Category: Uncategorized
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Chilham Castle
Of course the Writer in the Garden has no favourite gardens, but if she did Chilham Castle may come pretty high up the list. Even going through the gates felt like I might be entering a secret garden … The Castle is privately owned by Stuart and Tessa Wheeler, and I was lucky enough to…
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Brogdale, home of the National Fruit Collection
I visited Brogdale, near Faversham in October, but I’m definitely going back in the Spring. Imagine seeing these rows in blossom … Although the apples are like flowers in themselves… As well as apples, there are pears, cherries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, and nuts in Brogdale, but it was the apples I was particularly interested in. Over…
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Down House, Downe
The twisting roads to Charles Darwin’s family house are a lesson in survival in themselves. But once there, the house and gardens feel like a sanctuary. As indeed, they must have done to Darwin, his wife, Emma, and their children. And although on one hand, this has been recreated very much as the family home…
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Canterbury Cathedral Gardens
When we think of cathedrals, we often picture the buildings and not the gardens around them. But Canterbury Cathedral, although smack bang in the middle of the city, is actually an oasis of calm and green – even if it is, as it was on the spring day I visited, absolutely freezing! As well as…
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Knole, Sevenoaks
Of course, if we were being pedantic it shouldn’t be Sevenoaks any more. Apparently it’s been Oneoaks ever since the 1987 Hurricane. Knole though is still Knole, and I’m sure always will be… … despite the threat from flying golf balls.. I wasn’t sure, to be honest, what I would write about Knole, but after…
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You are invited…
To an evening of readings of new and favourite garden writing… … on Wednesday 17th October, 8pm at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, as part of the Canterbury Festival. Together with fellow writers, Will Sutton and SJ Butler, I will be reading poems from my gardening inspired work-in-progress, illustrated by photographs, music and readings of favourite…
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Quex Gardens
Oh, Quex Gardens is a strange and hidden gem. To be honest, it wasn’t even on my original list of gardens to visit and yet it ended up being the one that most haunted my dreams. Normally I read up about every garden before I visit, but this time I had no idea what to…
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Margate Shell Grotto
Not a traditional garden in the lawn and flower style, but I’ve long been a fan of garden grottos (a passion inspired by a childhood gift of this book by Barbara Jones) so I have no problem in including Margate’s mysterious shell grotto in this tour – and if I need another excuse, just look…
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The Grove, Tunbridge Wells
I should probably declare an interest. This park is my local – just a few hundred yards from my house, and one of the reasons I decided to move to Tunbridge Wells. It even has a pub that backs on to it, so you can bring drinks out and sit on the grass in the…
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Seeds
Well, admittedly this isn’t a garden visit, but one thing I realised when walking round the gardens in Kent – the Garden, after all, of England – is how little actually comes from England. The ideas, the plants, even the gardeners. So here’s a poem about plant collectors that I spliced up with history (and…
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Dane John Gardens, Canterbury
I haven’t just looked at garden-gardens on this tour and one of my intentions has always been to explore how public gardens can become private parts of the people who visit them. An extra space, if you like, so the parks in Canterbury were always going to be high on my list, particularly one with…