Thornes Park In February

We visited Thornes Park in Wakefield back in September. You can read about the visit in my Garden Visiting In September post. I was disappointed in my visit back then, being advertised on the internet as having a beautiful walled rose garden, conservatory and secret garden, it was a let down to find the walled garden in a state of disrepair, the conservatory closed due to the roof being unsafe and the secret garden also being closed. I visited today with low expectations but things are definitely looking up.

The first thing I saw as we entered the gates was the notice board containing this sign. There was no year to the date given, so I didn't know if the greenhouse roof had been repaired last October or if it was going to happen this year but I was hopeful that we may get to visit the exotic plants this time.

The area outside the walled garden was stunning when we last visited. The beds have now been cleared of the bedding plants and are waiting to be filled again.

As we entered the walled garden I could see that the beds were much tidier than they had been last September. The roses have now been pruned and most of the beds look well tended.

Some beds are still empty though and the sign asking for sponsors is still there.

The borders are well stocked but they will need a good tidy up in spring.

This plant which is growing against the wall looked stunning dripping with catkins.

There are a few colourful plants around the gardens even now, these hellebores for example.

The arbour is looking very bare. The plants climbing over it were covered in leaves in September but there were very few blooms, it would look so beautiful if it were covered in flowers.

We reached the conservatory and it was looking very hopeful. The roof does look to have been repaired and the barriers which were surrounding it last time for safety reasons have been removed but unfortunately, it was still closed.

I had a peek through the window, this part was filled with cactuses. It would have been lovely to be able to have a proper look around.

There has definitely been lots of work carried out since we last visited in September which is good news. It's sad to see places such as this fall in to a state of disrepair so I'm happy that funds have been found for repair work. I'm sure it will be a wonderful place to visit once all the renovations have been carried out and it's restored to its former glory.