Joint Outing to Latchetts

Fifteen of us met in the car park at Latchetts on Saturday 7th August.

The owners have lived there for 50 years and it is clear that they cherish their gardens and they have made everywhere easy to get to and placed seats where the weary can rest.

As we walked across the gravel drive and through the archway cut in the hedge, we were met with the most amazing view of colourful flower beds, lawns sloping down to the pond and more flowers. Further away the hills rolled into the distance. The garden certainly is in a delightful setting.

The garden has lots of interesting areas. The walled Millenium Garden has various bible texts alongside sculptures, beds, mini-gardens and a water feature. The Sunken Garden was a very peaceful place where you could just sit and think. I'm not sure if it was meant to feel 'heavenly' but the murals on the wall depicted a lot of angels!

There was a sundial garden, a prairie garden and a circle garden which had a series of quite mesmerising water features. There was a fern stumpery and a blue garden with coloured vapour across a pond. The kitchen garden was flourishing and orderly and was the envy of many of us.

Inevitably tea was a highlight and we all descended on the marquee at the same time to escape a downpour!

Reasonably priced, the cream scones, home made cakes and as many refills of your tea cup as you wished, was a delicious bargain.

There were other attractions such as the plant shop. As we gathered in the car park to leave, the Epsom and Ewell contingent were to be seen trying to fit great bags of tall plants into the back seats of cars!

I think, all in all, it could be said that we had a very enjoyable time.