DAY TRIPS - 2020

Encombe Garden & Eastington Farm, Purbeck

Wednesday 3rd June 2020

Our initial trip of the year takes us to 2 local gardens that are rarely open to the public - their styles providing a contrast to each other - one intimate and one expansive
         
In the morning we visit Eastington Farm, a mellow Grade-II listed manor house, with four acres. Over coffee and cake the owner will give us an introductory talk about the gardens, where she battles with strong, salt-laden winds and thin soil.  Beautifully restored stone walls protect and enclose the main flower gardens and provide a foil for the extensive planting.

Then on to Encombe, a substantial and historic 18th century house in a sheltered setting at the top of a broad valley and encircled by a landscape of open pasture. The owners have undertaken an extensive redevelopment of the grounds with designer Tom Stuart-Smith.  Here we can picnic in the grounds around the lake which Tom describes as “the only infinity lake I know and a wonderful coup de théâtre”. The gardens are composed of sweeping borders filled with perennials and grasses, a Tuscan-style temple, a new stone terrace and a walled garden with a young orchard and flower meadows. There is also a kitchen garden and glasshouse.

Whilst refreshments are included at both venues, we recommend you bring along a packed lunch to eat in the grounds of the Encombe Estate.
 

Included:
* Return coach travel departing from Olivers Road, Colehill at 10.00 am, returning to Colehill by 6.15 pm.
* Entrance into and refreshments in both the Gardens
* Driver’s gratuity
 
Cost:

Members  £30.00                                     Non Members  £35.00


For more details about the Trip, Terms and Conditions of Booking, and Booking Form (essential) click on the button below. The leaflet also contains the contact details of the Administrator of the Trip.

BOOKING FORM FOR ENCOMBE EASTINGTON

ENCOMBE EASTINGTON LEAFLET

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West Dean & Architectural Plants  

Thursday 10th September 2020

Unusually we visit a nursery first, and it is an unusual one! At Architectural Plants we will see the interesting, quirky and  bizarre, the tropical and the jungly, both big and small specimen plants. All set within 32 acres of open fields and surrounded by farmland overlooking the South Downs. The café, set in a greenhouse and amongst the plants, serves light lunches and a range of coffees and cakes as well as local beer, wine and cider.  And they don’t take cash! 

Then on to West Dean which has a 19th century Gothic house, designed by James Wyatt, with a 20th century Arts & Crafts garden, designed by Harold Peto in 1911. The restoration of the gardens began  after the storm of 1987. Since then, a bold        re-development programme has been carried out, designed to bring the gardens into the 21st century.
 
The walled kitchen garden features some of the finest Victorian glasshouses in the country - 16 in total, packed full of exotic       flowers, seasonal fruit and vegetables, from orchids to nectarines, peppers and cucumber, tomatoes to aubergines.  Other    architectural delights include Harold Peto’s spectacular 300 ft Edwardian Pergola which dominates the North Lawn behind the main House. There are also four 19th century rustic summerhouses.

Wander through the extensive grounds, past rare trees and shrubs, ornamental borders, a naturalistically-planted pond. There is a tearoom/restaurant.
 
Included:
 * Return coach travel departing from Olivers Road, Colehill at 9 am, then pick-up in Ringwood, returning by 6.30 pm.
 * Entrance to West Dean and Architectural Plants
 * Driver’s gratuity
 

Cost:

Members  £21.00                                     Non Members  £26.00


For more details about the Trip, Terms and Conditions of Booking, and Booking Form (essential) click on the button below. The leaflet also contains the contact details of the Administrator of the Trip.

BOOKING FORM FOR WEST DEAN/ARCHITECTURAL

WEST DEAN/ARCHITECTURAL LEAFLET

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