For Saturday (2 August), a day out with our former landlady was planned. Sue had suggested Helmsley Walled Garden, so that was where we were headed just after 10:00 am. Less than an hour later, we pulled into the parking lot and walked the short distance to the garden.
We‘d been to Helmsley before, but never to this fantastic place - all run and done by volunteers! Please click here for their website, which also tells the history of the current garden - all really down to one lady who decided to push open an overgrown gate and discovered what was behind the wall.
We had tea/coffee/lemonade at The Vinehouse café before buying our tickets and exploring the garden with its many different sections, all of them beautiful, well kept but ‚wild‘ enough to encourage birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The silhouette of Helmsley Castle provides a dramatic backdrop.
Inside The Vinehouse:
From there, each smaller section of the garden can be reached. We made sure to cover them all, of course! There is also a fenced off part with chickens and ducks, as well as a (very overgrown) pond. A memorial garden is dedicated to the lady who started it all.
This was the White Garden:
We then left the garden and strolled into Helmsley, looking at the shops and going into one or two.
My sister and I then did the washing and went for a brief evening walk before retreating to the cottage for a snack of bread, cheese and salad.
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| One of many beautiful houses in Ripon |
Wow! what a fabulous place to visit. Loved your photos especially the pretty views with the cloud-filled skies above! Looks like it was a perfect day for your visit there.
ReplyDeleteIt was, Ellen! Not too hot but dry and mostly sunny.
DeleteFelt quite envious. We did the gardens several years ago and it has seemed to be even better. The restaurant is also very good, though a trifle hot in summer.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was very warm under all that glass (which is of course the point of a greenhouse), but there were so many wasps outside that we opted for a table indoors.
DeleteI love the elephant fountain! And the mullein and hollyhocks (and many other flowers) are all looking amazing. Our cardoon finally bloomed recently but it's having a down year -- this cardoon looks much healthier.
ReplyDeleteIt was high summer flowers at their best! As you can guess from my photos, I was particularly impressed with the lilies.
DeleteI immediately thought of "The Secret Garden" when you told us of the lady who restored the garden. Thank you, Alison Ticehurst! The little robin on the shovel, just like from the book! I would love to see this Garden. Thanks to all the great work from the volunteers to make it so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou would love it, I know! And Richard could take zillions of photos of butterflies 😊
DeleteThe photo of the robin on the spade is not the best, but I simply had to take it, as it is so iconic for The Secret Garden, isn‘t it!
The spiky yellow flowers must be mullein.We have it here in places and we quite like it, even though it isn't native. It usually just has one single stalk of the yellow flowers. Love the White Garden with just white flowers (always wanted to see one) and the lilies, I adore them!!
ReplyDeleteYou know I love yellow - couldn‘t resist the yellow flowers.
DeleteThe White Garden was very pretty. The three of us sat on the bench there and asked another visitor to take our picture.