A GARDEN FOR ALL SEASONS FROM SEEDS OF CHILDHOOD
Pru Cartright and I are soaking up the much-missed late summer sun on a terrace overlooking eight acres of layered gardens, still vibrant with the last of the bold agapanthus heads and aromatic roses. It seems that Brobury House Gardens, between Hay-on-Wye and Hereford, was a magnetic and inevitable destination for her and husband Keith.
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As a youngster, Pru had been part of her local walking and climbing club in Hampshire; much to the angst of her protective mother. She loved her garden and Pru was often at her side, subconsciously absorbing the names and ways of plants. It was therapeutic.
Keith and Pru met through Oxford University’s Climbing Club. Moving around the UK for Keith’s esteemed career in the medical sector, they were living in Cheltenham, working at the hospital where Pru thrived both as an Occupational Therapist and as the Wheelchair Centre Manager. Their two girls had flown the nest, but a tragic twist of fate had taken their son from them during an accident when he was himself a climbing guide.
Brobury and its gardens came to their attention in 2000, just as their own domestic garden project had been satisfyingly completed, with the invaluable support of their garden designer Peter.
Keith spotted Brobury for sale in the newspaper. It was already operating as a visitor attraction and the house, with its distinctive turret, reminded them of the property they had lived in in Edinburgh. On a whim, they went to the agent’s open day and instantly fell in love, not least with its position on the River Wye, so Keith could indulge his pastime of fishing. In the meantime, Peter, the garden designer, had done his own secret recce and was instantly inspired by the potential he saw to develop Brobury’s grounds further, and it didn’t take much to leverage Pru’s passion for plants and a new scaled-up project. Brobury House & Gardens was destined to be theirs, along with its two holiday cottages.
So, now residing to the very west of Herefordshire and
commuting to Gloucestershire, it made sense to take on a semi-detached pad in Gloucester to ease the weekday travelling, while development was being carried out back at Brobury under Peter’s direction. When hospital structures changed it felt the right time for Pru to retire from the Heath Service and to focus on Brobury’s progress. “I still stayed a couple of nights a week in Gloucester, but that was enough – you can undo landscaping errors over 2 days but any longer and too much has been done” she remembers.
Over the decades the location has established considerably, and the gardens have never looked better, tended to by a much loved and convivial team of gardeners. Water is a recurring theme. Three formal water features have been woven into the original terraces, the most recent a Lutyens-inspired pool with double steps and a parterre. A bog garden has been established at the bottom of the specimen tree walk and from this, informal paths follow a stream through woodland with architectural planting, leading finally to the two acre watermeadow beyond.
Since the Pandemic some hospitality elements have taken a natural shift, which fitted in with the couple’s advancing lifestyle; The beautiful main house, with its magnificent wisteria covering the turret, stopped providing bed and breakfast. The holiday cottages, which were let out for fishermen, are now long-term residential lets. While weddings have been scaled back, Brobury is still a lovely venue to hire for private celebrations, which can be held in the beautiful conservatory.
New and exciting things are still happening. The introduction of the Walled Garden Café has been a triumph. Occupying a building previously rented out for retail, the Café provides excellent quality breakfasts, brunches, lunches and cakes. Outdoor seating in the beautifully planted walled garden gives you a taste of the wider grounds. While you can access the Café without paying to enter the gardens, it’s worth the small extra charge to stroll and work off the delicious Café dishes, which champion local artisan producers, and are created and served by talented chef Eddie and a team that includes general manager Lisa and her partner Chris. You’ll also see the vast
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TRAVE L BROBURY HOUS E GARDENS
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