The group visits interesting gardens which are available to the public either through the National Gardens Scheme, National Trust, Historic Houses, or private gardens by arrangement.

Gardens will be chosen and visits arranged by the members. Access will usually be by car as many of these gardens are unavailable by public transport, a car share arrangement will operate from the Civic Hall car park. Communication within the group is through a WhatsApp group and members post details about the visits.

The Convenor will put details of arranged visits onto the website regularly.

Please contact the Convenor if you are interested to join the group. 

MAY 9/10	3 Tower End, Victoria Rd  L37 1LP        NGS no 66 See NGS website	Nearly an acre of vistas and walkways in a pine woodland setting off the NT nature reserve. Created by the former owners of Lady Green Garden Centre. Varied planting styles.	We think this looks interesting. A long way for one garden, but I think the nature reserve will be the red squirrel one which leads down to the beach, great of the weather is fair.
MAY 17th/18  Members going on 18th.	Bleasdale Towers, PR3	This is not an NGS opening. Opens for the peak of the rhododendron and azalea season.	Chris McWillliams knows about this. The house is not open.
MAY 23rd	Matshead Lodge, Brock Side, Bilsborrow PR3 0GL NGS Lancashire no 46	2 acres of mixed herbaceous borders, with shrubs, orchard, loose stone paths. Hidden away on the banks of the river Brock featuring Japanese area and ponds	Joanne knows this area and says the scenery is lovely. Disabled parking for 6 cars at garden address only. There are two pedestrian access routes from parking at either Bilsborrow Village Hall Car Park, or Barton Grange, owners have an agreement for this, with access via the railway bridge. See NGS website.
May 30th and 31st June 6th and 7th	Mill Barn, Goosefoot Close, Samlesbury, PR5 0SS  NGS Lancs no 49	A unique and quirky garden along the river Darwen, developed on the site of old mills gives a fascinating layout on many levels.	I just fancy the look of this! Only partial wheelchair access, so it could be tricky for some.
May 31st, June 28th and July 26th	Kington Cottage, Kirkham Rd, Treales, PR4 3SD NGS no 43	This is a lovely authentic Japanese garden which some of us visited on the July date last year. Additional Bonsai display for the July opening.	The recommended month is June and we could book a group visit but I would need to be sure of numbers before I made an enquiry about dates. At least 6.
JUNE all four county books have lots of choice in June!	I am just including those we didn’t visit last year which have been recommended + I know something about.	Giles Farm   NGS 28 Arevinti         NGS 4 Mill Barn      NGS 49 see above
June 6th & 7th Giles Farm   NGS 28 Arevinti         NGS 4 Mill Barn      NGS 49 see above	Mill Barn, see above		Also open to group visit by arrangement between May to July of 5 or more between
June 28th	Arevinti 1 School Court, Ramsbottom, Bury BL0 0SD	4 garden rooms enhanced by views of the West Pennine moors. Oriental, Italian, English and gravel style gardens, all enhanced with statues, water gardens and sedum roofs. Miniature railway running through the day, plus a talk on the weavers uprising.	Recommended by Rachel. Also open August 2nd when combined with Topmill Park. Serves quiche and salad in the garden room!  Visits by arrangement for 6 – 20 people
June 27th and 28th. 12.00 -5.00 Also available to groups of over 20	Giles Farm, 4 Acre Lane, Thornley, PR3 2TD NGS no 28	Nestled high on the side of Longridge Fell with beautiful views. Gardens surround the farmhouse and buildings. Include an acre of wildflower meadow.	I visited this when it was open 2 years ago on a glorious afternoon. So local and well worth it. Steeply sloping in some areas. Grassy paths. Disabled access difficult.
July 5th Sunday 11.00 – 4.00pm	79 Crabtree Lane Burscough, L40 0RW NGS no 18	¾ acre year- round plantsman’s garden with many rare and unusual plants. Flat grass paths.	Recommended by Peter who is convenor for the birdwatching. Near Martin Mere
August Sunday 2nd	Arevinti BL0 0SD	See above
CHESHIRE NGS
MAY 24th and 25th	The Old Parsonage, Back Lane, Arley Green, CW9 6LZ NGS no 45 in Cheshire book	A 2 acre garden in an attractive and secretive rural setting in a secluded part of the Arley Estate. Ancient yew hedges, herbaceous and mixed borders, shrub roses, climbers, meconopsis, cardiocrinum.  etc .	Those of us that enjoyed a trip to Arley Hall can recommend the area, and maybe would relish the chance to go back to the Hall as well as visit this garden

U3A Garden Visit Group Meeting January 23 rd at 4 Auction Court

Present: Ann Beeby, Isobel & David Metcalfe, Joan Firth, Joanne Barker, Sally
Maxwell, Ruth Buckley.
Apologies from Chris McWilliam
Judith Clerk, and John Curtis and Gillian have left the group.

Joanne reported that one of her Book Group members was interested to join
although she couldn’t be with us this morning.

Rest of the Season: See table above.

Other Suggestions for gardens not in the scheme include: Sizergh Castle, Holker
Hall, Levens Hall, Tatton Park, Myerscough College (Joanne Barker will arrange a visit)

.
Kington Cottage in Treales A very fine small Japanese style garden.
Ann Beeby will arrange a private group visit, probably in June, this follows discussion
with the owner last season.

Castlefield Viaduct Greater Manchester by train. Ruth Buckley would like to
organise another trip. Visited last year in association with the Preston Gardening
U3A gardening group.

Snowdrop Visit - Rufford Old Hall and Bank Hall, Bretherton

Our first gardens day out was a great success. Weather kind and snowdrops magnificent, particularly at Bank Hall. At Rufford we enjoyed a circular walk through woodland and along the Rufford branch of the Leeds Liverpool canal plus lunch,

Rivington Gardens Pre-visit

On Saturday 23rd August David and I did a recce of the above site to see how the conditions and challenges of the terrain and steepness of the paths plus the many steps would affect any proposed future visit.

As you can see from the photographs (below) some of the ascending paths are very rough and quite steep, I would estimate at least 30 mins to get to the lowest level of the garden from the nearest car park. Once there we can slowly meander around the site taking in all its many attractions at our leisure, stopping at the cafe for hot and cold drinks plus snacks.

However, this does involve many ascending paths and multiple steps and obviously the reverse on our way down.

I hope you can see from the photographs some examples of this.

We leave the site via the same path we climbed earlier remembering that this can be rough, with trip hazards and some uneven areas.

Good walking boots, walking poles and a drink will be essential. David and I were out for about 3.5 hours including lunch, but it could take longer if we walk more slowly, stop frequently and view additional sites which is all absolutely fine.

There are no toilets in the gardens, nearest being at the visitor centre next to the Great Barn.

Our visit to Calder House Lane gardens

Our visit to Castlefield Viaduct with members from Preston u3a