RHS Bridgewater, 7th June 2024
Photos in the gallery
Every year we have a social day out and this year was no exception. We chose to visit the beautiful RHS gardens at Bridgewater, Salford.
There was a group of over twenty who joined together on what turned out to be a lovely sunny June day. It was a little cooler in the morning but we had a warm welcome by staff who gave us a little talk before we set off on our intrepid exploration of the latest addition to the RHS gardens.
We were not to be disappointed as we headed first for the Chinese garden, the latest addition to the landscape and funded by the Manchester Chinese community. It is not yet finished as there are plans to erect a number of structures but there were boards around the garden explaining what will be there and their relevance in Chinese culture. It will be lovely to revisit once they are in place.
After that we split up into basically two groups. One took the route around a beautiful lake and the rest of us followed the path into various other areas of the gardens starting with Middle Wood. There are so many gardens to view and the walled garden is huge. It covers more ground than the Chelsea Flower Show!
We stopped for lunch by a beautiful stone cottage (now used by staff). There were a good number of patio chairs and tables and no-one else was there. At that point the sun came out in all its glory and remained with us for the rest of the day. As well as the walled garden, there was the kitchen garden, The Blue Peter garden, the Paradise garden – we did some Tai Chi there – and many other visual delights. Photos can be seen in the gallery.
As well as visual delights we enjoyed refreshments at the cafe sitting out overlooking one of the lakes before having a spend in the garden centre – well we had to use our £5 off voucher we had all been given – and then we made our way home. It was a truly beautiful day and we were so lucky with the weather. Everyone had a fabulous time and personally I look forward to going back once the Chinese Garden is complete.