Your
professional gardening guide will escort you on a trip to 8 gardens,
chosen for their variety and appeal, ranging from small, intimate cottage
delights to the enormous formal designs of the great houses. These colourful
gardens will thrill you and inspire you to your own creations. Included
for our group to see in the company of tour guide Anne
Slade, and in many cases, private guides, are:
SPRING
TOUR ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS
~ MORE THAN JUST GARDENS ~
Day
1 - Meet at Polesden Lacey, tour the house and gardens, then visit Furzey
Gardens. Overnight
2 nights at the Hotel
Miramar, an Edwardian country house; overlooking the sea from the
waterfront in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Day 2 - Visit the Tolpuddle Martyr's Museum. Visit Athelhampton House.
Day 3 - Visit Forde Abbey. Overnight 2 nights at
the Sid Valley
Country House Hotel in Sidbury, near Sidmouth, Devon, a country
estate with acres of views and lovely gardens.
Day 4 - Visit Knightshays Court, then we are off to the charming village
of Clovelly.
Day 5 - Visit Coleton Fishacre Gardens. Overnight 2 nights at the Green
Lawns Hotel in Falmouth, Cornwall, a chateau-style hotel on the
bay with waterfront views and lovely gardens; winner of Britain In Bloom
1994-2001.
Day 6 - Visit Trebah Gardens.
Day 7 - A day in the city of Bath. Overnight in Bath at a city centre
hotel, centrally located for walking about in this historic city.
Day 8 - A free morning and lunch in Bath. Then, visit Westwind Organic
Garden. Overnight at the Travel Inn at Gatwick, conveniently situated
at the airport for easy departure.
Tour
Details
Enjoying the warmth of the Gulf Stream, Cornwall is home to a wealth
of rare and exotic plants. The seeds and plants that were brought back
from all over the world during the early nineteenth century by the great
Victorian plant hunting expeditions have created the unique gardens
that you will be visiting.
Polesden
Lacey
Dating to 1761, this is the country estate where the Queen
Mother spent part of her honeymoon. The 1920s Regency villa offers panoramic
views over a wooded valley.
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Bath
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Bath
A visit to this historic city is one of the highlights of our tour.
We will have a guided tour of Bath in the morning, with free time after
lunch and the rest of the afternoon, free time for dinner, a free morning
the next day, free time for lunch - all to be used to explore one of
England's most picturesque and historical cities. You will see the ancient
Roman Baths that gave this city its name, and the classical beauty of
the Georgian Assembly Rooms, where the elite of English high society
used to gather. From the late-Gothic splendour of Bath Abbey to the
magnificent architecture of the Royal Crescent, Bath is a treat to be
savoured!
Furzey
Garden
Furzey is an eight acre garden situated in the New Forest, created in
the 1920s. Each spring sees the grass carpeted with snowdrops, crocuses
and daffodils.
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Coleton
Fishacre
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Coleton
Fishacre
The house
was built in 1925 for Rupert D'Oyly Carte by Oswald Milne, who trained
under Sir Edwin Lutyens. Spring starts very early at Coleton, when the
garden is filled with the colours of rhododendrons, Chilean Fire Trees,
azaleas, magnolias, dogwoods and camellias.
The
Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum
One dawn
in the bitter February of 1834 six farm labourers from the tiny village
of Tolpuddle, Dorset, were arrested after they dared to form what was
esentially a collective bargaining union. A frightened squire's trumped-up
charge triggered one of the most celebrated stories in the history of
human rights. The six men were exiled to Australia, but after seven
years as convicts the Government backed down due to mass public protests
and the martyrs received free pardons and were allowed to return to
this quiet Dorset village.
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Athelhampton
House
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Athelhampton
House
The house was built in 1485 by Sir William Martyn. During Elizabethan
times, four generations of Martyns lived at Athelhampton. Thomas Hardy
often visited and painted a watercolor of the house when he was 19.
We will see formal 19th century gardens set within the golden-coloured
stone walls, and all through the gardens are water features with ponds
and fountains.
Forde
Abbey
Founded by Cistercian monks over 800 years ago the abbey became one
of the richest and most learned monasteries in the country. After the
dissolution in 1539 the Abbey lay empty for over a 100 years until in
1649 it was transformed into the magnificent house that it is today.
Clovelly
This North Devon village is owned by one family, one of only three since
the Norman Conquest. The quay and most of the cottages date back to
the 14th century. The famous cobbled street known as Up-along or Down-along
was built with pebbles hauled from the beach. The street is so steep
that all goods are transported by sledge and there are no automobiles.
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Trebah
Gardens
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Trebah
Gardens
Trebah was first planted in the 1840s by Charles Fox, a Quaker landowner.
This 26 acre ravine garden is the result of 160 years of inspired and
dedicated creation. The garden descends 200 feet alongside a stream
with waterfalls and ponds that are filled with giant Koi carp before
winding through acres of blue and white hydrangeas and spilling onto
the beach.
Westwind
Organic Garden - a couple esteemed for their garden photography
worldwide created this organic garden from the cuttings and memories
of their travels, including the Prayer Garden, Italian Terrace, and
sections for roses and vegetables.
Our tour
will include drives through the marvellous countryside of the West
Country, known for its striking mix
of coastal grandeur and quintessential English scenery. You will have
time to explore in detail the city of Bath and the delightful village
of Clovelly, whose streets are too steep for cars to use!
Accommodation
venues:
The accommodations selected for the tour have been selected for their
charm and ambiance. We feature a country estate, a seaside chateau,
a garden award-winner, and a convenient airport hotel!
Full
breakfasts are included every morning, as well as most lunches, some
at the garden sites themselves or in charming tea shops. Four dinners
will be with your touring companions, each in an elegant and impressive
setting. Transportation from beginning to end will be in our chartered
luxury motorcoach.
Your
Tour Leader:
A native of Lancashire, Anne Slade
has lived in Dallas, Texas, since 1985. She has worked with an English
antiques importer and later with a specialist in the sale and repair
of rare books. She is the founder of Lakewood House Antiques,
specializing in Victorian Lace, During the past 4 years, Anne has worked
at Redenta's Organic Garden Centre in Dallas, where her knowledge of
vegetables and herbs and her expertise in container arrangements has
been well recognized. With her 30 years expertise of natural (now known
as organic) gardening, and as many years with English antiques,
Anne has a "knowledge combination" that proves invaluable
when visiting not only the gardens, but also the Historic and Stately
Homes of England.
Cost:
($US, with UK equivalents for comparison purposes)
US $1,995.00 per person double occupancy (equiv. £1255)
US $2,195.00 per person single occupancy (equiv. £1381)
Deposit is US$500 per person (equiv. £315)
Deposit deadline: June 25, 2003
Includes:
All land transportation, full breakfasts daily, seven lunches, four
dinners, all site tours as listed in the itinerary. Air transportation
is not included in the tour price.
Note: Tour itinerary is subject to change
Dates:
September
3 - September 10, 2003
>>
Tour Registration
<<
For
further information and registration, please contact us either
by email or phone:
Anne Slade 
Telephone: Texas International Tours at 1-214-265-7782
Fax: 1-214-265-7782 |
The English
Gardens Spring Tour is a cooperative venture between Britain Express,
UKation, and Texas International Tours.
Texas
International Tours
