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City & Village Tours: 0208 692 1133
This is a day exploring the Adur Valley in West Sussex with
a top notch Blue Badge Tour Guide. An attractive landscape
is dotted with pretty villages and beautiful views. The day
includes a one-course carvery hotel lunch and a visit to one
of the most glorious new gardens in England where we round
off the day with tea and home made cake.
We’ll meet our guide at the Old Barn Garden Centre on the
A24, south of Horsham, at 10.30am to buy morning coffee.
The River Adur, which flows from Henfield to the sea at
Shoreham, was once a busy trading route enriching the valley
villages and the inland ports of Bramber and Steyning where
sea-going ships once moored. On a scenic morning coach tour
we encounter Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for children
who slam doors, chew string and tell lies and Jonathan Creek’s
windmill. We discover how Steyning got William the Norman
so hot under the collar that he conquered England and pass
a 3000 acre country estate that’s been left to return to the
wild. For lunch we visit a popular Best Western Hotel in the
beautiful village of Bramber for a one-course carvery with a
hot drink. Desserts and bar drinks can be purchased on the day.
In the afternoon we’re off to the Sussex prairies!
From a sleepy country lane a short path through a dappled
woodland leads to an eight acre grassy field cradled by the
rolling South Downs. Huge, dazzling beds are filled with
romantic clouds of boldly coloured perennials. Tall plants
form great swathes of undulating colour. The owners spent
many years working with the Dutch pioneer of the prairie
style and when they came home to the family farm, an
ancient place named in the Domesday Book, they made their
own Prairie Garden. After a fascinating introduction with one
of the owners, (every February Paul takes a blow torch to
the garden and sets fire to the whole thing!) you can wander
through this wonderland. Not only are there no Keep off the
Grass signs there are actually little paths encouraging to walk
into and through the borders!
The couple propagate their own stock (with 32,000 plants
they’d hardly want to do anything else!) and you can buy
plants from the nursery. There’s also local art on show in the
long cosy barn where if the sun isn’t shining for us to sit out
on the terrace tea and delicious home-made cake is served
(included in your tour fee) at the end of the afternoon. We
will be tearing ourselves away to head for home at 4.45pm.
Sussex & The Prairie Garden
Camberwick Green U3A
Thursday 25th August 2016
For this outing we’ll be using Trumpton Coaches.
8.30am Trumpton Fire Station & 8.45am Chigley Post Office
Tickets are £49.00 including carvery lunch & coffee
For further information contact any of the committee members:
Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble or Grub
Ask for a free colour poster
to help you fill the coach - A4 magazine size
