Sometimes all you want on Sunday afternoon at this time of year is a bit of fresh air and a stretching of the legs. No kitting up for a long walk in the hills, just a stroll around a green and peaceful place… This winter we are having a series of special weekend openings at…
Help make our enchanted mushroom lantern village for christmas in the Gardens. We’re working with artist Sophie Handy to make 100 little mushroom houses from willow and tissue paper. A great family, club or class event. These workshops are free. Your creations will go into the Gardens to help make a magical, illuminated woodland walk ready for…
Nearly time again for our amazingly popular low-tech family fun day. Skittles, sack races, hopscotch and egg and spoon races bring three – or more – generations together this Thursday (11-3.30pm). We run this event every year in conjunction with the local branch of the U3A (University of the 3rd Age) as a fundraiser for…
Five weeks of good value summer fun at the Gardens Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12- 3.30… it’s Unplug and Play Crafts, gardening and outdoor exploration. Children and families can enjoy outdoor play and/or craft activities under gentle supervision. The mud kitchen, maze, dipping pond and some gardening activities available for families to explore…
To kick off the summer holidays with a fun and warming outdoor show , get the kids up and moving with Bif… Biff is not like other dogs. He doesn’t do dog stuff like weeing on lampposts, or scratching his fleas, or drinking out of the toilet. No, Biff likes moonlight and music and walking…
Transition to ‘Big School’ can be a nervy time for many pupils. The Gardens’ education department is offering a fun day out for Year 6 with a purpose. A Taste of KS3 History gets the kids out of the classroom into the open in 10 acres of open space. Our historic garden gives us the…
Those baroque Garden designers always emphasised bold theatricality in their layouts. Although we are certainly not on the grand scale of Versailles or the Royal Palaces, our ‘wilderness’ areas, boxed beds and topiary are all part of that formality and dramatic approach. We’re all the more pleased therefore, to be able to host both theatrical…
This Sunday is National Croquet Day! If you’ve never played croquet, then you probably only know the game through its depiction in Alice in Wonderland, where the Queen of Hearts cruelly plays the game with flamingo mallets and hedgehogs as the balls. We’d rather let our hedgehogs roam freely… but we do like a game…
Did you shrink or did the flowers just grow? Wander amongst our beautiful towering plants over 4 metres tall – they’re crocheted! This May half term join in the festival atmosphere with our Alice in Wonderland sized installation… All week from Bank Holiday Monday (29th May) through to Friday (June 2nd) we’ll also running family…
A new series of gentle, relaxed afternoons where you can take full advantage of the Gardens for some ‘me-time’. We’ve asked some of the best local or artisan food businesses to run a one day pop-up cafe in the Orangery at the Gardens. This month (May 21st) you can try some truly luscious cakes made…