In The Spotlight - Travis Smith
We searched high and low for our next Q&A victim. Emails went unanswered, heads ducked from view when they saw us coming, and rumour has it some folk resorted to wearing disguises. Although, these may have simply been very bold fashion statements.
However, forget all that because eventually we found our man. Turns out he was hiding in the woods. Meet Travis Smith, Head Gardener overseeing the natural beauty that surrounds us and discover how the seeds that bloomed into his passion for horticulture and gardens were planted at an early age, how a certain Star Wars anti-hero brought a tear to his eye, and how his creative touch goes way beyond gardening’s boundaries.
Without further ado and all that…
Neil: Hi Travis, and a huge thank you for taking part in this interrogat…light-hearted Q&A! Let’s start by getting a little overview of your time with Tempest and how gardening became the day job.
Travis: Hi Neil, you are very welcome! It's always good to be interrogated on occasion, otherwise, I would have my head stuck in a hedge all day!
Well, my career at Tempest has only just begun. I started as the Head Gardener here around three months ago. I have taken over from Ian Foster who had been here for nearly 50 years. The 25 acres of gardens and woodland have been well maintained up to this point. Now I have taken over I look to bring the gardens forward and improve them for the family and our staff to enjoy during their leisure time whilst on site.
Neil: That sounds like big shoes to fill but also a challenge to relish! How did you get the bug for gardening?
Travis: Indeed. big shoes to fill but I am ready for the challenge. I have been in the business for 10 years as of 2024. This passion and the thing that makes me who I am started well before this as a pupil after a World War 2 Day at school and a teacher (to whom I owe this love) called Nicky Shone decided to continue the Dig for Victory part of the day by creating a gardening club. To which I joined and eventually after leaving the school I returned to assist, and then teach for a brief time. Whilst a part of the club we won the local Poole in Bloom Competition in Dorset, where I am originally from.
Whilst teaching I was also working weekends at my first garden whilst at college. Upon graduating from Kingston Maurward College, I started working here full-time. Compton Acres is a 10-acre area of intriguing gardens with many wild and wonderful plants. Six years on and I began looking for my next challenge. In my final year here, I became a Bournemouth in Bloom committee member as Schools Co-ordinator where I set up a school's competition of growing sweet peas and designing a school garden, this also helped set up links between the community and the business.
Time was called at Compton Acres as Cornwall awaited with open arms for me to study for a degree in Horticulture and Plant Sciences at the Eden Project. However, this awful and sometimes frustrating thing called Coronavirus came along and somewhat spoilt this with constant lockdowns and restrictions. That is enough about that. The degree itself still took place, just under different circumstances and overall, it was amazing. I have made friends for life and while I was there, I held a Lockdown open mic show and even hosted the Eden Project Podcast for a short while.
In the final year of my degree, I like many students began running out of money so decided to get a job again I took on the role of Senior Plantsperson at the Tregothnan estate for a year where I honed my skills as a horticulturalist and further improved my knowledge.
Saying all this my career and future at Tempest has now begun.
Neil: That’s quite the road you’ve travelled to get here! Have you made any fond memories during these first few months?
Travis: In terms of favourite memories at Tempest thus far, they again have yet to happen as I have only just started. But my fondest memory thus far in life was when I went to America whilst with my 6th form. The trip was based around NASA. We got to visit three of the space stations, two in Florida and one in Houston. We were also given VIP access to historic mission control and were escorted everywhere by the NASA SWAT Team!
Neil: I can only imagine how great the temptation to press one of the buttons in NASA control must have been! They just have a huge red button marked ‘launch’, right?
And a trip to the USA! I mean, my school went to Quarry Bank Cotton Mill, which believe me, for kids hooked on a strict diet of Pac-Man and Indiana Jones wasn’t all that exciting. Anyway, it sounds amazing, how did it come about?
Travis: It is one of my greatest memories due to the process that came before it. To win the opportunity to go there was a six-month process with only three pupils being able to go. There were interviews by Governors, presentations in front of the whole school. All this really built my confidence for public speaking and as a person in general.
Neil: It’s very cool that it has had a positive effect you’ve carried into adult life. Let’s quickly get super serious for a moment…When the day comes that you call time on your Tempest journey, which song is playing as the end credits roll?
Travis: This is a tricky question, but I would have to go with a song that I will always pick regardless of where I am leaving. Queen: The Show Must Go On
Neil: Great choice! When not busy working, what do you like to do with your days?
Travis: Gosh this sounds like a first date question or one from Tinder (other dating apps are available).
Neil: Well. Never say never.
Travis: I am a keen gardener so gardening at home, visiting as many gardens as possible throughout the year. I love to read and write, comedy mostly. And I have a great eye for painting having studied it when I was in school.
Neil: It sounds like you’re fully in tune with your creative side which is always to be commended! Let’s move on to a little quickfire nonsense. What was the last film to make you cry?
Travis: Well, annoyingly I cry at most storylines in films. Han Solo Dying in the latest Star Wars saga, any storyline from Sex Education on Netflix, and weirdly enough David Bowie in Labyrinth (Gone too soon and one of my Icons). But the latest to do so was probably when I re-watched POSE! These storylines always hit hard when you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Neil: More top-notch choices! How about the song that always gets you moving?
Travis: There are too many, I am always dancing. I live for music! One that many may not know is Paula Abdul: Vibeology
Neil: And true to your word, I have never heard that song. I’m sure it’s a good choice though, as it hails from the golden age known as the ‘90s!
Next up is the book you can never forget.
Travis: I absolutely love books and am a bit of a worm once I get into them properly. I have read so many but the pure stand out by one of the greatest comedians Dawn French: Oh, Dear Silvia!
Neil: It’s never easy asking a bookworm to choose a single book. On another topic, what would be your perfect meal and location to eat?
Travis: I am also a bit of a foodie, so this question is easily answered! It would be The Square at Porthleven and have 3 courses. Starter: Arancini, Main: Pork Belly, Dessert: Crème Brulee. This restaurant holds a very special place in my heart as it is where I met my partner for the first time four years ago
Neil: Great venue, great food and great memories! Right, I’ve kept you long enough, let’s wrap up with an old classic. If you could choose four people to join you for a dinner party, who would they be?
Travis: Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, come as one person as they are so iconic as a pairing. I grew up obsessed with Dawn French and then discovered Absolutely Fabulous and it was a continuous cycle of finding things they wrote together and watching their TV Shows.
Victoria Wood, she was amazing in Dinnerladies and she was a breakout female comic paving the way for today's top stars, male and female alike, so I would want to hear all about her career and life.
Billy Porter is an incredible Broadway artiste and well-known actor and activist for LGBTQ+ rights across the world, so I thought he could give the party a sing-song and bring out many political points when the talk becomes a putting the world to rights type of conversation.
Finally, I would have to pick Graham Norton as he just gets on with everyone and will already have the inside scoop on everyone at the party, so he could get out all the juicy gossip.
And with that choice of technically five people at his dinner party (but we’ll let him off as he makes a good point) Travis is away again to ensure we get to enjoy spectacular natural beauty whenever the screens become too much. Thank you, Sir!