Itinerary

DAY ONE – WEDNESDAY 12 MAYLD

PRIVATE GARDEN IN WHIXLEY
Meet at 12.00 at the Alice Hawthorn Inn beside the picturesque village green of Nun Monkton. Light lunch together before leaving to visit a delightful private garden in the nearby village of Whixley. Laid out in a formal design around the house, it also features mature trees leading to a well-planted walled garden. Return to the Inn for an early evening aperitif and short talk on the tour before dinner together.

DAY TWO – THURSDAY 13 MAYBD

NEWBY HALL GARDENS NEAR RIPON
Private visit to Newby Hall accompanied by the head gardener, Phil Cormie, before the gardens open to the public. Redesigned in the 1920s by Major Robin Compton, a great friend of Lawrence Johnston of Hidcote Manor, Newby is the site of the national collection of Cornus (dogwood) and a magnificent laburnum pergola. Private guided viewing of the interior of the Hall is planned. At lunchtime, tables are reserved for us in the garden café.
In the afternoon there is time to discover more of this superb garden, which is renowned for its double herbaceous borders leading to the River Ure and a series of individually styled garden ‘rooms’ entered through the yew hedges.

DAY THREE – FRIDAY 14 MAYBD

SCAMPSTON HALL GARDENS NEAR MALTON – HAVOC HALL, OSWALDKIRK
Morning visit to Scampston Hall, on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. The Hall was built in the 17th century and altered in the Regency period; Capability Brown designed the parkland. A highlight is the walled garden redesigned by Piet Oudolf in the early 2000s: Here, clipped hedges enclose spaces which are extensively planted with perennials and grasses and accessed from a perimeter path. We are guided in our visit by the head gardener. Lunchtime in the café followed by an afternoon visit to the privately owned Havoc Hall in the Howardian Hills. Accompanied by the owner, we discover a garden lovingly developed over the past twelve years, evolving into a mature and richly planted series of ‘rooms’ on the edge of a village.
Our return journey is through some of Yorkshire’s finest countryside with views to the Dales from the Sutton Bank escarpment.

DAY FOUR – SATURDAY 15 MAYBD

PRIVATE FARMHOUSE GARDEN & SION HILL HALL
Heading northwards towards Northallerton, we visit a remarkable private garden created around a typical stone farmhouse. The owner, an inspiring garden designer, explains how she has developed it and introduces us to the particularly good display of bulbs. Lunchtime at a local pub before our afternoon private visit to Sion Hill Hall, an Arts & Crafts inspired country house with extensive gardens overlooking the River Wiske. Recently restored, with a parterre of clipped hornbeam and yew, a traditional kitchen garden and woodland, the property is set against the backdrop of the Hambleton Hills.

DAY FIVE – SUNDAY 16 MAYB

MARKENFIELD HALL & PRIVATE GARDEN IN LITTLETHORPE, NEAR RIPON
Morning visit to the stunning 14th century Markenfield Hall, where the gardens are laid out following the contours of the moat that surrounds the formally fortified building. Guided on our tour by the head gardener, we learn about the remarkable history of the property where the same family have lived for centuries. We are then led over the bridge into the sheltered courtyard.
There is a chance to view some of the interiors of the medieval Hall, where refreshments are served.
Our afternoon visit is to a beautifully laid-out, quite formal garden around a Manor House bordering Ripon Canal. Developed over a period of thirty years, the walled garden reflects the four seasons as the cycle of life and features, in the centre, an ‘Ygdrassil’ tree (Fraxinus excelsior) – the symbolic tree of life in Scandinavian mythology. The sunken garden parterre is based on the White Rose of York emblem, a fitting image for this tour.
We return to the Alice Hawthorn Inn for dinner together on our final evening.

DAY SIX – MONDAY 17 MAYB

Depart from Nun Monkton after breakfast.