Highgrove

On 21st September 2005, twenty-five Purley Pathfinders were given the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to visit His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales’ private gardens at Highgrove.

Determined to make the most of this very special day we stopped for morning coffee at The Gateway Centre, with views over the lakes of The Cotswold Water Park. This impressive building is constructed from Green Oak, and creates its own energy with a solar roof and heat pumps. Rainwater is also recycled to use for flushing the toilets. Described as ‘a beacon for sustainable rural development’, it is a building I’m sure His Royal Highness approves of! Back in the coach we headed for The Hare & Hounds Hotel, neighbouring Westonbirt Arboretum, where we were booked in for lunch. There was ample time upon arrival to relax with a drink in the pretty, sunny garden, before lunch was served in the grand dining room. Afterwards, a few moments drive, and we were entering the Highgrove estate! Police checks done, we set off down the drive to be met by our Guide.

And so The Tour began!

As the first gate opened we were warmly welcomed by the first of many robins singing a joyful song. A Laurel Tunnel led us to ‘The Gladiator’ statue from where, in one direction our eye was drawn down the Lime Avenue towards the distant Dovecote. In the other direction stands The Fountain Garden with its pool designed in the shape of a water lily. Beyond lies the tapestry which is The Thyme Walk, guarded on each side by Golden Yews. Prince Charles had individually allocated these to his gardeners with the instructions to ‘let their imagination run loose’. The result is a row of eccentric topiary shapes, a spectacular contrast to the uniformity of the rows of pleached hornbeams alongside. Beyond stands the west side of the house with its huge Magnolia Grandiflora hugging the walls protectively.

As we walked beside the main drive we imagined this area before its recent cut, for here, in the heart of the garden, is The Wild Flower Meadow – five acres where, in summer, a multitude of meadow flowers, threatened in the wild, sway in the breeze in gay abandon, with no fear of pesticides or

weed killers. We entered The Woodland Garden where lies a pond with a strange central fountain formed from discarded stone. In place for only 3 ½ years, it looks as if it has stood here for ever with its covering of lichen and moss, and with a giant Gunnera growing out of the top. Dragonflies flitted and, nearby, a robin sang. Suddenly we found ourselves in the mysterious and magical Stumpery, formed from huge tree stumps of oak and sweet chestnut. Locked together, these fantastic, natural sculptures form contorted walls and arches. Here, on the death of his beloved Grandmother, The Queen Mother, The Prince had worked for several hours, planting hostas, hellebores and ferns. It is nice to know, in this special, moody place, he could spend time, lost in his own private thoughts. (many gardeners will associate with this I’m sure) In a glade nearby we came across a Temple made of green oak, and, at the edge of the woodland, we passed The Wall of Gifts – a collection of gifts of masonry which have been cleverly placed to form a vertical crazy-paving masterpiece. A little further on, a mesh filled with compost and planted with ferns, forms a 10-foot high green pyramid. In the boughs of an old holly tree sits an amazing tree house, built for the young Princes William and Harry. With holly shaped door, windows and balcony it is fondly known by the Princes as ‘Hollyrood House’. In a clearing, beneath an oak tree, peacefully sits The Goddess of The Woods. So wonderfully sculpted from a single piece of marble, that we could feel each vertebra as we ran our fingers down her spine. Two Temples of green oak rise on each side of the clearing, their triangular roofs filled with driftwood. Inscriptions on the Temples translate as ‘They think that virtue is just a word, and a sacred grove merely sticks’, and, ‘Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stone, and good in everything’.

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