This Monday, 9th February, the Milntown Estate opened their gardens to the public for the 2015 season.

This year The Milntown Estate is leading the way by installing QR Codes throughout its grounds to give visitors a more interactive experience as they enjoy this historic estate. The codes can be used with your Smartphone or tablet in the gardens where free Wi-Fi means you can access photographs, videos and lots of information about the house and grounds.

Milntown is extremely grateful to local company Ramsey Crookall for sponsoring the provision of Wi-Fi in the cafe and grounds and to Red Lyon for installing the mast.

Joanna Crookall, CEO of Stockbrokers and Investment Managers Ramsey Crookall, said:

“Ramsey Crookall is the oldest established stockbroking company on the Isle of Man and we are passionate supporters of the Island’s heritage and attractions.  Milntown is one of the Island’s most historic locations and we believe that the introduction of this new technology will help to promote interest in the estate and enhance the visitor experience for future generations.”

There are nine codes in the grounds and accessing them gives visitors an insight into some of the key areas and attractions of the estate including the vegetable garden, where unusual and colourful vegetables are grown, the mill with its wheel and machinery, and the mill pond where the ducks and their ducklings are always a star attraction.

The Milntown Estate was left in trust by its last owner, Sir Clive Edwards, for the benefit of the Manx people and the trustees hope that this new resource will encourage more visitors, particularly school groups, to come and explore the grounds in a whole new way.

One of the estate's trustees, Charles Guard, said:

“Commercial partners are vital to the long term future of Milntown and our ability to offer an experience that the people of the Isle of Man can enjoy. We are very grateful for the support of these two prestigious companies who have enabled us to offer this exciting technology to our visitors.”

There are two codes at each location - one for adults and one for children. The children’s code includes explorer tasks which takes them on an informative and enjoyable journey round the gardens. School groups are always welcome at Milntown and a group of from Jurby School and Bunscoill Rhumsaa have visited to test out the new technology. Whilst playing in the gardens they also learnt about mini beasts, the vegetables grown on the estate and the history of how Milntown has evolved over the last 600 years.

If you have a Smartphone or tablet but have never used QR codes before - don’t worry, you can pick up a leaflet in the cafe which explains how to get started.

There's also a map showing the locations all of the codes throughout the grounds.

If you have a school group that you would like to bring to Milntown to explore this historic estate please contact the estate office on 812321.