Shropshire 37 - Willoughbridge, Market Drayton /the Dorothy Clive Garden /that is life /A Copenhagen slice and a Stok iced coffee

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I shall blame Gardeners World. Well you have to blame something don't you ?

As we sat in the different car park for cars not motorhomes waiting for the train to France we found ourselves in need of a leg stretch and a visit to the toilets . We had not set foot inside the Eurotunnel building for years. We never had to. We had our own facilities and could wait out the train in relative comfort . This time though we needed to walk over just to pass a little time. With about an hour to spare we had to do something other than sit in the car . The shops were just a stones throw away and would at least give us something to do while we waited for the train call up time .

The building contained a money changer. The girl behind the counter was sitting inside looking extremely bored . No customers went to her whilst we were in the shopping mall . I guess most people had changed their pounds to euros or whatever currency they required before they set out for the Tunnel . There was AA shop selling UK stickers for the car, French road atlases, first aid kits , warning triangles , headlight deflectors and much more . Mind you I guess if a driver had reached Eurotunnel without any of those items he or she was unlikely to pay the inflated prices in the AA shop. They probably had scant regard of what they needed to drive in Europe . The need to affix a UK sticker was a rule for someone else and not for them. Same with all the other items they should carry with them . We had everything we needed from life in the motorhome so no need to call into the AA shop to buy anything .

Next door was a WH Smith where I could buy last minute paperbacks and magazines . I did not need any books to read . but I picked up the last copy of Gardeners World magazine on the shelf with a view to reading it on holiday . I would cut out and put to one side the 2 for 1 entry to gardens voucher. I had intended to buy a copy before we left home but forgot or could not be bothered .

Arriving home Gardeners World TV programme featured the Dorothy Clive Gardens in the Spring and they did indeed look lovely. I had read some disparaging remarks on Tripadviser about the summer garden in the past . Nothing to see they said . Or not much in the way of flowers . Not a very interesting garden . Not one to waste your money on . Go somewhere else. Perhaps this was why the 2 for 1 entry only started on July 1st when the best of the displays were over and it was an encouragement to families to come along and spend some money in the cafe and the shop.

Today we decided to drive over to the gardens , pay the £11 each entrance fee which was rather hefty and see what was on offer.

We chose to ignore the sat nav and drive down the country Cheshire lanes . It is nice now and again to ignore her , forget how long it is going to take and just enjoy the ride . Through the pretty village of Audlem we drove . Down the narrow street alongside the church . Through villages called Broughall and past pubs that had closed due to Covid or through lack of punters as the economy crashed . It took us around three quarters of an hour from home to reach the gardens .

As we drove I mentioned my calendar offering for the day. It was a long statement starting off with telling me that I must understand the whole of life not just a little part of it. It was one of those statements I very often give a cursory glance to and forget about . Today it said that to understand life I must read . Well I had done a bit of that on holiday and I read at home quite often The magazine for one thing from front to back times many and a new book The Binding. A very complicated story . I used to read blogs about motorhoming holidays and about travel . Not so much these days .

I should look at the skies . Parked up I was doing that and there was not a cloud up there today. The sun was beating down and it was one of those muggy hot days we get in the UK. Unlike the sunny days on the continent where you can sit out and enjoy the weather . Here you just swelter and suffer . It is either too hot, too muggy, too much of a threatened thunder storm to enjoy it. We needed rain . The waterbutts were almost empty . A good thunderstorm would fill them up again . The words of wisdom did go on a bit mentioning dancing and singing and writing poetry but I glanced over that part with disinterest . I was no good at singing or dancing and I certainly could not write poetry however hard I tried .

The guy on the gate welcomed us with the usual "Have you been here before ?" We told him that this was our first time . He took our money . Cards only . We don't deal in cash any more . Covid probably as no-one wanted to handle money nor to go to the back to cash it in . Did we want to Gift aid the fee ? Park as close as you can to the next vehicle . We are expecting crowds as it is a Bank Holiday weekend and since our appearance on Gardeners World we have been extremely busy. He issued us with tickets and a map of the gardens . One of those schematic ones that make little sense . A map being less than useful. We probably would wander , get lost and wander a little more . You cannot get lost in a garden - can you?

It was going to be a garden unlike Hodnet the last garden we visited . This one was large, uphill, sprawling and made up of many individual gardens . Hodnet more intimate . More large lakes rather than small ponds and very flat .

We entered the garden via a hidden path .Hidden between the trees. It was one of those inviting features where you don't know what to expect around the next corner. A bit like a maze . Opening up into what was described as the pond and Alpine Scree area we were fascinated watching the fishes coming up for air . There were probably frogs in there too and water lilies would flower later in the season . Surrounded by azaleas which were a feature of the Spring garden it looked lovely on this sunny day.

We were lucky that the garden was so big that we had that area to ourselves . We could lose the people and find space to ourselves .

The garden was linked to the owner Dorothy Clive who with her husband Colonel Harry Clive designed and created the garden . We learned that Harry was born in 1880 and went to school in nearby Newcastle under Lyme. He began his military career with the North Staffordshire Regiment. In 1907 he married Dorothy Clive . They shared the same surname and we wondered if they were related to Clive of India . That would be one to research when we got home . Harry had many business interests and most must have been extremely successful as late he was to become a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant of the country . Enough money coming in to buy the hillside with its woodland and turn it into a stunning garden for the wife . Dorothy in later life was unwell and unable to walk far . She wandered around presumably the flatter parts of the garden. For twelve months Harry and his gardener hacked at the undergrowth, cut down the trees and cleared the area of the garden that once was a gravel pit . He used the words " Gradually our woodland garden was born "

Of course he was lucky to have ups and downs in the garden as it changed height. It was good for growing rhodedendrums which rapidly filled the open spaces.

We left the pond and headed up what was called the Old Drive . Herbaceous borders were filled with the massive mauve blooms of the Alliums the onion related varieties . Deep purple and light translucent blue Bearded iris filled in the gaps . The roses had not started to bloom yet but in a few weeks many of those would clothe the walls and the fences with colour.

We headed for the small cafe with all the tables set out on the lawns . Inside was welcoming with a selection of brunch items from Staffordshire oatcakes to bacon and egg cobs . From warm cherry and fruit scones just taken out of the oven. Large Danish pastries filled with custard . I chose what was described as a Copenhagen Slice . Made by the local Chatwins bakery it comprised of layers of flaky pastry split in half . The bottom half covered with strawberry jam and a thick layer of whipped cream . The top half covered generously with icing and nuts . We sat outside enjoying the sunshine eating our Copenhagen Slices washed down with the usual cappacino and double espresso .

After our short stop off at the cafe we headed uphill again before coming to the Quarry Garden . With its steps down to the woodland created below it was a riot of colour from the Azalea planting. Bright yellow flower heads next door to garish orange. Cream side by side with peach varieties. A single red one here and a double red there . We liked some of them and disliked others . But then that is the nature of plants and gardens .

The wood land walk around the quarry was a delight . Some areas had been left wild with long grass and the remains of the Bluebells which had gone over . Wild flowers grew everywhere . From Pink Campion to Queen Annes lace . We found places up there where we could be alone and just look at the plants, take photographs and try to work out what some of them were . A pink lilac type tree which was similar to a lilac but different . I knew some of the flowers but others I had never seen before . We tried photographing them and asking google on the phone to tell us what the plant was . That failed miserably as it continue to tell us it had a problem . We came away not knowing .

In the middle of the Quarry garden was the waterfall . A lovely feature and quite a surprise as the water tinkled down from above making the best use of the spot . Others liked that spot too. The children loved the water and the parents stopped to take photographs . I imagined this spot would be a magnet for the wedding photographer as would quite a number of secret spots in the garden .

Here and there were sculptures made from willow or wood . A stag hidden in the undergrowth . You hardly spotted it hidden deep in the undergrowth . A horse made out of willow canes around a corner . It was turning out to be a garden of many surprises .

In the winter garden now gone over we were told that Dorothy planted primroses , Autumn flowering crocus and other spring and Autumn favourites . Perhaps it is a garden you could visit later in the year and utilise the 2 for 1 offer open from July 1st to Autumn . My magazine had cost £8.50. I only needed to go to two gardens over the summer to break even and three gardens would have paid for the magazine and given me a profit .

The garden is described as little in size but that was perhaps not a title I would give it . I don't know how many acres it covered but we did some walking . Up and down, round hidden corners , around the waterfall and under the arch . The bluebell woods .

Around the next corner we found the Laburnum Arch . Perhaps not as impressive as the one in Bodnant it was still quite a feature as we headed beneath it to the Azalea Walk . The flowers of the Laburnum were in their peak condition . Hanging in bunches from the framework of the wooden arches . I made a mental note to buy a Laburnum bush and plant it in our garden . Perhaps build an arch to train it over.

The bluebell wood came next and the Belvedere with views over the countryside . This was a garden with many surprises . And in many places we had it to ourselves .

Dorothy suffered from that dreadful disease Parkinsons and died in 1942 aged only 59. Her ashes were scattered on a path above the quarry . The garden was preserved as a memorial to Dorothy and as a place where local inhabitants could come for rest and recreation . In 1963 Harry too passed away leaving behind a beautiful garden to be enjoyed by all.

We headed downhill now to the Royal Botanic glasshouse . This appeared to need some TLC. Some of the plants like many this year had suffered from the cold winter and lack of heating due to the high cost of energy. Inside were some exotics, a smell reminiscent of southern Europe , lemon and orange trees and the remains of what was described as a living wall . That was an area that really needed to be brought back to life and perhaps it would in time .

What was our favourite part of the garden? The azaleas no doubt about that . Even the garish colours of some of them made us smile . The small pond and the delightful waterfall hidden away in a quiet corner . The Alliums and the Iris in full flower . The wildness of the wild part of the garden . Left as nature intended .

Was there anything we disliked ? Not really . We wished that there were labels on the plants but it seems that the gardeners felt labels would be moved , that they would encourage people to climb into the plants and disturb them and that this was a garden to be enjoyed and not a cemetery or a botanical garden . It was the sort of garden you might have at home albeit on a much larger scale . The espresso was too watered down and served in a large coffee cup. Not strong and by the time I got halfway down it was cold .



Which brought us to talking about the latest developments at our Football club . Coffee was the watchword . The co-owners had been working behind the scenes to find a sponsor for the ground . They found a likely one in the USA. A company we knew nothing about . A company that sold Ice cold coffee . Before announcing to the world and his dog about the deal worth at least a million and probably more the fans had been consulted on the deal . It was agreed as in the mission statement that the new sponsors would name the ground however they had to agree to keeping the ground as the Racecourse and the Cae Ras . The new name for our ground is the Stok Racecourse or the Stok Cae Ras. For us Brits we have never heard of Stok pronounced Stoke as in the city but it is famous in the USA. What a turnaround and that on top of Betty Buzz sponsoring the team tracksuits this year. Would we get to try Soke iced coffee? Who knows but I am sure it would taste better than my cold espresso today .

It was one of those nice days out . Not too far to travel . Plenty to see , a cafe to spend a while at , peace and quiet and time to look at the sky through the wonderful trees that lined the garden . And to wonder what was going to happen next at the Racecourse

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