HER BACK WAS ALMOST BROKEN AT 185 YEARS YOUNG

This c185 years old Winter Nelis pear tree, planted in this wonderful Georgian Walled Garden built by the Colclough family in the early 19^th Century (1830), is slowly loosing its battle for survival, its weather beaten and broken trunk it now forma a creative natural sculpture and a focus of fascination and a tribute to nature today, still flowering and bearing fruit on its last surviving boughs.

Colclough Walled Garden is set in woodland of Tinturn Abbey estate and built on a sloping landscape to take best advantage of the sun throughout the day.

This Georgian Walled Garden had become overgrown and run down over the years from neglect. A local man, Alan Ryan, took it on as a project in 2011 with the aim of returning it back to its formal beauty and splendor. A group of volunteers came together to help and what is there today is the uncovering of a master garden. A 10’ wall of handcrafted bricks, made from local estuarine mud, shaped in wooden molds, air dried and finally fired in a Clant Kilm within the grounds, surrounds the garden.

The quiet, soothing atmosphere in these gardens are accentuated by the smells of flora and new growth, the trickling sound of the stream that runs through the middle, the wild bird sounds and the wind in the trees.

I visited the gardens for a second time in a year this April (2015) and it looked magnificent. There was a busy atmosphere as the gardeners prepared the beds and boarders for the new growth and floral displays. In the kitchen garden, the soil worked on a four tear rotation plan, vegetable like potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, onions and salad leaves were being sown. Along the perimeter, fruit trees like apples, pears, plums and nectarines were making their display of flowers and fruit buds. The tulips were in full bloom, foliage was thick and new shoots on the trees gave a fresh green hue to the vista.

A number of blackbirds were frantically creating a distraction to lure a couple of hinting crows away from their nests as they hovered around looking for a handy meal. I was particularly exciting to hear the lyrical call of the cuckoo and at that point it confirms spring is here and in full flight.