Hemington Open Day

Having left Somerset Lavender we took an uncharted route back to Bristol, on our way we crossed a sign for "Hemington open Day" our curiosity piqued we followed the signs to discover an entire English village open for visitors. Along with a large tea tent, games, interesting animals and games of chance there were several back gardens open for the public to admire. One particularly spectacular garden boasted a water garden, a stream with bridges, two aviaries, ducks, ducklings, chickens, chicks, doves, and guinea pigs as well as several flower gardens, a rose garden, a vegetable garden, an orchard and a netted garden for berries. At each garden various activities/items were on offer, one house featured china items, another used books and another toys. There were also raffles, ice cream, crafts and plants available. At the Church there was a flower exhibition featuring 23 arrangements each representing a different country. We took a stab at trying to identify the countries but some arrangements were easier to decipher than others. After visiting all the gardens we had tea with fresh strawberries and cream at the tea tent and enjoyed the music of the fairground organ, and immense automatic machine with moving wooden automaton playing along to the music. It was a marvelously British experience and Ian and I are ready to move to Hemington should anything become available.