Miss Willmott's garden at Warley Place

Good day at Warley Place in Great Warley with my sisters today. The gardens were the work of pioneering feminist gardener Ellen Willmott in the early 1900s. She once employed 100 gardeners and was the first woman to be elected to the Horticultural Society. The ruins and foliage looked glorious in the sunshine with hundreds of foxgloves out, clumps of bamboo, palm trees and exotic plants everywhere. 

An omelette and pint of Thatchers bitter in the nearby Thatchers Arms was followed by a tour of the restored gardens. Many features have been unearthed since my last visit including new rockeries and lots of plant labels on display in the information hut. Also interesting to learn that there's a play about Miss Willmott, Ellen's Love, being performed at Little Warley Cricket field on September 3-5. Well worth a visit to see Alpine ravines, boathouses and the remains of opulent terraces and a once grand conservatory.

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.