Viaduct Gardening Club: 15th May 2025 - Day Trip to Gardens of the North East, near Morpeth

The Lake at Bichfield Tower, Morpeth

Fantastic weather, two gorgeous gardens & a wonderful nursery – a huge thank you to Sandy, our new trip organiser.

1. First up was STANTON FENCE - home to Sir David Kelly and his late wife, Angela.

This has been the Kelly home since 1969. Firstly a farm with land to enjoy the world of horses, the gardens were designed in early 2000s by Arabella Lennox-Boyd. For twenty two years Steve Grimwood has been the head gardener.

Stanton House was featured in Country Life in 2018 – so do have read & enjoy the pictures of mid summer, by Val Corbett.

https://www.countrylife.co.uk/gardens/stanton-fence-traditional-english-garden-transformed-touch-chelsea-gold-medallist-182425

Morning coffee & tray bakes were much appreciated.

Lady Kelly was a keen grower of indoor pelagoniums. For some these plants belong to the 1970s, perhaps appealing more to the a senior population.

However seeing them grow en masse - in gutsy profusion of health and colour - they were stunning!

2. Lunch was at STANTON HALL GARDENS & NURSERY.

The nursery is a small family run business, offering something different from the larger garden centres. This five star Trip Advisor rated nursery is a wonderful resource.

“Forty years ago, the nursery was started as a market garden growing and selling soft fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. As the days of ‘freeze your own’ declined, we progressed into annual summer bedding plants then into perennials, shrubs and trees. We still grew vegetables but now as plants to sell. This was still as part time as we both had full time jobs elsewhere.

Since we became self employed we have focused on plants and not followed the big garden centres into franchising areas out. We felt that this way we keep a “garden” atmosphere. We are only open for half the year during the growing season April-mid September, as we find there are few winter gardeners! We aim to provide good quality plants, reasonably priced, with advice on all areas of cultivation.

The gardens have developed over the years as trade increased, with Chris’ imaginative constructions mostly from re-cycled materials, enhancing the planting. Claire uses the gardens as an important source of seeds and cuttings to produce the new stock each year. We hope we have created a garden which people are happy to visit and enjoy."

https://www.stantonhall.co.uk

The Roof of Bichfield Tower's GinGan

Lunch was taken in the GIN GAN.

For some of us this was a new name.

A gin gang is a wheelhouse (often horse powered) which is usually circular and attached to a threshing barn. Most were built in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The gin was short for "engine" and the gan for “going”.

3. Our final destination was to BICHFIELD TOWER, Morpeth. This beautiful mediveal, pele tower is the home of Lesley and Stewart Manners. Set in approximately six acres: there is an impressive stone water feature, large trout lake, mature woodland, pear orchard, and two walled gardens. Extensive herbaceous borders, prairie borders and contemporary grass borders live harmoniously together.