Percy Thrower

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Percy Thrower MBE (30 January 1913 - 18 March 1988) was a British gardener. He presented various gardening programmes, including the BBC's Gardeners' World from 1969 until 1976. He was also the gardener on the children's programme Blue Peter from 1974 until 1987, the longest-serving Blue Peter gardener. He is affectionately referred to as 'Percy Chucker' by Alan Titchmarsh, who credits him with inspiring him to take up gardening. Percy Thrower was determined from an early age to be a head gardener like his father, and worked under him at Horwood House, near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire for the first four years after leaving school. He then became a journeyman gardener at age 18 at the Royal Gardens at Windsor Castle. He spent a valuable five years there under the head gardener, C.H. Cook, who was subsequently to become his father-in-law. He moved to being gardener in public parks in Leeds and Derby, before moving to Shrewsbury, as was Parks Superintendant. He began his broadcasting career in a Midland regional programme called "Beyond the Back Door" and for many years was the face and voice of British gardening on television and radio. Thrower has been described as "Britain's first celebrity gardener".^[1]