In August, there was a day trip to Edinburgh and the Borders.
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The first stop was at Saughton Park. This park recently received lottery funding in order to upgrade, restore and improve the facilities within its grounds. Situated in a deprived area of the city, the park now offers a beautiful facility for urban dwellers to use and enjoy: a life line during the recent lock-downs.
Following this, we enjoyed the garden of Mr and Mrs Rankin (our speakers at VGC in February this year) who established Kevock Garden Plants in Edinburgh. This nursery supplies rare and unusual plants to horticultural outlets and for designers creating show gardens etc.
The
Rankins
made us very
welcome using
their home
to serve refreshments and an
allowing us an opportunity to enjoy
the spectacular views of their garden from the comfort of sofas set
in enormous picture windows!
The coach party then travelled to Biggar to visit the Scottish baronial country estate of Lindsaylands. We wandered through an amazing walled garden which was brimming with immaculate fruits and vegetables. There were traditional glasshouses and a formal ornamental garden plus other areas of the estate to admire such as a flock of rare breed sheep. We learned about the history of the demesne and again enjoyed the owners; hospitality.
The day remained dry despite predictions of heavy downfalls. We concluded our trip with Scottish ‘high tea’ at Somerton House Hotel, Lockerbie.
