Garden Club Weekend

9-10th June

Attendees: Debbie, Fiona, Helen, Tracey, Jo, Kate, Claire, Corinne, Vicky

Saturday:
Rendezvous at Brook Cottage, Alkerton (near Banbury), where we were revived after our early start with hot drinks and home-made biscuits.  The informal garden nestles into a slope and wraps around a chocolate-box stone cottage with a lake.

From there we drove to Coughton Court, Alcester, only to find that the 9th June was one of the 3 days that it closed in 2012 (along with Christmas Day and New Year's day)!  Thanks, NT.  Undaunted, we diverted to Ragley Hall, a classical stone mansion on a hill with sweeping views of an avenue of green and purple leaved trees in the distance and some phallic sculptures close to.  We sheltered from the blustery damp weather under the portico and had an animated lunch followed by group photo on the steps (see above).  The few other visitors melted away quickly.

From Ragley we drove to Whichford Pottery and admired the beautiful hand thrown pots adorned with butterflies, scrolls, flowers and nipples.  We admired the planting in the courtyard garden from the comfort of the cafe area and were the last to leave.

Full steam ahead to Cirencester, where we checked in at The Fleece.  Despite the free public parking right outside, the helpful (teenage) staff directed us to the £3 per night parking behind the hotel, some distance away thanks to the one way system, and very difficult to locate.  When we eventually found it, it was full.  Ha ha ha!

After a few drinks at the bar, we set out for Piazza Fontana.  Hidden down a dingy alleyway, its interior reminded me strongly of the BHS cafe in Bournemouth, circa 1978.  But the food was good.  We pretended it was Debbie's birthday in the hope of being presented with a large and impressively endowed pavlova which the birthday boy on the next table had been given.  Alas, she was only given a flaming Sambuca (and serenaded in Italian), but the rest of us were plied with free Limoncello.

Sunday:
Still full of the previous night's food, we rolled down to breakfast where Debbie, Claire and Fiona's smugness at being first up was soon dispelled as they found that 'the first shall be last'.  After waiting patiently for everyone in the whole hotel to be served, the waitress finally admitted she had lost their order!

Our first excursion was to Moor Wood, Woodmancote.  It began well, with us being invited into the kitchen, complete with Aga and box of 8-day-old black lab puppies.  We all fell in love with the puppies, the house, and Henry, our host.  He explained that he couldn't afford to employ the 4 full-time gardeners his grandfather had there in 1911, and that we should therefore regard the garden as "a landscape, an Impressionist painting".  He boasted of having the national collection of ground elder (along with the national collection of rambling roses, for real).  Henry and his wife Suzie accompanied us around the garden explaining its history and evolution, culminating in the revelation that Suzie makes Henry get into bed first in the colder months to warm it up for her.  Sadly, we were too early for many of the roses, due to the weather this year, but we were all impressed by the cedar tree which is though to be almost 300 years old.

Still reeling from the romantic beauty of Moor Court, we went on to Cerney House, also in Woodmancote.  This was a more cultivated affair, with vistas, glorious geraniums, beautiful walls and an extraordinary pavlova (again!).  This time we all tucked in, with a few sausage rolls for good measure.

After Cerney we drove to Waterperry Gardens, near Oxford.  Some of us went into the gardens, some of us went into the shops.  We converged in the tea-shop before a final scurry to buy plants and other souvenirs, and a wistful farewell in the car park.