Club Visit to Highgrove House, Wednesday 3rd October 2012

Only the weather forecast was gloomy as nearly fifty Club members, partners and friends set off to visit the Highgrove gardens of HRH The Prince of Wales on 3rd October. In the event only a heavy shower right at the start of our guided tour tested the waterproofs and umbrellas that everybody had brought, and some sunshine eventually blessed the later stages of our visit to these fine and unusual gardens.

There were some striking contrasts - between the formality of the box and other hedges (all nine miles of them) and the informality of most of the other planting for instance. The initial security measures suggested that access might be very restricted, but the tour turned out to be very comprehensive and included areas surprisingly close to the house itself. Although the gardens are very extensive in total, many individual areas seem to be quite small and easy to grasp.

The lesser gardeners amongst us were pleased to see fine examples of nettle, bindweed and buttercup in these august surroundings, but it was explained that this was only to be expected in a totally organic environment on a site that had originally been fifteen acres of meadow.

After two hours and two miles of inspection, our excellent guides brought us to the comforts of the tea room and, for some, the temptations of the shop. Everybody seemed to agree that this had been yet another splendid Rotary outing encompassing outstanding fellowship and excellent organisation by Steve Drinnan and his wife Nonna.

Graham Moss