A talk on the restoration of the garden at The Manor House, Upton Grey, designed by renowned garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, was the focus of our fundraising lunch held on Monday 23 March 2015.   The location of the lunch was the beautiful Long Gallery at Englefield House near Reading in Berkshire, by kind permission of Zoe Benyon. 

The event started with a tour of the church on the Englefield Estate before our 60 guests arrived at the Long Gallery for a canape and bucks fizz reception, sponsored by Tony Roe Solicitors.   The delicious lunch of herb marinated supreme of chicken in a lemon and tarragon sauce followed by tarte tatin was then served.    During coffee and hand made chocolates Rosamund Wallinger gave an amusing illustrated account of the history of garden design and Gertrude Jekyll’s life before telling us about her restoration of the garden at Upton Grey, together with all the trials, tribulations and lessons experienced along the way.   Finally, a prestigious raffle with a variety of high quality prizes donated by local companies, including a two-day sculpture course by McAlistair Hood of Englefield Garden Centre, was drawn.

The event concluded with the guests enjoying the gardens at Englefield House, bathed in gorgeous Spring sunshine.

We would like to thank all of our supporters who made this special event so successful.