The Gardens Royal – 24 July 2011

After the Royal Palace yesterday, we extended the theme today with two Royal Gardens.

We had a 2 for 1 coupon for the Savill Gardens for the month of July only. Fortunately, after all the rain this week, Sunday was a beautiful day, ideal to make use of this.

Savill Gardens are named after Sir Eric Savill, ranger at Great Windsor Park, who obtained permission from George V to turn a waste land corner into a garden, and that was the beginning of Savill Gardens. The summer borders were stunning, as was the new rose garden, with an elevated walkway, to smell the especially chosen fragrant blooms.

Morning tea in their new stunning pavilion was a must. The old pavilion had been removed, which made way for a special New Zealand Garden. The idea was germinated from the gift of plants to the Queen from New Zealand.

Following the visit to this royal garden, we then made use of our membership to again visit Wisley Gardens and see how their summer borders looked. We spent even longer at Wisley, as the gardens were absolutely stunning. Our favourite had to be the new Bowes-Lyons rose garden. It was so much more than a rose garden, beds of vibrant flowers complemented the roses.

We finally dragged ourselves away from Wisley, and checked out the church in Wisley village. This old 12th century church is simple, yet timeless and quite moving to think of all the lives who have been involved in it's history.

Just down the road is The Anchor pub, on the Wey Navigation. The pub was chockka when we arrived, but we had come armed with a 4 mile walk designed to be done in conjunction with a visit to the pub. By the time we had completed this, there was a smaller queue for tables, and we enjoyed a delicious salad beside the canal. British summer at it's best!