Monday 8th: Morning departure from your home area travelling to East Anglia and arriving
late afternoon at Marks Tey Hotel. Tea/Coffee and biscuits served on arrival. Four nights
stay - dinner, bed and breakfast.
Tuesday 9th: After a leisurely morning we have a drive to the north of Colchester and visit
Green Island Gardens. This is a superbly designed garden in a 20-acre site with borders,
water gardens, Seaside garden, Japanese garden, gravel and extensive woodland
gardens and more, all featuring unusual plants and flowers. The tea room is an ideal place
to end your visit.
Wednesday 10th: Today we have a drive to the village of Rettendon, near Chelmsford.
Here we visit the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Hyde Hall. This 360 acre estate
blends into the surrounding farmlands and is a garden to be enjoyed by all.
Thursday 11th: For our final outing we make our way to historic Colchester for some free
time and chance to obtain lunch. The oldest town in England boasts a wide “boulevard” as
a main street, with many interesting pedestrian shopping malls and lanes with specialist
shops. At one end of the street is beautiful Castle Park, complete with the largest Norman
Keep ever constructed, riverside walks and pleasant gardens. This afternoon we head for
the Beth Chatto Gardens. Begun in 1960 from an overgrown wasteland it is now an
informal garden harmonising with the surroundings.
Friday 12th: After breakfast we leave and begin our journey home with suitable stops
en-route.