Enthusiastic gardeners in Bridgerule had a tremendous response on Sunday 28^th June 2009 when they opened their gardens to raise money for the Devon and Cornwall Air Ambulance Trusts.

£1920 was raised in total, and a cheque for £960 will be sent to each Trust

Local people and holidaymakers were once again extremely generous in support of these worthwhile charities and were spoilt for choice!! For the entrance fee of £3 visitors could visit all 7 gardens There was a large 4 acre garden with ponds and lakes with specimen trees and two delightful foals to see (along with their proud mums!) There was a 4 year old garden under construction with native trees, wild flowers, a new pond and herb garden.

A low maintenance garden with specimen shrubs, pond/water feature, productive vegetable garden (with huge cabbages – well done Daniel!!) and selling a large selection of home made cakes. There was an older style “wildlife friendly” cottage garden with an orchard and hens roaming freely where you could buy lunches and rest awhile with a cuppa.

Also visited was an old Mill which has a culinary and medicinal herb garden and is self sufficient in fruit and vegetables. Riverside meadows could be visited here and a huge selection of plants could be purchased . The ducks were so well fed here by the visitors that they haven’t eaten since!!

A fascinating collection of old garden tools could be seen at another garden which was also selling soup and a roll, ice cream and various liquid refreshments. Finally a lovely compact garden which is low maintenance and has a large selection of shrubs and young trees.

This year St Bridget’s Church made and served the Cream Teas and other refreshments and were so busy they had to send out for more supplies to satisfy the demand!!! (thank you Peter for getting them!!)

All the gardeners agreed that the hard work was worth the effort and were delighted that the magnificent sum of £1920 had been raised for these two very worthwhile charities. This was the fourth year that the gardens had been opened and it is getting more successful each year thanks to the generosity of the local people and visitors alike, some of which came from Weymouth, Launceston and Yorkshire. It is hoped to repeat the event next Year.