Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. By September, the vibrancy of summer has passed for many gardens, and autumn leaves are still pending. So, this trip during a sunny day in mid-September was to experience two gardens that are quite near to each other to see if an early autumn visit is worthwhile. The two gardens, at Abbeywood Estate and Cholmondeley Castle , were both deserving of a visit, and turned out to have completely different styles; Abbeywood is compact, intimate and lushly planted, whereas Cholmondeley has wide open spaces, mature trees and impressive vistas. An imposing Oak and Cholmondeley Castle. What's Here? Abbeywood garden is entered through the cafe, which overlooks the tropical garden, and provides a civilised way to take on some unnecessary calories. When eventually entered, the topical garden has narrow paths that open into the peaceful Pool garden with its many carp. There is then a pergola and some herbaceous borders that open into the distinctive prairie garden that features a varie...

In Brief. Named after the person it was initially produced for, the Dorothy Clive Garden was originally developed in the 1940s, and is now a garden of two halves. The original garden is a wooded area built into an old quarry, which will be most colourful in the spring, and the more recent area includes a collection of themed spaces including grand herbaceous borders and a distinctive edible woodland.  In my visit in September there was still a lot of colour in the more recent garden, and the cafe provides a pleasant area to pass the time when the sun shines. The Waterfall in the Quarry Garden What's Here? The Dorothy Clive Garden occupies a hillside near Stoke-on-Trent, and, other than the sound of cars heading along the adjacent A51, this is a peaceful and relaxing garden.  After a pleasant tea and lemon drizzle cake the outdoor space of the cafe, I headed for the Quarry Garden. This provides meandering paths around and into a largely wooded area that occupies a disused quarr...