June saw my BFF from Melbourne, Kerri, over in the UK with her sister Sharon. They hired a cottage in Broadway, the Cotswolds for three weeks, and we joined them for part of that time. In between ME resting, and Kevin being in The Hague part of the time for work, we visited a few places local to Broadway. But the best bit was of course spending time with Kerri. This is a collection of ‘postcards’ from our holiday.
Broadway
This is a classic Cotswold village, i.e. ye olde Englande Cotswold stone buildings, and all a bit posh. Very lovely though. Unless noted, it’s just random photos of pretty buildings.
Broadway Hotel area
A wonderful old Pear Tree growing up the Lygon Arms Hotel.
Kerri, Sharon and Kevin outside our cottage
Looking towards the village from our bedroom
Hidcote Manor Garden
This is a kind of famous, in gardening circles at least, garden, and it has some connections to the Arts and Crafts movement. It was a very wet day when we visited, and unfortunately the ME took a bad turn and energy levels crashed after about an hour, so Kevin had to take me back to our cottage to rest. Therefore, this is just a partial view of the garden.
L-R: Sharon and Kerri
The pond, which if it wasn’t raining, I could have sat by for hours. So beautiful and peaceful.
I fell in love with this Verbascum, V. phoeniceum ‘Violetta’.
This is a greenhouse to die for, with moving doors/windows that could be opened in summer and closed in winter to protect the plants. One can dream…
View towards the manor house from the greenhouse.
Also from the greenhouse, from a different angle.
I think this is the Long Border. I’ve lost the map of the layout…
That’s all I got to see this time around. I’ll have to return another time.
Snowshill Manor Garden
I visited Snowshill one afternoon for a couple of hours with Kerri and Sharon. They explored the house as well as the garden, whereas I just mooched around the plants.
Kerri (right) and I at the entrance to the Manor
Looking from the pond up to the manor
The Elder Court, in the process of being regenerated, with many plantings of the gorgeous
Tiger Lily, unknown variety. I love the contrast of the pink of the petals to the orange of the pollen
The Well Court
Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’ – another one to get for my front garden
My favourite border in the Well Court.
I adore the wonderful purple of the Lupins with the orange of the Geum. It ‘feels’ like an impressionist painting
Looking down at the Well Court and Cotswold countryside
The Well Court was my favourite part of the garden, the purples and oranges, and the lush planting, was both warm and peaceful.
Anne Hathaway’s cottage
People visit Anne Hathaway’s cottage for the Tudor cottage and connection to Shakespeare (her husband). However, I find getting around 400 year old cottages difficult with a walking stick and limited energy, so I again mooched around the garden on my mobility scooter whilst Kerri & Sharon explored the house as well.
It’s very much a classic ‘cottage garden’ garden, including fruit and vegetables, and ornamentals. Whilst not a ‘great’ garden per se, it was a perfectly lovely way to spend a couple of hours.
They had a lovely annual wildflower meadow and it included two of my
favourite wildflowers, Cornflowers (blue) and Corncockles (pink)
Kiftsgate Garden
This was both the last day of our holiday, and the hottest. But this garden is worth the heat.
There was no accessibility to some areas, but the garden it is partially on a cliff, so that’s understandable. However, some other areas could have been made easier with some very simple ramps. So I had to rely on Kevin to lift my scooter at times, which was frustrating.
Despite the accessibility issue, I loved this garden. The old Manor is an elegant backdrop to the different borders and areas of the garden.
Left to right: Sharon, Kerri, and I.
Looking from the top of the garden down to the swimming pool and the Vale of Evesham, beyond. I don’t think the photo really shows how steep it was, so you’ll have to trust
me on that.
The Wide Border
I discovered a new ‘must have’ for my garden. This is Dictamnus albus var. purpureus, an evergreen shrub. It’s also known as the ‘gas plant’ because you can set the seeds alight with a lighter and they will make a mini explosion. I can’t wait to try that!
The White Garden
In the North Border I came across this gorgeous Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’.
The Yellow Border with a beautiful Acer (I think it’s A.shirasawanum ‘Aureum’) stretching over part of it.
A stunning blue Delphinium
The Water Garden.
Kevin playing/dancing to the gold leaved fountain
View from the Four Squares garden
Kiftsgate garden was fun, as well as including lots of interesting plants, many new to me. Accessibility issues aside, it’s a garden which is worth a return.
* * * * *
So that’s what I did on my holidays. The best part was being able to spend time and explore with Kerri.
The Cotswolds is a lovely area, I've been to and enjoyed Hidcote but the second time we visited the area it was closed due to snow! I haven't visited the other gardens you mention though. Out access is limited due to being accompanied by a small dog.
That sounds like a wonderful holiday, tiredness aside. You have revived some lovely memories of visiting some of the same places. Kiftsgate I haven't seen and it seems I missed something special. I, too, will have to go back!
We went to Anne Hathaway's cottage when we started renovating our previous old house. We joined one of the tours and while everyone else was listening intently to the history we were surreptitiously peering at the junctions between floors and walls (no skirting boards) and the treatment of the beams..
I thought most gardens allowed dogs if on leads?
Kiftsgate is almost opposite Hidcote – so easy to find.
I love that you visited Anne's cottage to check out the physical building instead of the connection to Shakespeare!
What a lovely few days you had. I have visited most of the gardens and you brought back some very happy memories of visiting with my late husband, thank you.
That looks like a lovely holiday, ME crashes/flares aside x