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Biddulph Grange Garden

September 7, 2026 by Neil Turner

When I was writing up about our visit to the Plas Cadnant Hidden Garden in July, I realised that I’d forgotten to write about when we went to Biddulph Grange Garden in May. We went there on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday, which also happened to be our wedding anniversary. I assume I had intended to write up about the visit later that week, but then everything went wrong and that visit turned out to be the last bit of long distance driving that I would be doing until at least next year.

I’ve been to Biddulph Grange Garden many times. I have family in the area, and my aunt was a volunteer there for many years, so I went there a lot as a kid. This year’s visit was also the third time we’d been as a household; we first went in 2019, and again during lockdown in the summer of 2020, seeing as it’s mostly outdoors.

A quick history of Biddulph Grange

The National Trust has a more detailed history, but what we now know as Biddulph Grange and its garden first came into being in the mid 19th Century. This included a large house, part of which burnt down and was rebuilt in a different style in 1897.

In the 20th Century, the house was sold and became a hospital, first run by the “North Staffordshire Cripples Aid Society” and later by Lancashire County Council as a children’s orthopaedic hospital. This led to some of the garden’s glasshouses being demolished and replaced with modern hospital wards.

By 1991, the hospital had closed. The National Trust took over the garden, and at the time it was one of its biggest restoration projects ever undertaken. The house remained derelict for a while longer, but is now apartments and separate from the gardens, whilst the rest of the land passed to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and is now the Biddulph Country Park.

As it wasn’t opened to the public until May 1991, when I was seven years old, this probably explains why I remember visiting it so vividly.

The gardens

The garden at Biddulph Grange is split into several themed areas. My favourite is the Chinese Garden, pictured above, which underwent a restoration last year. The garden is home to a number of follies, including the Cheshire Cottage and the Egyptian Court, complete with sphinxes. A more recent addition (in so far as I don’t remember it being there when I was a child) is a woodland play area.

A small and curious indoor part of the garden is the Geological Gallery, a Victorian display of fossils laid out to follow the seven days of Genesis in the Bible. Originally, visitors to the garden would have entered the garden through this gallery, which at one time would have been bigger, but it was partly demolished during its time as a hospital.

I think there’s always a worry when, as an adult, you revisit places you enjoy as a kid to find that they’re not as good as you remember. I’m pleased that Biddulph Grange is a definite exception – it’s still just as fun following the winding paths into the different themed areas. If anything, the addition of the woodland play area makes it better than it was when I was young. It’s a really fun and beautiful place to explore.

Accessibility

Biddulph Grange isn’t flat, and not all areas of the garden have step-free access. However, there is a step-free route marked out on the map which lets you see most of the garden. A disabled toilet is available on site, but the nearest Changing Places toilet is at a Tesco in Kidsgrove, about 4 miles away.

There is a car park on site, but it can get full at busy times. Six ‘Standard-Plus’ electric car chargers are available on the RAW Power network. The nearest rapid chargers are in Congleton, which have hopefully been fixed since last summer’s visit to nearby Little Moreton Hall.

The nearest railway station is at Congleton, which is served by stopping services on the West Coast Main Line – from there, it’s about 2 ½ miles to Biddulph Grange. Alternatively, there’s the number 94 bus from Congleton to Newcastle-under-Lyme, which runs hourly Monday-Friday and two-hourly on Saturdays.

As National Trust entry prices go, Biddulph Grange is mid-tier, so expect to pay £14 each for adults if you’re not members of the National Trust like we are. The garden is big enough to spend half a day at, but it’s not quite a full day out. There is a café on site, which offers free Wi-Fi.

RHS Garden Bridgewater

August 23, 2026 by Neil Turner

On our way back from our holiday in Wales, we stopped off at the RHS Garden Bridgewater to the north of Manchester. We’ve been several times before, as we had an RHS membership in 2023, but this was my parents’ first visit.

A quick history of Bridgewater

The RHS has a more detailed history of the Bridgewater garden on its web site, so I’ll keep this brief. It’s the newest of the five gardens that are permanently managed by the RHS, having come into their care in 2017 and opened to the public in 2021, and alongside Harlow Carr (visited in June), is their second in Northern England.

The site used to be home to a country house, Worsley New Hall, which was built in the mid 19th Century for Francis Egerton, the 1st Earl of Ellesmere. At the time, it cost around £100,000 – about £6.7 million adjusted for inflation, so not quite as much as Penrhyn Castle but still a big, expensive house. The house overlooked a lake, and further on, extensive walled gardens. Queen Victoria visited twice, in 1851 and 1857, arriving by the Bridgewater Canal which runs along the edge of the site. The Bridgewater Canal was built by a different member of the Egerton family, also called Francis Egerton, but his title was the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.

The site saw use in both World Wars, as a British Red Cross hospital during the First World War and as a training ground for the Lancashire Fusiliers in the Second World War. The Egerton family left Worsley New Hall and after that the site declined, with the house falling into disrepair and later demolished in the 1940s. The site then returned to nature, with some use of the woods by the Scout movement as a campsite, and the walled garden as a plant nursery, until the early 2010s.

The Bridgewater Garden today

Broadly speaking, the RHS Garden at Bridgewater consists of five areas:

The original walled garden
New borders by the main entrance pavilion, known as the Worsley Welcome Garden
A Chinese stream-side garden
Middle Wood
Ellesmere Lake

The walled garden has been further sub-divided into different parts, including a kitchen garden, a learning space, space for community groups, and a Blue Peter garden transported from a previous Chelsea Flower Show. Middle Wood is the established wooded area which has been cleared of invasive buddleja to encourage more biodiversity, and it hosts a playground. Ellesmere Lake is the original lake that sat in front of where Worsley New Hall stood and has been partially restored.

The Chinese garden is new, and arguably the most interesting. Whilst it has been there since the garden opened in 2021, it is still under development, and a large pavilion is currently under construction. This has been built using traditional Chinese methods, and will hopefully be ready in the new year. The planting around the new pavilion includes lots of cherry trees, and I expect it’ll look fabulous come spring. It’s a good thing we’ve bought a year’s RHS membership as I’m sure we’ll be back.

Animals and wildlife

Beyond the walled garden there’s a chicken coop, with several heritage breeds of chicken on show. Also, beyond the play area, there used to be several Berkshire pigs which were used to help clear the ground whilst the garden was being established. However, they moved on to a new home elsewhere last year.

The increased biodiversity on site has encouraged more wildlife to move in. Every time we’ve visited, we’ve seen plenty of dragonflies, and on this visit, we saw a huge common hawker dragonfly which was several inches long. We also saw several caterpillars that will likely become cinnabar moths, along with plenty of bees and butterflies.

Accessibility

As befits an attraction opened in 2021, accessibility is good. The site is relatively flat, and where it isn’t, there are gentle slopes and paved paths. There are some steps and stepping stones, but there’s always an alternative accessible way round.

Disabled toilets are available in the welcome building, and in the potting sheds and garden cottage. The welcome building is also host to a Changing Places toilet. There are several cafés, including in the welcome building where this is also free Wi-Fi.

There’s a large car park which includes six standard-plus AC electric car chargers on the Raw Power network. It looks like additional rapid chargers are about to be made available too; these were covered up on our visit last month, but may be available by the time you read this.

If you arrive at Bridgewater by other means of transport, then there’s a 30% discount off tickets. The nearest railway station is Walkden, which is around an hour’s walk, but you can hire a bike until the 31st October. Walkden has regular services from Manchester Piccadilly station.

There’s also a direct bus, the number 33, from Shudehill interchange in Manchester city centre, which runs from the end of March to the end of August. It’s part of Manchester’s Bee Network, so you can catch a Bee Network bus to a flower garden.

RHS members get into Bridgewater for free. It’s usually cheaper to pre-book tickets online, and those in receipt of certain benefits can pre-book tickets for £1.

Events at Bridgewater

You may have noticed the heron in the top photo, made out of plastic bricks (which may or may not be Lego). This is part of the Brick Explorers event which runs until the end of the month. It takes place at other RHS gardens too, including Harlow Carr, with a different set of models to find. Our ten-year-old really enjoyed this.

There’s also a longer term Wind in the Willows trail on at present.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr

June 25, 2026 by Neil Turner

A photo of the main borders at the RHS garden at Harlow Carr

On Sunday, we took advantage of the lovely weather to visit the RHS Garden at Harlow Carr, near Harrogate. This was my first day out following last month’s fall, and was a family occasion as we met up with my parents there.

We’ve been to Harlow Carr before – we had membership of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in 2023 and made a brief visit that June, and we’d also been in September 2012. We didn’t cover the whole garden this time and instead focussed on the areas that had changed since our last visit.

History of Harlow Carr

The RHS web site has a more detailed history, but it has been open as a visitor attraction since the 19th Century. Back then, it was a spa resort – Harrogate was well-known as a spa town and its history is detailed in the Royal Pump House Museum in the town centre. We visited in 2013. However, as Harlow Carr is about a mile and a half out of Harrogate town centre, it wasn’t as popular as other spas in the town and closed in the early 20th Century. However, its bath house remains and is now Grade II listed.

During the 1940s, the site was taken over by the Northern Horticultural Society, and re-opened to the public in 1950. This organisation merged with the RHS in 2001, and is now one of the five gardens operated by the RHS across England.

The Gardens

Compared to the flagship RHS garden in Wisley (which we visited in 2023), Harlow Carr is significantly smaller. You can probably spend slightly more than half a day here though.

The garden is split into several areas. On arrival, you enter the Main Borders, which are one of the garden’s original features, before dropping down to the stream at the bottom of the valley where more aquatic-friendly plants grow. A woodland area sits on the other side of the valley, and this includes a play area for kids.

In an area that wasn’t open when we first visited in 2013 is a kitchen garden, with edible plants, and there is a newer sub-tropical garden too. At the top is the Alpine House – an unheated greenhouse which is home to hardy plants that typically live above the tree line.

There’s certainly lots to see, and almost every plant is labelled should you wish to get ideas for your own garden.

Accessibility

As mentioned, Harlow Carr sits in a valley, so there are slopes. Whilst there are steps, there are usually alternative sloping routes, but not all paths are paved. Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available to hire. There are accessible toilets, and one of the car parks features a Changing Places toilet.

There are three car parks; when we arrived at about half 10 on Sunday, one of these was already full and the second almost full. Two of these car parks offer electric car charging on the RAW charging network, and these are a mixture of ‘standard plus’ Type 2 AC chargers and rapid CCS2 DC chargers with plenty of chargers available.

If you’re able to arrive at Harlow Carr without a car, then there’s a 30% discount available on entry. The number 6 bus runs every 20 minutes from Harrogate bus station (hourly on Sundays), which is next to the railway station. Alternatively, there’s a mapped walk from Harrogate station to Harlow Carr which passes through the valley gardens and woodlands – it’s about 1.5 miles. Trains to Harrogate are normally half-hourly from Leeds and hourly from York, with an LNER service from London King’s Cross every two hours.

As the crow flies, Hornbeam Park station is closer, but it actually takes longer to walk from there to the garden so you’re better going to Harrogate.

Entry is free for RHS members, and there are a limited number of £1 tickets for those on certain benefits if booked in advance. We decided to re-join the RHS, for which you can use Tesco Clubcard points to part-pay. Tickets are cheaper mid-week, and in the winter, and are cheaper when booked online in advance.

Nearby

The main entrance to Harlow Carr is home to a branch of Betty’s, which is where we had lunch. Weetons Food Hall is about a 10 minute drive away, and has a good butchers and deli counter as well as plenty of nice foodie things to buy.

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

January 24, 2026 by Neil Turner

If you have a garden, and a spare hour this weekend, you could take part in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch. It’s a citizen science project that allows the RSPB insights into which birds are most common in British gardens, and identify trends over time.

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch normally takes place on the last weekend of every January. Anyone with a garden can take part – you don’t need to be an RSPB member. In fact, even if you don’t have a garden, you could go to a public park, or monitor a shared space from a balcony. The aim is that you record the birds that land in the space during a one hour period.

If you’re really keen, you can count the birds in more than one place. For example, if you have both a front and a back garden, you could spend an hour counting birds in one, and then a second hour counting the birds in another. The key aim of the Big Garden Birdwatch is that as many open spaces as possible are monitored, for an hour each, over the course of three days.

How to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch

You don’t need to be a knowledgable birdwatcher to take part. We signed up some time ago, and so the RSPB sent us a pack in the post (pictured above). It’s a bit late for posting things now, so there’s a downloadable PDF which includes the most common species of bird that you’re likely to see. You can tick them off – but remember to count how many of each species you see too.

After the hour is over, you can submit your results online. The form will be open until the 22nd February, so there’s no rush. You can also post your results to the RSPB, but the form is quicker and will accept a wider list of birds. So if you’ve been really lucky and spotted (for example) a jay or a sparrowhawk, then you’re probably better submitting online. We’ve previously had both in our garden, but not during a Big Garden Birdwatch session.

Our 2024 holiday: The Alnwick Garden

August 5, 2024 by Neil Turner

A photo of the water cascade at the Alnwick Garden.

This is the third blog post about what we did on our 2024 holiday to Northumberland. Yesterday was about Seahouses, and today is about our visit to The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei.

Alnwick is probably best known for its castle, and the gardens are adjacent and on land that was owned by the dukes of Northumberland. Whilst there have been formal gardens here for many years, these were mostly in a state of disrepair for much of the 20th century. Work to renovate the gardens started in the 1990s with a public opening in 2001. Since then, further phases have seen the gardens expand.

The Poison Garden

My wife Christine is a pharmacist, and so there was no question about us visiting The Poison Garden within the Alnwick Garden. Opened in 2005, this locked garden is full of poisonous plants; as such, entry is only permitted as part of a guided tour in small groups. The tour is good, as it underlines how many of the plants have legitimate medicinal uses as well as being poisonous. There are also posters about famous murderers who poisoned their victims, and what they used. It’s an opportunity to see a cannabis plant, as the garden is also involved in drug education and so has a license to grow one legally.

Elsewhere within the Alnwick Garden there’s a willow maze, which makes for a dark, tranquil space as the willow has grown over it, and plenty of water features. There’s also a more traditional walled garden at the top of the site, and a cherry tree orchard that would be fantastic to see in the spring. The Treehouse restaurant is in a massive treehouse – but you need to book table in advance. Other places to eat are available.

Lilidorei

Adjacent to the Alnwick Garden, but with a separate entrance, is Lilidorei – a new attraction opened in 2023 as essentially a huge kids play area. It has probably the biggest climbing frame I’ve seen, as well as sandpits and a walk around a series of themed huts. Each hut is supposedly home to a tribe, such as goblins, dwarves, elves, sprites and others. It’s probably most suitable for kids aged 4-10, and our eight-year-old loved it. There was an Olympics themed activity whilst we were there too.

Taken together, the Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei are a full day out. You can view the rest of my photos on Flickr.

Accessibility

Being a newer attraction means that accessibility is really good – there’s wheelchair access everywhere and a changing places toilet is available. Extensive accessibility information is available on the Alnwick Garden web site. There’s a car park nearby shared with the castle, and you can buy combined tickets for the garden and Lilidorei (but not the castle). A discount is available for Max card holders.

Alnmouth no longer has a railway station – the building is now home to Barter Books, famous for re-popularising the Keep Calm and Carry On poster. The nearest railway station is Alnmouth, from which you can catch a bus to Alnwick, and then there’s a free Alnwick Attractions bus that runs around the town during the summer months and school holidays.

The Brontë Garden at Sowerby Bridge station

September 28, 2024September 16, 2014 by Neil Turner

Last month a new garden was officially opened at Sowerby Bridge railway station. It’s called the Brontë Garden, and is maintained by volunteers from the Friends of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. It sits on a small parcel of land next to the car park, opposite platform one.

The name comes from the station’s slightly tenuous link with the Brontë family. The Brontës hail from over the hills in Haworth, in the Worth Valley, but one of the Brontë siblings was employed at Sowerby Bridge station at its time of opening in the 1840s. He was Branwell Brontë, brother of the three famous sisters Emily, Anne and Charlotte. He was later appointed at another station further up the line at Luddendenfoot – this station succumbed to the rationalisation of the railways in the 1960s and no longer exists.

The Brontë Garden at Sowerby Bridge railway station

The garden isn’t particularly big but does house a bench and small gravelled area, along with some planters built using old railway sleepers. There’s also a restored luggage trolley, with opened suitcases serving as planters.

As well as the garden, the Friends of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station look after various other planters on the platforms, many of which are sponsored by local businesses. It’s a relatively young group, having only been formed in November 2010 (co-incidentally about the same time I moved to Sowerby Bridge). Whilst they are a voluntary group, they’ve done quite a bit to make the station look nicer – a hard ask, thanks to its brutal concrete architectural style.