After an early start with Meg and Gracie, it was home for a quick breakfast before I had to drive up to Harrogate for an early morning meeting. Fortunately, the meeting lasted for just over one hour so rather than drive back home we headed over to RHS Harlow Carr for a walk and brunch in Bettys.

It was 10.30am as I popped into the coffee shop for a takeaway coffee before heading into the ticket office. It was a lovely morning, 10C which is quite mild for this time of year, the sun was beginning to break through the clouds and the gentle westerly wind reminding us that we are still in winter. After leaving the main entrance we turned left and followed the main footpath towards the ‘Lakeside Gardens’. It was nice to see large clusters of Snowdrops adding some colour along with some purple heathers amongst the newly established water feature adjacent to the restaurant. We continued our walk heading past the ’Learning Centre and Library’ to the ‘Sunken Victorian Garden’. Some re modelling and landscaping work is being carried out to the left-hand side, the low balustrade wall has been removed and the ground levelled and re soiled, it will be interesting to see what it will be like on our next visit. A lot of gardening work has been carried out around the sunken garden since our last visit, most of the large grasses have been trimmed down to the ground, the borders look quite sparse but tidy, in a couple of months’ time they will be full of colour again. We continued our walk to the ‘QM lake’ and as the landscaping around this area was now complete, we were able to walk over the newly installed ‘Thaliana Bridge’, it certainly gave a new perspective of the area. We continued our walk alongside the lake and followed ‘the Streamside walk’ to the ‘Old Bath House’. The bank sides were quite bare as to be expected at this time of year but clumps of Snowdrops brightened up the area. Considerable hard landscaping was being carried out today, big diggers were cutting a new pathway alongside of the stream and several of the large borders were being reconfigured, it will be interesting to see how they have progressed on our next visit. The four Seasons Sculptures have now been removed to pastures new. The Japanese shop currently housed in ‘the Old Bath House’ is always worth a visit, selling some lovely handmade and painted gifts including traditional wooden Kokeshi Dolls, exquisite Japanese tableware, beautiful Japanese art prints, and much more. After leaving the warmth of the old bath house we continued along the opposite bank of the stream and headed up the slope to the ‘Sandstone Garden’, the pools had thawed out since our last visit. I always enjoy this part of the garden, the huge sandstone rocks, the planting and the pools, I find it quite relaxing and peaceful. After a few moments enjoying the peace and quiet, we continued up the slope and into the garden centre before finishing off our visit in Betty’s for brunch.