Well, despite very blustery winds, we had a very enjoyable opening for the Garden Gadabout on Saturday. Probably the most difficult thing was tying up the banner and the notices; string is mischevious in high winds.

We were open on Saturday 23rd June from 11am to 5pm. Our tallies seem to indicate that around 50 people visited the garden, which was really heartening when the weather has been so disagreeable. We hope it made a small contribution to the major fund-raising effort by The Sussex Beacon.

Those of us ‘on the gate’ were admirably supported by other members of the group dropping by to chat, with crispy cakes and a chocolate cake, and numerous trays of tea and coffee.

We spoke to many neighbours, as well as visitors from further afield. It was lovely to hear the enthusiasm of people living locally who told us that they regularly peer through the railings to see how ‘their’ garden is doing. We are lucky to garden in an area where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. When people walk around their area, they really start to own it.

Two French visitors were also telling me how bureaucratic organising garden visits can be in France, such that often gardens – even large, semi-public ones – don’t open regularly to the public. We of course had done our risk-assessment and health & safety checks, with notices warning of uneven ground and that really scary phenomenon, ‘steps’. Luckily, we didn’t have to use our ‘slippery path’ notice.

Our experience of the Gadabout was a really positive one, and we can only encourage people who may have lovely gardens in our area or further afield in Brighton, to think about opening their gardens next year. We enjoyed receiving visitors, we enjoyed sitting out at the station on what proved to be a reasonable Saturday afternoon, and we hope the whole Garden Gadabout will be a great success for The Beacon.