Tatton Park Flower Show

This holiday is an opportunity to visit one of the country’s foremost garden shows and, on the following day, stroll around and take in the beauty of Trentham Gardens, one of the most attractive and inspiring historic garden restoration projects ever.

Day 1:  Arrival day.

Your room will be available from 2.30pm onwards.  Please join us for tea between 4pm and 5pm to meet the leader and your fellow guests.

Before dinner there will be a brief introduction to the holiday programme.

Day 2: An early start today to get to the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park in good time to allow us as long as possible on the site. There is plenty to see and your biggest problem might be which and where first! In the great floral marquee you can see - and of course buy - all the latest plants from over 90 nurseries, or you might prefer to hear some of your favourite gardening personalities giving talks and demonstrations in the Talks Theatre. Tatton Show has become well known for its relaxed and fun atmosphere, typified by exhibition gardens such as the National Flower Bed competition, where local authorities and community groups create displays with humorous ingenuity.

Day 3: Today we visit the incredible gardens within the restored 725-acre Trentham Estate, near Stoke. With a long, chequered history, Trentham was most recently the Staffordshire seat of the Dukes of Sutherland. Very little remains of their hall, an elaborate Victorian Italianate mansion designed by Sir Charles Barry and set within extensive parkland designed by Capability Brown, but abandoned in 1905 suffering from urban blight and pollution. Bought by a development and leisure company in 1996, their intention of creating a top tourist and leisure destination is well on the way to being realised – by way of a spend of around £100 million! The main body of the garden consists of a re-cast Italian garden, flanked on either side by the East and West Pleasure Grounds. Planting is exuberant and designed by two of Europe’s top 21^st century designers, Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith, to provide all-year-round interest with over 80,000 perennials in 70 flower beds. Fountains, borders, trellis walks and statuary all with a wonderful background of the restored lake will ensure this is a day to enjoy.

Day 4:  Departure after breakfast.