The American Museum in Bath This, I think is my favourite museum outside… Read more »
Today I went to see what all the fuss has been about Hadspen House and The Newt in Somerset Gardens, and I wasn’t dissappointed. I met an old friend and we wandered around taking in the changes to the garden and had a delicious lunch too. It’s the most glorious place between Wincanton and Castle Cary, just a fifteen minute drive from us, which was bought by Koos Bekker the owner of the famous Babylonstoren Garden in South Africa, about seven years ago. The building work is really impressive and the young garden is just fabulous, I can’t recommend it highly enough, we loved it all. New barns with eclectic lighting and designer seats have been built to welcome customers, a wonderful farm shop and a gift shop, two restaurants and then the gardens which were outstanding. As you can see I’m not very clever at putting photos together for this blog, but the walled garden on the left with hundreds of apple trees from different areas of this country and France was neat, clipped, peaceful and a great suntrap. And then on the outside you get the middle photo view of wild flowers under the established trees, the old kennels which is now the hen house – with hens and the lawn mown in circles. Then there’s the Farm Shop and a photo of our lunch.
The next garden to tell you about is in Bruton, just ten minutes away from The Newt in Somerset – it’s at Hauser & Wirth designed by Piet Oudoulf who is famous for his Prarie planting. Best seen between July and October it’s another amazing space and again it has a great restaurant and indeed an art gallery to visit at the same location.
And finally the last gem is in Dorset, just under an hour from us. It’s a 26 acre garden with lakes and owned and run by the sculpturer Simon Gudgeon and his wife, Monique, Sculpture by the Lakes has so much to see and inspire, the huge works of art set in the landscape are inspiring. Again there’s a restaurant or if you like take a picnic and enjoy it while you wander.
You could manage a visit to all these gardens in one day.
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