English taxis and gardens

We arrived on English soil at 6:20 on Monday morning to be greeted by English weather, grey and cool. But to be fair to the English, the sun did come and go all day. The United Kingdom introduced electronic passport gates this morning for the first time which enabled us to move through security unhindered and speedily. Amin, our taxi driver, met us as arranged with his little sign "Allan & Joan Wills" (I've always wanted to be the person being met like that) and drove us to Chipping Campden. I'm not sure how the conversation played out in the front seat but Amin commented to Allan that he was 54 years old and dyed his hair yet Allan still looked younger than he did! Amin was feeling very tired because he was fasting during Ramadan. It was an interesting trip, getting us into Chipping Campden about 9:15. Too early to check into The Bantam Tea Rooms, but they were happy with us leaving our cases. Our plan was to visit Hidcote Garden. We had seen this beautiful garden in the Autumn of 2005, so we were keen to see it in another season. But how to get there. Several people we asked about the distance between Chipping Campden and Hidcote had varying opinions, ranging from three to eight miles. Now we had just arrived after 26 hours of travelling so weren't too keen to walk too far; we wanted to enjoy strolling around the garden. While Allan was talking to the man at the information centre, two Japanese ladies came in, also wanting to attend the garden. Their English wasn't great so they were happy for me to make some phone calls to the local taxi companies to book a ride and we would share the cost. The English taxi services aren't rushing to serve. Several had prerecorded messages, one gentleman said he'd come as long as we were happy if he came in his gardening clothes, only to ring back to cancel. Another, when I said we wanted to book a taxi now, replied "That's not a booking, that's a demand!". But he sent William to drive us, describing him as a huge Fijian (he was right, he filled his seat very adequately) driving a silver car. Now off to Hidcote and what a delight. First thing we saw was a very impressive Cedar of Lebanon standing like a King surveying his realm.

The thatched roof of the Manor House is beautiful as it towers over the garden.

The variety of trees make a colourful display as do the spring bulbs under planted. The peonies made me envious with their size and colour. I'm not going to bore you with lots of photos, only to say we really enjoyed visiting Hidcote again.

A short while ago I read about another garden, Kiftsgate, which is a neighbour to Hidcote, so we walked the short distance to visit. Another beautiful garden, different to Hidcote but equally worth the visit. It sits on the escarpment which gives opportunity for terraces. When we stood at the top of the garden the view across the lower garden to Chipping Campden was spectacular

but when we stood at the bottom and looked up there was a great perspective of the design of this garden, developed by three generations of women. The grandmother designed and planted it, the daughter developed it further and the granddaughter has maintained it, adding a few modern touches to it.

We have had a great day and feel content that the tiredness hasn't overtaken us. Strolling through these gardens has been delightful.