Garden Party At Arcot Hall

Nov 4 2009 The Journal

THE Duchess of Northumberland, famous for creating the new garden at Alnwick Castle, has officially opened another garden. But the latest patch of greenery isn't an extension to her award-winning garden in Alnwick.

The Duchess heard about a much smaller walled garden down the road in Cramlington and offered to unveil the latest addition to Arcot Hall Golf Club. Members of the private club have spent the last four years restoring a derelict patch of land back to its former glory.

In October 2005 some of the members decided that they wanted to put some work into the walled garden, which had been left unattended and become overgrown.

A small committee was involved and people gave up their free time to clear the area. Heather Dobson from Caluna Garden Design was brought in to advise on planting and design and the members were delighted with the result.

Club vice-captain Barry Dunn said: "The Duchess is obviously someone who is very well known in the area for her work with the Alnwick Garden and we couldn't have had anyone better to grace us with her presence.

"She was very interested in all of the work which had gone on and very knowledgeable about the different aspects of the garden."

The 600+ members now use the garden for relaxation and social events and as news of its attractions spread it has also been used for golf events such as the ladies six-counties match week and the national fire brigade championship.