grown by the company from
cuttings at our propagation nursery
on the Island. Once potted the small
“baby plants” are sent on to the shrub
nursery at Canterbury to grow into
3Litre shrubs and climbing plants,
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