A glorious day ..

..at RHS Harlow Carr.

We (my friend and I) planned this trip last week as the schools would be back. At that time we had no idea that the forecast was for a return to summer with a vengeance, so of course it was very busy. Even the overflow, overflow car park was full.
We managed to squeeze in and when we returned they had opened the field beyond.

So a long queue for Betty’s but it was worth it. We had a proper lunch and it was delicious. One of the reasons for the queue is that there are now far fewer tables and they are well spaced out. There is also no delineation between the coffee shop and the cafe which I like.

We then had a pleasant wander around the gardens. Some really lovely and colourful late summer plantings in the borders.

There is an Alice in Wonderland trail still in place and I liked the bronze figure of Alice in the Edwardian Garden and the Mad Hatter with his cups, teapots and saucers hanging in the tree in front of the garden room in Diarmud Gavin’s garden.

I couldn’t resist the wildflower meadow looking absolutely it’s best at the moment. 

There was a pop up Carluccio coffee tent so we had one rather than going back into Betty’s though when we got around to the Bath House the outdoor Betty’s tea shack was relatively quiet.

A very nice day out with very high temperatures, may be another day of summer to come tomorrow.