Friday 9th December 2022.

It has been a cold, dull and miserable day today. After a hard overnight frost, the air temperature remained around freezing all day. The weather and temperature has gradually got colder as we near the weekend.

I had booked tickets several weeks ago for this evening’s visit to RHS Harlow Carr, for the annual ‘Glow’ event, which runs from Thursday 17th November through till Friday 30th December. This is a special event as it shows off the garden in a completely different light.

It is usually a steady fifty-minute journey from home to the gardens, but today it took just over ninety minutes, due to road works on the outskirts of Harrogate opposite the hospital and the sheer volume of traffic. It was 4.30pm as we arrived in the car park. I popped into Bettys for a takeaway coffee and stopped to admire the Christmas window display before we checked into the gardens next door.

After showing our tickets and walking through the reception area we headed outside. It was a dark, clear, cloudless evening, there was no wind, and the air temperature was hovering around the freezing mark. 

Flood lighting of all colours lit up the trees in front of us, green, blue, white and red beams of light transformed the trees into sculptured works of art. We followed our usual route, heading past the learning centre on the left, the views to the right looking across the QM lake were quite magical, hooped lighting along the edge of the lake led to the new footbridge which, although still under construction, looked very pretty bathed in a palette of colour. We continued our stroll to the sunken garden, admiring the white and purple lighting around the pond and gazebo, the frozen lake matched the lighting. We continued our walk around the QM lake, the large oak tree on the edge of the lake was bathed in white light and in its setting looked amazing. Our route took us on to the ‘Streamside walk’, passing the children’s play area on the left, red, green, white and purple lights lit the trees and bushes which set against a dark background looked beautiful. The three sculptured deer on the left were illuminated and looked very majestic, especially with the dark backdrop of trees behind them bathed in a magical blue light.

We continued our walk along the ‘Streamside path’, the lighting on both sides of the stream was very dramatic and extremely colourful. On reaching ‘The old Bath House’ we popped inside to have a look at all the hand-crafted artifacts, cards and paintings before making our way up the slope to the ‘Kitchen Gardens’. ‘The Alpine House’ in the foreground was well illuminated, the blue and red lights forming a hue in the dark, cold night air. From the Alpine house it is just a short walk to the Garden Centre and after doing some Christmas shopping, we headed back to the car for the journey home. Another lovely evening at the Gardens. The Glow event runs till Friday 30th December 2022 and tickets must be booked in advance prior to visiting.