Alan Titchmarsh: album, books and TV shows
15 March 2019, 17:08 | Updated: 18 March 2019, 10:23
From presenting hit TV show Ground Force to narrating Classic FM’s album The Glorious Garden, here’s everything you need to know about Britain’s favourite gardener
He’s one of Classic FM’s best-loved presenters and a British TV legend – Alan Titchmarsh has had a very fruitful career since starting out as a young gardening apprentice.
Born on 2 May, 1949, Alan grew up in Ilkley, Yorkshire with his mother Bessie, a textile mill worker and Alan Sr., a plumber, before moving to Shipley aged 18 to study horticulture.
After training at Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture and the prestigious Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he decided to become a gardening journalist and hasn’t looked back since.
Which TV shows has Alan Titchmarsh been in?
From working as an expert on Nationwide to hosting the Chelsea Flower Show, Alan has always been passionate about sharing his love of horticulture with the British public.
He was also a presenter on the Antiques Roadshow, religious programme Songs of Praise and nature documentary series, British Isles – A Natural History.
However, he became a household name as part of the presenting team on hit gardening show Ground Force – a garden makeover TV series – alongside Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh.
This Sunday, 17 March at 6pm, you can watch Alan sing in ITV’s spectacular one-off TV show, All Star Musicals, hosted by John Barrowman and taking place at the London Palladium.
Other celebrities performing songs from their favourite musicals include money-saving expert Martin Lewis, Tessa Peake Jones (from Only Fools and Horses), I’m a Celeb winner and comedian Joel Dommett, Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank and Emmerdale actress Amy Walsh.
Alan Titchmarsh’s books and album
As well as being a hit with TV audiences, Alan has also penned several books, including fiction novel Only Dad, a series of gardening guides and his autobiography, When I Was A Nipper.
In 2012, he turned his hand to music and joined Classic FM as a presenter and he now presents every Saturday morning, 7-10am.
Last year, he collaborated on an album with Classic FM’s composer in residence Debbie Wiseman on which all of the pieces were inspired by poems written by Alan.
The beautiful (and often humorous) poems are all about his favourite plants and flowers, and he narrates them alongside music performed by the National Symphony Orchestra.
Listen to Alan Titchmarsh’s music on Spotify.
