Mary Berry | My Gardening Life
Thu 23 Apr 2026 | 11:30am - 12:30pm
What a delight to welcome Dame Mary Berry. Loved by generations for her fool-proof, delicious recipes, Mary also has a second great passion: gardening. In her new book My Gardening Life, she reflects on a lifelong relationship with plants, gardens and the changing seasons, from her first childhood plot in Bath to the creation of her much-loved Oxfordshire garden.
This unique and warmly personal memoir is filled with anecdotes, practical wisdom and hard-won horticultural lessons, alongside reflections on wellbeing, resilience and the restorative power of being outdoors. Come and share Mary’s gardening triumphs and challenges, her favourite plants and growing tips, and discover how time spent in the garden has offered solace, joy and inspiration throughout an extraordinary life.
Chaired by journalist and broadcaster Martha Kearney.
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Please note: there are options below to purchase Mary’s book alongside your ticket. Please check carefully when selecting your ticket.
Venue: Cambridge Union, TTP Stage
Duration: 1 hour
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Please note: A £2 transaction fee will be added to your basket at the checkout. The £2 fee stays the same regardless of the number of tickets or events you are booking.
Author Biography
Bestselling cookery writer and TV star cook, Dame Mary Berry has written over 80 cookbooks, including the classic Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook (DK, 2017) which has sold over 1.5 million copies internationally. Her career began when she developed a passion for domestic science at school and she went on to train at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. Later becoming a magazine cookery editor before publishing her first cookery book in 1966.
In 2009, Mary was awarded the highly coveted Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 she was made a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. In 2020, Mary received the honour of Damehood in the Queen’s birthday honours. She has been an Ambassador for the Royal Horticultural Society since 2014 and is President Emeritus of the National Garden Scheme.
Chair Biography
Martha Kearney is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, best known for her six-year tenure presenting BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme. In 2024 Martha stepped down from Today to take up two new regular roles at Radio 4, fronting her own interview series This Natural Life, and joining the presenting team on Open Country. In a career that spans almost 4 decades, Martha has presented several of the UKs longest-running political and current-affairs programmes. As well Today this includes BBC2’s Newsnight, nearly a decade at BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and eleven years hosting R4’s The World at One. Beyond the newsroom, Martha has fronted documentaries about history, literature, nature, and art. Having kept her own bees, Martha’s passion for apiary has led to her fronting BBC Four’s Who Killed the Honey Bee and The Wonder of Bees with Martha Kearney and BBC Two’s Hive Alive. Martha has won the Sony Radio Bronze Award and has been nominated for a BAFTA for her coverage of the Northern Ireland peace process. In 2025 Martha was awarded a CBE for her outstanding services to journalism and broadcasting.
