Tuesday 20 March 2012

A host of golden daffs

Spent a fine Saturday with the kids and my sister at Miss Willmott's Garden for tthe Essex Wildlife Trust's open day at Warley Place on Saturday. The garden has been resurrected by dedicated Monday volunteers and there's even a couple of novels been written about the romantic setting by one member. Hundreds of daffodils are out and the old ruined garden is looking great with some new rockeries and the ha-ha unearthed. Miss Willmott once employed a hundred gardeners in the early 1900s and was the first woman to be on the board of the British Horticultural Society. Tough not sure if she would have approved of the Harry Potter messages my girls left in the spotting book in the birdhide by the carp ponds. All of this plus a fine omelette and chips at the Thatchers Arms next door, where there's a signed pair of A P McCoy's jodphurs on the wall and a decent pint of Flying Scotsman to be had.

2 comments:

  1. The bulbs are wonderful at Warley Place...it must have been an incredible garden in its heyday!! There are probably more daffodils there now than Ellen Wilmott ever dreamed of.
    Have you seen Essex Gardens Trust Website? www.essexgardenstrust.org.uk/ and the blog accessed from home page...http://gardenstrustessex.wordpress.com/.

    Like your celebration of all that's good in Essex

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  2. Thanks Lance, I'll check it out. An undiscovered treasure of the county... she must have employed the whole village. I was taught at my primary school by the daughter of her old butler...

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