The Grand Tour ... part 2

After the kind and lovely Kim et famille had chaperoned Mr Custard and I around the various Open Houses of Brighton and given much of their time and wonderful company we left Brighton feeling buoyant though weary about the legs. Charmiane our loyal sat nav lady... took us on a rather convoluted route towards our next destination on the grand tour.. Midhurst.
En route. we stopped at an inviting village inn, in the pretty village of Poynings . I realised at 2.30 p.m that we had not eaten that day and I was running on empty so we re-fuelled at a pretty village inn and set off into the stunning south downs listening to Charmiane telling us in a controlled but clearly irritated voice.. that we should have turned left not right at the previous junction.
Oh well... nay mind.. it is good to get lost sometimes... great discoveries are often made without a map or guide and I love to explore unknown territories.
We arrived in Midhurst by late afternoon and checked in to our hotel.. a place that held fond memories for us from a previous visit... a long story but one I would love to tell one day!
The events of the day had caught up with me and I suddenly felt exhausted .. so quickly fell asleep whilst trying to read what was left of the Saturday Telegraph after Mr Custard had practiced his origami on it!
That evening we dined at the local Loch Fyne restaurant on a delicious supper of oysters and salmon and then took a gentle stroll around the city limits (!) of Midhurst.. a very pretty Sussex town with a wealth of history and attractive half timbered houses and the indigenous local flint and red brick.
I can't believe this is the only photograph that I managed to take but I loved this vintage sign..
The day ended on a slightly eccentric note... sitting up in bed eating tiramissu and watching the mildly disturbing and yet hilarious Eurovision Song Contest... enough to send anyone to sleep..
Sunday morning.. awoke to the sound of rain but this did little to dampen my growing excitement for our next and last destination on our mini grand tour.. a place of fairy tale memories that stretch back at least 40 years... wonderful WISLEY.
When I lived in Berkshire it was just a hop and a skip to visit this mecca of the plant world and my father being a passionate gardener who inspired in me a love and lifelong appreciation of gardens.. would regularly take me to the RHS headquarters at Wisley.
So here I was... some years hence arriving at Wisley with two vivid snapshots from my childhood.. the long perennial border that I loved to run along and of the house.. a stunning tudor style house which I presume houses the administration offices for the RHS. ... a noble cause.
As we had set off early we were probably the second people to arrive and judging by the size of the car park I was pleased that we would not be wading through a sea of people to enter the gardens.
The weather was wet and the light dark and murky but this didn't stop me from snapping away at every step and turn..
It is a fantastic feat of landscaping and planting with an enormous wealth of plant species and trees set in the Surrey countryside and only a whisper away from the M25... though you would not know it... peace and beauty reign within.
The rockery was a vague memory of mine... climbing the cleverly designed steps, abundantly planted.. so beautiful.. and immaculate... hardly a weed in sight.

These photos are for dear Sal... who yearns to return to Wisley..
I will leave you here to take the tour as my words could never do justice to the beauty of this place...

A field of Alliums stunning and inspired!

Enter the glass house for some outrageous plants...

The Doll's Slipper Orchid..



The scale of some plants was truly amazing...

Such wise words from Leonardo...



A passion flower curtain...
Passion flower beauty..



Cottage garden plants..
And finally.. rendezvous with a memory... the long herbaceous borders...FAB!!!!!

This weekend was perfect from start to finish... meeting my dear friend Kim, acquainting with some of the finest countryside Britain has to offer and my long awaited rendezvous with Wisley.. Phew... a bit of an emotional roller coaster but one I would happily do every day of the week.. given the chance!