In May 2025 the Quinta sponsored and hosted the  Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation conference on 'Self-Determination' held at the University of Madeira. It was an opportune occasion to inaugurate Silvio Cró's Monument of Simulanbuco, Statue of Self-Determination. The ceremony was presided by Dr. Paula Margarido, Regional Secretary for Inclusion, Work and Youth.

The old 'dumb waiter' was a lovely piece of machinery but no longer useful. We adapted it as a decorative feature. The doors initially opened into what is now one of the bedrooms, so we turned it around to face the corridor: a job for António, the skilful carpenter of Saul e Filhos.

 

In April 2023 the videoclip 'Luz do Túnel' by the Madeiran band NAPA was filmed in Palmeira 
 

 Harry Hinton was a keen hunter. Several stags heads hung in the round library and over the years they had become rather moth-eaten. Eventually we managed to have three restored by taxidermist João Fernandes and they now hang back where they belonged

 The 1937 Wellstood oven had not been used for decades and was in a sorry state. It was dismantled and shipped to the mainland where it was restored by Versatil Partilha. The shipped back and is shown here being reassembled by Ferreira of Saul e Filhos, the builders that carried out the restoration of the main house. It is now in working order.

 

When the Harvey steam engine was reassembled in Palmeira, commemorating its 100th birthday, we held an exhibition of painting of Filipa Vênancio's paintings of the Hinton Sugar Factory. Ten years later Martinho Mendes, the curator of the Sacred Art Museum in Funchal restaged the exhibition at the museum drawing on the link between the sugar industry and the prosperity which allowed the island to invest in Flemish art. The exhibition was complemented by documentation, machinery drawings and photographs, and some of the work was hung among the permanent display of religious paintings, creating interesting contrasts. Both exhibitions were reviewed by João Miguel Fernandes Jorge and included in his books 'Longe do Pintor da Linha Rubra' and 'Esthas'. Some of the paintings have been since acquired by Quinta Palmeira and hang in the restaurant.

The 1979 sculpture 'The Messanger' by Cabindan artist Tchifumba Tchiesséssé. Brought over by Joana Saco, it is now displayed in the hotel. The message: "Mbila i Lukuku Mbebo i Buala"

 Sofia planting a Baobab dontated to the garden, April 2022

 In April 2021 Paulo Camacho and his crew had the arduous task of clearing the cliff face up the main drive. Bougainvillea, Wigandia and Wigandia spread their roots between the rocks and end up prizing them apart and should be removed periodically. 

 Two holm oaks growing next to the cliff wall next to the house over the years destroyed the retaining walls. They had to be cut down and uprooted and the retaining wall rebuilt.

I had long wanted to restore the 1937 Wellstood oven in the old kitchen, but couldn't find anything online. Finally I had the bright idea of contacting the UK association for Industrial Archaeology, and the following day I got an answer from its Portuguese counterpart recommending the company Versatil Partilha, which has an incredible portfolio of industrial restorations. The 1908 Harvey Steam engine which was removed from the Hinton Sugar Factory prior to its demolition and installed in the garden at Palmeira in 2008, was rather rusty. When they set eyes on it, it didn't take long for them to convince met that that should be restored first. And so it was.

 

 The old Pittosporum on the top lawn, beautiful but old and weak was blown over by a windstorm in early 2021. RIP

 The Builo family from Cabinda plant a Pittosporum Tobira in the garden, August 2020

This rather large painting 240x150 cms, used to hang rather scarily at the top of the staircase. It had become rather dark and dreary.  It was restored by Maria Lomelino and now hangs in the entrance hall. It is unsigned but it is likely to be painted by Gaspard Duguet 1615-1675, a rather prolific French artist who lived in Italy and used to produce such landscapes in a matter of days.

June 2021 the video Feeder by Amess, composed and performed by Babi Campos was partially filmed at Palmeira. The interior scenes give an idea of what the side of the house which is now the hotel area was like before its was restored. The video can be watched on Youtube.
 

https://youtu.be/geB4EP8tyhM?si=U4qi72FOZaEg8-Uq

 

In May 2023 a workshop in Sintropic agriculture, a method developed by Ernst Götsch, was held at Quinta Palmeira by Jaime Otero. A small strip of land was cleared and intensely planted with a great variety of saplings and seeds of trees, creepers, vegetables and so forth, to imitate the rich diversity of a natural tropical forest. The ground is covered with a thick layer of organic material. The plants are then left to their own device, without a watering system and  are then harvested periodically until the larger trees establish themselves. 

November 2023.  Madeiran artist Silvio Cró working on the Monument of Simulanbuco - Statue of Self-Determination. Three monuments exist in Cabinda commemorating the three treaties signed between the Cabindan nobility and the Portuguese Crown which turned the territory into a Portuguese protectorate, while guaranteeing the kingdom's political rights and territorial integrity. No monument existed in Portugal to remind people of its commitments, which were ignored when Portugal decolonised, handing over the territory to Angola, resulting in a protracted resistance war and decades of human rights abuses. The sculpture was made out of two copper plates from the Hinton sugar factory. Silvio's design evokes the idea of self-determination through the children's game where two people cross arms to make a seat for a third to sit, representing the idea that to sit in power requires the support and consenus of the ruled. 

In December 2017, Columbus's Window was restored by Nova Conservação Restauro, the company which restored the Funchal Cathedral Masonry. When the window was initially installed, it was supported by an iron structure which had corroded and expanded with time and had to be removed. Part of the window was dismantled and reerected without the iron structure. The masonry also cleaned and treated to remove plants and lichens.

The music video of the track "Um Lugar Para Nós" by Madeiran singer Marcio Amaro was partially filmed in Palmeira in 2018. Watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/d5AUowjFzWM?si=d9gAGSiLueo36rQP