Maidstone Horticultural Society
COACH OUTINGS IN 2004
More superb venues for you to choose
from, with a wide range of interest and a good selection
of facilities. As before, the Society is pleased to
invite their good friends from the Church to join them on
their outings. Seats will be allocated on a
first-come first-served basis for both members and
non-members alike, so book early to avoid
disappointment.
1(a) WALMER CASTLE & GARDENS,
Deal (am)
Sunday 6th June
Fare £8.00
Total Entry (including Higham Park) £9.50 (over 60's),
or £10.00
English Heritage members free (to Walmer
Castle & Gardens).
The official residence of the Lords
Warden of the Cinque Ports, this Tudor castle has been
transformed over the years into an elegant home. HM
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was Lord Warden for 24
years and enjoyed many summer holidays here. Today
visitors can see the principal rooms in which she
entertained. The dining room is laid with her Minton
dining service, which originally belonged to HM Queen
Alexandra. Other famous residents were the Duke of Wellington
(who died here in 1852, but not in his famous Wellington
boots which are on display!); Prime Ministers William
Pitt and Winston Churchill. The audio tour of the
castle rooms is free.
The stunning gardens include the Queen
Mother’s garden, created for her 95th
birthday, the Broadwalk, flanked by herbaceous borders
and the famous yew hedge, the kitchen gardens with
vegetables and fruit, glasshouses, croquet lawn, wild
flower meadow and woodland walk.
There is a tea room for lunches or for
teas and coffee, and a gift shop.
1(b) HIGHAM PARK HOUSE & GARDENS,
Bridge, Canterbury. (pm)
Entry to house and gardens £5.50, but
included with Walmer Castle, above.
Restoration of Higham Park, previously
known as Highland Court, began in 1995 after years of
neglect had robbed the house and gardens of their
identity, charm and sophistication. The house is
once again a family home, abundantly apparent when
touring the splendidly restored staterooms.
Chatting to the lady owners about ambitious restoration
is one of the special delights. A house of major
proportions, complete with its grand four-column
neo-classical façade finished in Portland stone, its
past can be traced back to King Edward II (1320). The
grand entrance hall leads to the main dining room and to
the music room (the largest in England) and these areas
have been the first to be restored to their former glory.
The ladies tell of their newly-acquired DIY skills gained
during this restoration work, and of the daunting task
facing them to complete restoration of a massive total of
87 rooms all told!!
The parkland and gardens cover 25 acres.
The formal gardens will inspire garden lovers, with
specimen trees, herbaceous borders, massed spring colour
and summer flora. Unique attractions include a
spectacular Gardino d’Italiano, southern England’s
largest yew-lined, sunken Italian water garden with its
profusion of water lilies, a secret garden and an
extensive terraced rose garden. All these have been
restored by the lady owners and other large areas have
yet to be re-claimed from many years of total neglect.
This is a venue to support and to re-visit to watch
future progress.
A tea shop is available for light
refreshments.
2 ARUNDEL CASTLE &
GARDENS, Sussex
Sunday 4th July
Fare £8.50
Entry £6.50 (over 60's) or £8.00
Set on a hill in West Sussex, overlooking
the River Arun and the South Downs, Arundel Castle has
the unusual distinction of being both ancient castle and
stately home. A living piece of history, this great
castle dates back to the 11th century and has
been the family home of the Dukes of Norfolk and their
ancestors for over 850 years. Marvel at the
grandeur of the interior rooms with their remarkable
paintings, furniture and armour, go back in time at the
top of the Norman motte and keep with its superb views,
enjoy the colour and workmanship of the restored
Victorian flower and kitchen gardens, and sample the
tranquillity of the unique Fitzalan Chapel with family
memorials stretching back over centuries. Lifts and
wheelchairs are available for internal use.
Visit the Castle gift shop and restaurant
for an excellent end to your tour.
3(a) RHS Garden, HYDE HALL, Essex (am)
Note: SATURDAY 31st July
Fare £9.50 Entry FREE,
and to Beth Chatto (see below) £3.50
Home to the National Collection of
Viburnum, the garden has become well known as a
plantsman’s garden and for its superb collection of
roses, both modern and old-fashioned. Whatever the
season, visitors are inspired by the 20 acres of pure
excellence in gardening, with the highly acclaimed
‘Dry Garden’ now a firm favourite, comprising
over 4000 plants representing 740 different species and
cultivars of drought and exposure-tolerant plants from
around the world, planted in naturalistic settings.
The ‘Queen Mother Garden’ was opened in 2003.
This area of mixed shrubs, trees and perennials will
combine existing garden areas with new plantings and hard
tracks. Hyde Hall is a garden that continues to
grow and develop, with new and exciting features and
plantings carried out each year as the garden moves
outward into the surrounding farmland. Current
development is centred on the Malus Field, where the Millennium
Avenue, 300m long and 20m wide, has been planted with
specimen trees for both short-term effect and for 100
years hence. A new 4-acre perennial wildflower meadow was
sown in 2001.
A licensed restaurant serves hot and cold
lunches, afternoon teas and coffee.
3 (b) BETH CHATTO
GARDENS, Colchester, Essex (pm)
Admission (see Hyde Hall, above) –
adults £3.50 RHS members (individuals) free.
This 7-acre garden is a superb example of
modern planting with a wide range of plants chosen for
their foliage as much as for their flowers. For
contrast, part of the planting is on dry, gravely soil
where Mediterranean plants flourish, and part are the
water and bog gardens on clay. For the first part,
there are cistus, broom, salvias, euphorbias,
potentillas, verbascums, planted on the warm slopes.
A short walk leads down to a water garden comprising a
series of ponds in a valley. Here are gunneras, astilbes,
hostas, phormiums, water irises and the ostrich fern.
They have a background of specimen trees and shrubs, but
the emphasis throughout is on the herbaceous plants.
A copse has been developed as a woodland garden.
A nursery is adjacent to the garden, and
there is a tea room.
4
BLENHEIM PALACE, Woodstock, Oxford.
Sunday 12th September
Fare £9.00
Entry £8.50 (over 60's), or £9.50
Owned by the Duke of Marlborough, the
Palace was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and was built
for the 1st Duke in recognition of his victory
over the French at the battle of Blenheim in 1704. It is
one of the finest examples of English Baroque. The
collection comprises tapestries, paintings, sculpture and
fine furniture set in magnificent gilded state rooms. The
Long Library is of outstanding beauty, 183 feet in
length, containing some 10,000 volumes. The
Churchill Exhibition includes manuscripts, paintings,
books, photographs and letters.
Blenheim is the grandest of grand
gardens, of some 100 acres. Vanbrugh, Bridgeman,
Hawksmoor and Wise worked here. The Grand Bridge
spanning the Lake, the Triumphal Arch and the Column of
Victory all date from the 1720’s. The huge
park (2000 acres) was landscaped by Capability Brown.
Achille Duchene designed the formal gardens in the
1920’s. The water terraces centre on a Bernini
fountain and took 5 years to build. The Italian
Garden, overlooked by the Orangery, focuses on the
neo-classical mermaid fountain and is decked with orange
trees in summer. There is a pretty Victorian rose
garden, a new maze and a lavender garden. The
arboretum has some interesting trees, including four
upright incense cedars. In 1908 Winston Churchill
proposed to his future wife here.
There are shops, a restaurant and two
self-service cafes.
Coach Pick-up Points: For
each of the outings the coach leaves Armstrong Road, Maidstone,
at 9.00 a.m. and the OldPalace at 9.15 a.m.
Book early by ringing our Treasurer,
Mike Pursey, 01622 814324 (The Coach House, 76 Bow
Road, Wateringbury, Maidstone, ME18 5DS), leaving a
message on his answerphone if no reply. Payment in
full with order, preferably by cheque, please, payable to
Maidstone Horticultural Society. At the time
of booking, please also indicate your chosen pick-up
point, i.e. Armstrong Road or Archbishops Palace, so that
we don't go without you! We look forward to the
pleasure of your company.
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