I was looking for a place called the Charterhouse. Getting in, even finding it made me feel like a Minpin trying to crack a walnut. Lurking behind a big brick wall in the Clerkenwall Road – the one door in was firmly locked. How was I to arrive? Wasted time pacing up and down in…
Tag: Walled gardens
Umbellifered out and spoilt at Gravetye Manor
The day before yesterday we were umbellifered out and spoilt to bits all in one sitting, so to speak. A birthday celebration took 3 of us to Gravetye Manor in north Sussex, near East Grinstead. It is not a bit of the map that you might pick on and say “I must go there” hard…
The Best Walled Garden in the World is in Suffolk
This year walled garden curiosity has quietly gripped me. It started on the Isle of Mull in a squall, taking refuge behind the mossy stone of a 4 acre walled garden. The kind climate of the Gulf Stream had allowed the rarest of shrubs and trees to flourish. Back in Suffolk, a walk through sandy…
Provoked to think by the Bad Tempered Gardener
I have been reading Anne Wareham’s recent blog post “It must Go” and it ties in with thinking about garden criticism – rolling the idea round like a pebble in the mouth. Beginning with two questions: What is a garden for? What is a good garden? I’ve had undistracted leisure to do so on a…
9 or 10 good gardener’s eye reasons to visit Audley End
My last garden visit was to Houghton Hall, Norfolk. It turned into a wordy splurge. Now we are in August and life is too hot and short. Instead I give you 9 or 10 good gardener’s eye reasons to visit Audley End near Saffron Walden. The house will still be there another time…
A review of the gardens at Houghton Hall, Norfolk
Five years ago this garden near the Wash won the Christies and Historic Houses Garden of the Year’s prize. I’d never heard of the award but it sounded promising and so, on a day off, to Houghton. What to do with your walled Garden when it is beyond strolling distance? The dilemma increases with the…