Garden

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The River Room

From the Abingdon Blog, thank you to Alistair who does the blog and who is a regular visitor to the Garden.

The River Room


The River Room was open at St Ethelwold’s House. In the River Room, there is a Visitors Book. Here is a small and quite typical selection.

‘An amazing retreat to stumble across in Abingdon. I can’t believe I never knew this was here.’

‘I lived in Abingdon from 1964 to 67. I can’t believe I’d never been here before. Wonderful. I’ve done some knitting.’

‘I’m so glad I walked into this fabulous setting. Spring has finally started to do its magic, and flowers are coming up. The birds are singing, and I can watch the geese and riverboats. It’s a site for sore eyes after the harsh winter months.’

‘What’s a lovely place to stumble upon. We are studying at Oxford and decided to take a little day trip to explore Abingdon during our Christmas holidays. What a lovely place.’

‘Stumbled across the lovely garden. So tranquil.’

‘Thank you to all the people who make this what it is. It’s a beautiful place. Restores my soul.’

‘It’s my great joy that I was joined for about five minutes by a Kingfisher on one of the poles.’

When I left, I saw one of the volunteer gardeners cutting back plants, a visitor sitting on a bench enjoying the October sunshine, and a dragonfly resting on a garden table.

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Our Garden through the Decades – Photography Exhibition

                                         

If you are visiting the House or Garden over the next weeks do call in to see this exhibition, there are some beautiful pictures and it gives a chance to compare parts of the Garden as they were in the 1960’s and as they are now. The exhibition is inside the House, in the corridor from the Office to the Hearth.

                                                                

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Little River Room Restored

Thanks to Matt the little River Room has been beautifully restored and is open for people to come and find some quiet time away from the busyness of life. You can find the room on the right by the riverside – do go in and enjoy watching the river go by.

Some appreciative comments from our visitors’ book

A little piece of Heaven and very tranquil

Gardens are magical

A place where I love to come and get life into perspective

Very peaceful and so special that it is here for everyone to share and enjoy

The tranquillity of the small room by the river is the perfect antidote to modern day pressures – the peace here is tangible

We love the bees and the butterflies

Brings peace to my heart – thank you for the gentle space and comfy chair

 

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What the gardeners really think

Bev reflects during a coffee break…

I started in Jan 2012, having met Susie (Trustee and volunteer gardener) on a RHS gardening course at Waterperry in 2006/7. Susie asked for help with a big garden in Abingdon, but I had no idea what to expect…. I have since learned to expect the unexpected at St Eth’s! Continue reading →

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Thank you so much!

We are delighted with the response of our garden visitors, our volunteers and supporters to our appeal for help and funds for the garden.

We have seven new volunteer gardeners helping to keep the garden looking lovely, which really makes a difference.

And we have raised money for beautiful planting, for a shredder to help with composting, for a watering system (this has really pleased the volunteer gardeners!) and garden tools. Continue reading →