Ashe Park visit

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Jane and I have recently become shareholders in a vineyard! It is a new business formed from the relics of the Wineshare club that we had been members of since the 1990s. We have always loved the wines from Domaine du Grand Mayne and we were very disappointed when Wineshare folded, but last weekend we went to hear about how a new business has “risen from the ashes” as they say. How appropriate that the HQ of the company is based in the grounds of Ashe Park, near Basingstoke (conveniently only about 20 miles from where we live)!

This post is not about a shareholder meeting. It is about the gardens of Ashe Park. We didn’t know this before we went, but the gardens are often opened to parties of visitors in order to raise money for charity, and they are also opened as part of the National Gardens Scheme, of which I wrote last week. After the formalities of the shareholder meeting (followed by lunch and wine-tasting), we were allowed to roam around the gardens at our own pace. Having failed to anticipate this opportunity, I had not taken my camera, but fortunately I had my phone with me, so here are some of the photos I took with it.

Gosh, that photo emphasises the leaden sky! I’m sure the gardens would have been even nicer in sunshine but…

The Wildflower meadow - a huge expanse of white Daisies:

The gardens are full of little gems like this:

And this…

And sculptures, some of which I liked…

And some of which I didn’t…

For me the main attraction of course was the potager, aka veg garden. As soon as I saw it, I thought of Chateau Villandry! (Perhaps in slightly smaller scale).

Hey look, their raised beds are just like mine!

It’s amazing how ornamental  a few Pak Choi can be…

Or some red Lettuces.

The leaves of the Red Cabbage had no holes at all. How do they manage that???

More sculpture, this time combined with a water feature.

Looks like a good crop of Gooseberries.

A study in perspective:

The Guardians of the Gate – penguins, of course!

Naturally, with so many flowers, the gardens were full of bees…

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