Summer Outings 2025 Report:
We were lucky, 13 of us, with the weather! We had a visit to Cortington Manor, which is one of the gardens open for charity under the National Garden Scheme. We were shown around the garden by the owner, Simon Berry. A beautiful garden of 4 acres, built up over the years from being stables and yards to a wonderful peaceful haven. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening which was finished off with a glass of bubbly, and nibbles, served to us by Simon’s wife. Well worth a visit.
For our afternoon visit to Forest Lodge, Somerset, we were not deterred by the rain, and we were warmly welcomed by Lucy Newman, the owner, armed with brollies we were shown around this beautiful garden. There was no garden at all when the owners took over the property in 1996. Starting with a blank canvass, all the hard landscaping was done around the house first, with paving and steps and pond all with curved features, and circular lawns. The sloping vista took the eye down to large pond below. Being in a valley it was very sheltered. This green sand site gave plenty of scope for an abundance of flowers (all year round) and there were many specialist trees and shrubs. The sheltered vegetable area and greenhouse at the side of the house, again with lots of pots of flowers everywhere acting as pollinators, was wonderful. The rain stopped before the end of the tour, which was followed by tea and cake.
On a beautifully sunny evening the wonderful views down across to Wells Abbey at Milton Lodge made this very memorable. Simon Tudway Quilter, whose family have been on the estate since the 11th century, introduced us to the history of the property and then David the gardener, who has been head gardener there for the past 28 years, showed us around the beautiful, well stocked garden. His knowledge of the plants and trees was exemplary. Simon’s great grandfather relocated the family home further up the hill from the original large family mansion, in about 1900. We finished the evening with tea and cakes and of course a few plants were purchased! Milton Lodge has been in the NGS garden scheme for 60 years. It is open under this scheme 3 times a year, so do pay a visit if you can, it is well worth it.
Simpson Seeds at Keepers Yard, Horningsham finished off our summer trips. Matt Simpson moved to his new site in 2023, and work is still in progress, 2 polytunnels and several greenhouses housed a variety of tomatoes and chillies amongst other things. He showed us the hydroponic systems in use and then we had a tomato tasting session, of at least a dozen varieties, all very tasty! Matt sells his seeds and plants by mail order but is also open at certain times. He attends the various Chillie festivals, including Westbury, and has a variety of bottled chilli sauces, some very hot! He is very well respected in his field.
Jacky