On 13th August on a very hot day, even hotter than the day before, it was a little ‘testing’ for some of us.  However, we were again fortunate to get a first-rate guide called Clive, who was both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We started in the south-facing Walled Garden, which dates from the 17th century, a…

The fine weather promised a good day on 12th August at the Botanic Garden and Ian, our enthusiastic guide, certainly delivered one.  The tour started at the Prince Bishop’s Terrace outside the café, where a large selection of potted plants is changed with the seasons, ensuring there is always a good display.  We left the…

There are such a lot of lovely gardens to visit within easy reach of Bishop Auckland that it is hard to choose which to go to but here are just a few that were visited by some of our members this summer. West Tanfield Gardens The village of West Tanfield is on the banks of…

In April we had a talk by Phil Burton who is a National Trust volunteer speaker with a speciality in local properties. His talk was an introduction to one of North Yorkshire’s oldest and most influential families.  This was the Pennyman family who lived at Ormesby Hall for more than 400 years.  The talk was…

The Garden group enjoyed a coach trip to Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire. The weather was glorious with lots of sunshine and a slight breeze. We reached the property from the car/coach park via a hump-backed bridge over the river Rye. The Hall itself is interesting with echoes of the family home that it once…

Several members of the Garden Group went to the annual late Bank Holiday opening of Thornton Hall near Darlington. We are so lucky to have these lovely gardens on our doorstep. They are only open for a few days every year between the late May holiday and July and they are always glorious. The pop-up…

Jean H organised our first outing of the year to Kiplin Hall on Monday, 3rd March.  Most of the group opted for the guided tour of the gardens to see the snowdrops and aconites.  The remainder accessed the house and gardens at their own speed. Dee and John were the tour guides and our members…

Sue McG has organised the talks for us so far this winter and we had one in September, another in December, and one in February. Garden Development On Wednesday, September 18th Susan Harris of Weardale Flower Club came to talk to us about how she developed her garden.  Susan had 100+ photos in the cloud…

On Tuesday, 29th October 10 of us walked the Pumpkin Forest trail at Auckland Palace. The trail took around 45 minutes to complete and we viewed some 600 pumpkins plus other lights on the way round.  Each group of pumpkins represented a different theme such as the Wizard of Oz or Harry Potter.  There were…

Following on from an earlier talk given to the Friends and Flowers group by Heidi from Pinks Flower Farm in Cotherstone, 15 of the group enjoyed a couple of hours visiting the “farm”. Surprisingly it was more like a large allotment, although there are polytunnels near Bowes for more delicate blooms. The area was divided…