Earlier this year I booked tickets online for the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show which runs from the 17^th – 19th September. This year, for the first time the Autumnal flower show was moving away from the Yorkshire showground in Harrogate to Newby Hall, a stately home on the outskirts of Ripon, just 50 minutes away from home.

It was a fine dry morning as we left home and it stayed like that for the remainder of the day, ideal weather for walking round the show. Traffic on the A1 was busy as usual though we came off the motorway at junction 48, onto the A168 which runs alongside the A1. We followed the road north as per sat nav until reaching the roundabout to turn left for Newby Hall, alas the yellow road signs sent us in the opposite direction and through the small village of Kirby on the Moor. From that roundabout off the A168 in took us a further 20 minutes to reach the designated car park, I lost track as to how many fields we drove through, the only consolation was that the traffic was moving, albeit at snail’s pace across the fields. After we finally parked the car, it was just a 5-minute walk across the field to the main entry gate, after having our tickets scanned, we continued walking along the main avenue. By this time it was 10.30am and the place was buzzing with people, chatter and background music, every now and then the smell of freshly ground coffee drifted through the air.  

Small nursery stalls lined the main avenue, selling everything you could imagine for the gardens, furniture, statues, hot tubs and of course plants. Behind the trade stands was the main floral pavilion which stretched almost the full length of the Main Avenue. I always enjoy a walk through the main pavilion, the work and length that the nursery staff have gone to to produce their floral displays was amazing. Along with the specialised growers and nursery stalls were some beautiful floral arrangements, Dahlias, Fuchsias, Bonsai to name but a few of the outstanding displays. After a long browse through the pavilion, we were in need of some refreshment and a sit down, so we made our way around the corner to the ‘west food court’ here we were spoilt for choice, fish & chips, burgers, Mexican, meatballs, we settled for a lovely pulled pork sandwich which was extremely nice and tasty along with a cup of Yorkshire tea. After finishing our brunch, we headed over to the main house and a look around the gardens, a young lady was playing the flute, accompanied by a gentleman on the keyboard, on the terrace, which sounded beautiful and much appreciated by the watching audience of several hundred visitors. We continued our walk down the balustrade steps and past the ornate pond and headed down to the river. The deep borders at Newby Hall are renown and although late in the year were still looking colourful and vibrant. From the river we made our way back through the gardens to the flower show and a look through the Home and gifts marquee, which was bustling with visitors looking at all the goods on display, ranging from paintings, photographs, woollen good, crafts and perfumes to name just a few of the stalls. On leaving this marquee we continued along the West Avenue and into the Fruit and vegetable marquee, alas so was everyone else, so after a quick peep we headed back outside onto the Main Avenue, stopping for an ice cream before continuing to look at all the plant stalls and nurseries. We stopped to listed to a musician for five minutes or so in the bandstand before continuing along the avenue. We stopped again to have a look at a stall selling Alpine plants, only to discover that the stall holder lived around the corner from our house! We left with a bag of three small pots of Alpines and made our way over to another of the Nursery stalls specialising in grasses, again leaving with a bag full of three different types of grasses. As time was marching on and it was getting quite late in the afternoon we decided to head back to the car for the journey home. A very enjoyable day in the grounds of a lovely stately home.

The Spring Flower Show in 2022 will be held at the Yorkshire Showground on the 21st – 24^th April 2022. I must remember to book tickets.