Weekday Group Perrywood Garden Centre
For each of the past five years, Perrywood Garden Centre at Tiptree has been ranked by The Garden Centre Association as one of the top ten garden centres in Britain. They've also won national awards for their rose display, indoor plants, indoor lifestyle and their outstanding plant area. It was established in 1955 when the parents of the present directors bought the site and sold potatoes and pick-your-own strawberries. Over the next 30 years, the family transformed Perrywood into one of the country's foremost garden centres. The business expanded in 2018 with the addition of Perrywood Sudbury and in 2024 they opened a third branch near Chelmsford. Our party of 16 can also vouch for their excellent catering, which made for a most enjoyable lunch and completed a lovely day out.
Weekday Group Knole House
In September, the Weekday Group visited Knole House near Sevenoaks in Kent, kindly taken there by Ray Mitchell in his first outing as minibus driver.
Knole is a Grade 1 manor house, owned by the National Trust and in the top five of England's largest houses. The house dates from the mid-15th century and is situated within a beautiful 1,000 acre deer park, teeming with families and walkers. Thomas Bourchier, then Archbishop of Canterbury, bought it in 1456 and subsequently gave it to the Archdiocese of Canterbury. Four other archbishops were then housed there, including Thomas Cranmer. The building photo is of Bouchier's Tower located in the Green Court. Afterwards, we enjoyed a superb lunch in the garden of the nearby White Hart pub.
King Pins Crochet Project
Some King Pin members have been busy with their crochet hooks, creating this colourful blanket which the Hope and Aid Direct Charity will send to Ukraine. A big thank you to Kathy Swash who donated a huge bag of wool that's been put to good use, with another blanket in the making.
Outing to RHS Hyde Hall
Four members of the Weekday Group, Joan, Cheryl, Tracey and Debbie, made their own way to RHS Hyde Hall in late August. The weather was lovely, as were the gardens which have benefitted from substantial investment in recent years. Newish features include a global growth garden showing vegetables from around the world, a winter garden and a welcome building, restaurant and activity centre
Weekday Group Ightham Mote
We had a glorious day for our visit - the surrounding villages and beautiful Kent countryside making an outing in themselves. Ightham Mote was built around 1320 and is the most complete Grade 1 medieval manor house in England. The New Chapel features a Tudor painted ceiling and period pews. The central Great Hall was a place of feasting and celebration. The Mote was purchased in 1889 by Sir Thomas Colyer-Fergusson whose repairs rescued the house after centuries of neglect. His son died aged 21 winning the Victoria Cross in WW1.
By the 1950s the house was a candidate for demolition and its possessions were auctioned. Three local men saved it before selling to an American who made urgent repairs and partly refurnished it. It passed to the National Trust on his death in 1985.
A stream runs through the 14-acre gardens, supplying two lakes and the moat. There's an excellent cafe where we enjoyed a convivial lunch.
Weekday Group - Ongar Garden Centre
Around 20 of the group enjoyed lunch recently at Ongar Garden Centre
Weekday Group Warley Place
We usually visit this lovely garden in spring and 18 of us did so this year. The photo shows some of us as we entered.
Warley Place is famous for its spectacular display of spring flowers which looked marvellous in the sunshine. This 25 acre nature reserve is the site of a house and once famous Edwardian gardens created by the horticulturist Ellen Willmott, now maintained by Essex Wildlife Trust. She died in 1935 and the property was bought for redeveloping. But WW2 thwarted the plan, the house was demolished and the gardens ran wild. The Wildlife Trust have leased the site since 1977 and it is now a well-managed haven for plants and wildlife.
After a walk around the reserve we enjoyed lunch together at the Thatchers Arms.
Weekday Group Theatre Trip
On 12 June the Weekday Group visited the Towngate Theatre in Basildon to see Tim Rice’s and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, based on the story in Genesis. It bursts with high energy and iconic songs like Any Dream Will Do - which we’ve been singing in our heads ever since! The cast of about 50 included children and the overall performance was simply brilliant. The lead singers presumably had professional backgrounds but the entire ensemble was amateur, even down to the usherettes. The orchestra played superbly and the audience contributed enthusiastically throughout, conferring a standing ovation for the finale. All financial proceeds were in support of the Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund.
