Members and friends of the Cringleford and Eaton Horticultural Society were greeted by the current owner of the Hall, Judith Phillips. She and her husband Patrick bought the almost derelict Hall in 1972 and have been renovating it ever since. It was founded in the 1490s and finished by about 1578. Considerable alterations were made during the Victorian era, but basically it presents as an Elizabethan house and re-enactments of that period take place every summer.

The entrance is along a fine old avenue of lime trees leading to modern iron gates flanked by two gatehouses. One is the entrance and shop and the other contains the toilets. The picnic area is in the carpark. A peacock greeted us in its disdainful fashion and followed us across the moat that fully surrounds the building. We paused on the bridge to feed ravenous carp (fish food 50p a bag), now themselves being decimated by otter. The peacock preceded us into the café - our first port of call, for coffee and delicious homemade cake. The lunch menu is also highly recommended. We spent some while fathoming the modern maze laid out in the courtyard. The rose garden is situated within the moated area which also boasts the dead trunk of a cedar destroyed by storms and now sculpted with great originality into a Tree of Babel. A second bridge crosses the moat near the oldest part of the house, a brewery and bakery. These have arrow slits for defensive purposes as they were erected towards the end of the Wars of the Roses. An octagonal tower by the bridge contains a camera obscura where you can laugh at upside-down friends waving at you from the bridge.

The Walled Garden was originally surrounded by a secondary moat, but this is disused and part has been developed as an attractive sunken garden with a long border of shrubs and perennials. The Walled Garden is sheltered and warm. It has espaliered apple trees, some moss covered dating back to the 1700s. There's a large well tended vegetable area, where the cabbages have been brutally attacked by pigeons. Because the ground is clay, the vegetable garden is divided into raised sections and much improved. The herb garden is full of plants, overgrown but capable of supplying the house with essential herbs. From the flower beds near the moat you can see a length of Pied Piper topiary bordering the Hall.

A half kilometre walk leads round the outskirts of the garden through woodland full of meadow flowers and along a newly planted nut walk to another wood. From here there's a pleasant walk to the farm buildings past paddocks of Longhorn cattle, a breed developed by Robert Bakewell during the agricultural revolution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Other rare breeds include Norfolk Horn sheep, Tamworth pigs, Suffolk Punch horses and Poitou donkeys (large hairy donkeys from France) The Hall interior is well worth a visit. The current owners have redeveloped the rooms more in keeping with the house's history. The kitchen is especially interesting with its baking ovens, grills and huge open fireplace. Furnishings are in keeping with the rooms. Useful display boards explain the restorations which have been undertaken with much care and love - and not a little toil.

All in all a delightful visit to an estate full of interest. We finished off our day with an excellent meal at the Bull in Long Melford.

Barry's talk to our Society in January whetted our appetite for a spring visit, and though the weather was iffy we set out undeterred to visit this plantsman's garden. The 1¼ acres are stacked with bamboos, herbaceous plants, spring bulbs and 40 species of magnolias, many in large tubs. There are numerous greenhouses full of succulents and cacti that Barry brings outside in the summer, but today these were tucked away. However we had a good view of the plants which crowded benches, gangways and hung from every roof space. Even the roof of the house extension holds bamboos and other shrubs and is surrounded by a climbing hydrangea. The auricula theatre was well in flower, with numerous pots of the most exquisite blooms.

The garden is full of mysterious winding pathways and unexpected arbours. Double kingcups and iris grow in the pond and shelter its frogs, newts and dragonfly larvae. A nearby circular area and rockery is packed with daffodils and hyacinth growing profusely through mats of hardy geraniums (G. clarkei, G himalayense among others), blue and pink pulmonarias (lungworts) and the double Vinca minor. There are clumps of cowslips and geums, dicentras and choice red flowered epimediums. Hemerocallis grow in profusion. Here and there Barry had made concrete troughs which he set on legs so the tiny plants are easily visible. These are full of saxifrages, sedums and little pinks. Many mature trees shade the garden - monkey puzzle, Tasmanian tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica), many conifers, weeping pear, numerous clumps of bamboo, camellias and beautiful flowering magnolias. Some blossoms of the latter had suffered from frost, but the majority were in full flower. Climbers were beginning to scramble over archways - clematis and golden hop, and roses in the rose arbour. Later in the year this garden will still be full of interest.

Amazingly most of these plants and many others have been grown from seed or cuttings by Barry over the years. He also has a number of them for sale, so we returned home happily clutching a few more treasures for our own gardens and inspired by this most attractive and prolific garden.

The threat of thunderstorms loomed over us on this sultry afternoon, but we were fortunate to have no rain on our visit to the beautiful garden of Alan Gray and Graham Robeson. Although it is the end of the season, August has been so rainy that many plants are still flowering.  32 acres are divided into small gardens, woodland areas full of flowering hydrangeas and long grassy walks between hollies and yew. 16 tender tree ferns are especially impressive in their secluded garden with aconitum planted below them. The Sunken Garden is dug into a slope to provide shelter from the perpetual coastal wind.  Here blocks of yew obstruct the view - a design to encourage the walker to explore the garden from different angles. The Exotic Garden contains 2 raised ponds, one with fish, water lilies and other water plants, and the other containing a tall fountain shaped like the 'twisters' that can be seen off the coast here.  The Desert Wash is designed to resemble Arizona where flash floods can change the watercourses. Here are agaves, aloes, cacti and puyas and many rare desert plants. In another area a series of south facing terraces filled with Mediterranean plants transports one to southern Europe. The 4 metre flower columns of Echium pininana had finished flowering, but their form adds architectural interest to the red brick walls. At the far end of the garden dragonflies zoom above the wildlife pool and the long borders are full of bees and beetles enjoying the geraniums and cone flowers.
For several of us the vegetable garden was a revelation.  Huge cabbages, turnips, carrots, giant curly kale both bronze and green, metal supports bearing many different types of squash and an abundance of herbs. And the caterpillars and dreaded carrot fly seemed to shun the spot!
The garden has been designed so that from many places there are beautiful views.  East Rushton church peers over the hydrangeas in the woodland walk, and Happisburgh church and distinctive red and white lighthouse are framed by hedges of yew and hornbeam.
Teas and home made cakes followed by a browse round the plant sale area completed a very happy afternoon. And though thunderstorms accompanied our journey home they obligingly stopped by the time we returned to Norwich.

On 3rd July 42 members of our Society visited Houghton Hall by coach. The day started sunny but had clouded over by the time we reached the Hall, between Kings Lynn and Fakenham. We visited the fine 5 acre walled garden which is divided into 4 sections.  One is a magnificent rose garden with nearly 150 different rose varieties, all in scented bloom.  The borders to this area are less formal and include campanulas cardoons, eryngiums and geraniums.  The scent of mock orange blossom mingled with the roses.  In the centre of this garden is a sunken fountain with arches of roses round it and classical statues.
Another section contained a most unusual fountain which sported a gas flame at its top.  Fire and water - a theme for meditation!
Originally all the walled garden provided food and flowers for the main house, but now only a quarter is given over to kitchen plants.  These were varied and well labelled, from French and runner beans to rhubarb, squashes, carrots, potatoes and lettuce.
Between the gardens runs a superb border, from the renovated greenhouses in the north - the hot border full of reds and oranges - to a rustic temple in the south - cooler blues and whites.  The front of the border was a mass of cat mint in full flower.
Some of us took picnic lunches which we ate in the grounds, while others had lunch in the restaurant.  As the house doesn't open until 1.30 there was plenty of time to admire the stable block, the extensive military museum, and the ubiquitous gift shop.  
As the house opened, so did the heavens and most of us managed to get inside before the deluge.  (see photo just before the storm) The Hall is Palladian in concept designed by James Gibbs, Colen Campbell and William Kent in the 1720s for Sir William Walpole the first British Prime Minister.  Most of the furnishings are original including some very fine Brussels tapestries in the Green Bedroom depicting Venus and Adonis. The main staircase has a huge bronze copy of the Borghese Gladiator and its walls are painted in grisaille by Kent with trompe-d'oeil frames.  The stone hall is vast, high and chilly with an upper gallery and a striking bust of Sir Robert himself dressed in a Roman toga wearing the Garter star of which he was properly proud - the first commoner to receive it. There is also a fine bronze copy of the Laocoon.
The sky cleared, the sun came out and we visited the gardens in front of the house and the deer park.  The latter once included a village but Sir Robert had it moved further away beyond the estate gates. All that's left is the village cross, a pond and the church.
We all agreed it had been a fascinating day full of interest for every taste.

Rain threatened. The coach's windscreen wipers were busy as we drove from Eaton to the Priory Gardens on the A149 between Cromer and Sheringham..

But once we arrived the rain stopped, though the clouds remained low and the wind was cool. This garden of 10 acres is full of unusual plants including many tree ferns, bamboos of all sixes and beautiful ferns. Giant echiums astonished us all - see photo. Hydrangeas have been good this year and were still full of colour. Constant running water provided little streams and pools everywhere, so that moisture loving plants thrive. Golden clumps of 'daisy' flowered Ligularia dentata and the tall spiked yellow Ligularia przewalski brightened the long border in the grass walk. We were very taken by the six different shades of Lobelia from red to rich plum growing among tufts of 'ponytail' grass (Stipa tenuifolia) accompanied by a pretty double yellow daylily (Hemerocallis).

A dark fir woodland provided mystery and sculptures were dotted about for further interest. In the background the Priory ruins looked majestically over the gardens.

In the beach garden different coloured aeoniums somehow managed to enjoy their decidedly wet summer outing in their pots. Here gerbera flowered and the variegated agave pushed out its stalwart fleshy leaves.

We ventured into the maze, and happily all returned safely to the bus for a free raffle with prizes donated by our President Arthur Higginbottom. Many thanks, Arthur and also to Mary Muff and Hilary Reid for organising such a pleasant end to the gardening year.

About 50 members and friends enjoyed a sunny day visiting the house and gardens at Elton Hall. The house is vast and one tower and  a chapel date from the 15th Century.  Considerable alterations over the following centuries add to the architectural interest. The chapel has been extensively modified and is now a drawing room full of French furniture bought at the time of the French revolution, thus confirming one's impression that today there is more furniture of that period in English country houses than in France! An extensive library includes an autographed prayer book of Henry VIII. The dining room, marble hall and stairway were designed by the Victorian architect Henry Ashton. To tackle the problem of cooking smells troubling aristocratic diners, the kitchens were rebuilt so far from the dining room that the food arrived cold after crossing an intervening courtyard!  Fine clocks, china ( especially Sevre) and paintings adorn the rooms and sumptuous carpets and curtains add to the splendour of this ancient house.

The garden is largely formal with immaculate lawns tenderly mowed by several gardeners. Golden yew hedges border the lawns. An orangery opens onto a sheltering hedge and nearby is an extensive and mature arboretum. Small intimate gardens are bordered by beech hedges and are full of perennial plants.  One such garden is obviously newly planted and will look at its best in three years when the gaps have filled in. It contains astrantia, thalictrum, campanulas, geraniums, sedums, day lilies, lavender and grasses to name a few, with a fine modern pyramidal water feature in the centre. Another small garden has beautifully trained standard wisteria trees, a lemon tree and architectural thistle all among Russian sage and scrambling geraniums. The scent of mock orange blossom and roses fills the air.

Our visit was enhanced by cream teas at the cafe and purchases from the plant centre. We then continued our journey to Wisbech where we enjoyed an evening meal together. The whole day was made most pleasurable by meeting old and new friends with whom we had many interesting conversations - not only on horticulture. Jean Dorricott