On Wednesday July 5th 2017, a sunny day dawned and my neighbour Chris and I decided to get away for a few hours. Where to go in Herefordshire that we hadn't been to before?
I picked up a leaflet at Hereford Railway Station a few weeks ago which looked interesting and 'somewhere different.' It was going to be a hot sunny July day and at 9.30 we set off for Edwyn Ralph, a few miles on the Tenbury Wells road out of Bromyard.
Let me give you a bit of history about Ralph Court. The house was built in 1850 for Reverend Arthur Lucton Childe. Designed by architect Abraham Perkins from Worcester, it cost £1370. The present owners Stephen and Paula Morgan bought the property in 2004. Both Stephen and Paula are keen gardeners and Stephen had trained in horticulture and Stephen worked on a number of gold medal winners at the Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows.
The entrance beautifully decorated
We arrived at Ralph Court Gardens just after 10am and certainly did not expect to be greeted with so many awesome sights! This is no 'ordinary' garden centre, this is 12 amazing gardens set in the grounds of a gothic rectory and water features add music and movement to enhance the visitors delights.
The courtyard near the entrance
It costs £8 per adult, £5 per child aged 3 - 16, under 3's go FREE and a family ticket is £25. (two adults and up to three children) and is open Wednesday through til Sunday from 10am -5pm. The gardens are however opened on Bank Holiday Mondays.
Stephen welcomed us and advised that we turn left from the restaurant and follow the paths which would take us to all the different gardens, ending up back at the restaurant where we aimed to have lunch.So off we went and had great fun looking at the various statues of animals, reptiles, dinosaurs, fairies and much more. Plus the 'live' chickens, a turkey, a peacock, ducks and fish and more. Water cascades and lily ponds are also there, plus much more. I hope you enjoy looking at some of the photos that were taken.
An unusual pine shrub, almost looks like a weeping willow
Part of the Alice in Wonderland garden
A mischievous Elf in The Elves garden
Chris in front of The Mad Hatters Tea Party feature
A snake in the smoking pool of Medusa temple
One of the cascade pools in the Africa garden
An elf contemplating!
The musical fountain in the Italian garden
Some ducks cooling off in the grounds
Jack in the Green shoots water at you if you get too close!
Me in front of Triton with waves lapping behind
Fairies in The Elves garden
Chris near the Dragon Pool
Time for a sit down in Alice in Wonderland garden!
A theatre that holds up to 40 people can also be visited within the grounds and the restaurant serves meals and snacks from 10am - 5pm.
