Day trip: Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens
Lower Beeding, West Sussex
Thursday, 28th April 2022
Thursday, 28th April 2022
This was the first trip of the year and everyone was looking forward to our visit. The RHS had visited many years ago and since then the garden has had a turbulent history. It was abandoned for about ten years and was considered to be one of England’s lost gardens. A chance encounter in 2017 occurred as Penny Streeter drove past and intrigued, stopped on a whim, took a look round and decided on the spot that she was going to buy it. The Streeter family put a ten year plan in place and the transformation was set in motion. The gardens were relaunched in 2019 after two years of extensive work which is still ongoing.
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The garden is set in a valley with a series of lakes and ponds with woodland walks of varying length. There are many highlights and as our visit was at peak rhododendron and azalea flowering time, the variety of colour along the paths and slopes was breathtaking. The rock garden was spectacular and although it originally had alpine plants it is now full of glorious rhododendrons and azaleas. Earlier in Spring there is a camellia walk, a bluebell bank and a daffodil lawn.
There is also a surprising Dolls’ House museum which is a charming, magical world in miniature. A happy group set off back to Radlett having enjoyed a memorable day out. |