RHS Garden Bridgewater &
the Heritage of Cheshire & the North West

Day 1

We depart by private coach from our designated pick up points. En route to our hotel we visit the National Trust’s Attingham Park in Shropshire, an elegant 18th century mansion, and home to a fine collection of ambassadorial silver, Italian furniture and Grand Tour paintings. We then check in at the 4* Park Royal Hotel in Stretton for a four night stay on a half board basis.

Day 2

Our Blue Badge guide meets us at our hotel this morning and accompanies us throughout the day. A guided tour at the Manchester Art Gallery this morning introduces us to one of the country’s finest art collections including pre-Raphaelite paintings, craft and design, and early 20th century British art, all set in spectacular Victorian and contemporary surroundings. The National Trust’s Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate near Wilmslow is our destination this afternoon. This restored Georgian cotton mill tells the story of ‘King Cotton’ from a bale of raw cotton to finished cloth, and the original Apprentice House recreates the 1830s atmosphere of the lives of child workers.

Day 3

This morning we enjoy an included guided walking tour of Chester taking in sights such as the city walls, the Cathedral and the unique 13th century ‘Rows’. With our Blue Badge guide this afternoon we visit the National Trust’s Erddig property, one of the most fascinating houses in Britain with an evocative range of outbuildings and state rooms displaying most of their original 18th and 19th century furnishings.

Day 4

With our Blue Badge guide this morning we enjoy a guided tour of The Lowry. Set in a magnificent waterside location at the heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays, The Lowry houses the biggest public collection of works by LS Lowry with around 350 paintings and drawings, ranging across Lowry's artistic career. This afternoon we visit the National Trust’s Lyme Park property. Originally a Tudor house, Lyme was transformed by the Venetian architect Leoni into an Italianate palace, lavishly decorated with Mortlake tapestries and Grinling Gibbons wood carvings.

Day 5

After checking out of our hotel and en route home we visit the RHS Garden Bridgewater, so named after the nearby canal. A stunning new 156-acre garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater is being created in the heart of the North West by bringing back to life the lost historic grounds at Worsley New Hall in Salford. This is one of the largest gardening projects in Europe, designed mainly by Tom Stuart Smith. In 2019 at the Chelsea show, his garden highlighted the main features for Bridgewater’s future. The RHS tells us “Bridgewater includes one of the largest walled gardens in the UK”. There are many areas to discover here, kitchen, paradise and Chinese gardens, restored Victorian greenhouses and much more. Worsley New Hall was built for the Earl of Ellesmere in the 1840’s, survived a fire and was once visited by Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. It served as a Red Cross hospital during WW1 and was a training ground of the Lancashire Fusiliers in WW2. Eventually this grand Gothic style mansion, designed by Edward Blore, was demolished in the 1940’s, with its gardens gradually disappearing. Then along came the RHS. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route, we return back to our original pick up points.

We stay four nights on a half board basis at the 4* Park Royal Hotel (www.theparkroyal.co.uk) in Stretton. Facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, gymnasium, Jacuzzi, and sauna, and all rooms are en suite and feature television, telephone, hairdryer, and tea & coffee making facilities.

Insurance (including Covid cover) £28

Single room supplement £99

Entrance fees to National Trust properties (free to NT members)

Gratuities

Lunches

Donations at any cathedrals visited

All excursion travel & guided tours included