We had a call from our youngest son suggesting that we should meet him, his wife, and one of our lovely granddaughters halfway between each of our homes. Both of our sons live over 100 miles away (160.934kms) and even though a day trip is viable, it can be quite tiring, and more time is spend on the road than in one another's company. The halfway point he chose for us to meet was Waterperry Gardens, just outside Oxford, and it proved to be the perfect choice on yet another very hot day.
In 1932 Beatrix Havergal, Principal of Waterperry, founded a horticultural school for young women. She was a trained horticulture expert who taught the women to become efficient gardeners in both agriculture and horticulture whilst also having a special regard to producing disease free crops.
Beatrix Havergal - Photo take by Cecil Beaton via wiki
The herbaceous borders are a riot of colour and a feast for the eyes, and I don't think that I have ever seen so many insects, butterflies, or dragonflies all fluttering around together before.
This gazebo covered in roses was a lovely place to sit and talk surrounded, as we were, by some heavenly perfume from the roses - I quite fancy a similar little structure in our garden!
The pool at Waterperry resembled a small heliport with dragonflies continually flittering all over it. There was a tiny ladder reaching out of the water to enable the young newts to climb out of the pond once they have reach maturity.
a beautifully crafted foxglove and daisy gate designed and made recently by a young women.
I covert this lovely gate.
There is a small Saxon church within the grounds which we had no time to visit. Apparently it has some wonderful treasures amongst which is glass dating back to 1220. We intend to return again soon as I have now suggested to my eldest son that he and his family meet us there too, and this will happen as soon as his youngest daughter's school has finished for the summer.
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P.S The only problem I am experiencing with new blogger is the lettering. When I chose the size that I would normally use, it now looks huge on the post, and the next size down looks too small. So I have to revert to legacy blogger at the end of each post in order to change the lettering to a size that I prefer.