It is that time of year again, when I take part in the Civil Service Mega Miles challenge. This year I aim to walk 100 miles in June, hoping that ‘life’ doesn’t get in the way!

On day two of the challenge I had the opportunity for a post shift walk at Attingham Park. Just after I arrived in the visitor reception area for my afternoon shift the heavens opened. The rain shower was and replaced by blue sky and white fluffy clouds.

Towards the end of my shift dark clouds started circling around but they kept the rain to themselves. The sky got even darker as I left on my extended mile walk route. As I started my walk I ended up being an involuntary guide to the walled garden. A couple shouted me from a parallel pathway to ask how to get there. I told them and they set of the direction of the walled garden. A few minutes later they spotted me again to ask for confirmation on the route. I told them I was also going there so they walked with me, chatting as we walked. The reason for their confusion is that the walled garden was farther than they expected, they thought it would be near to the house.

On arrival at the walled garden they thanked me and we parted ways. I picked up speed to outrun the potential rain shower but thankfully the rain held off. As I drove home the roads were wet in places revealing where the dark clouds had shed their water.

Kiftsgate Court Gardens has been on my ‘To Do’ list for far too long. When we visited the nearby Hidcot Garden several years ago, a friend told us that he thought that Kiftsgate was the better garden of the two. We have been meaning to visit ever since but every time we were in the area the garden was closed.

Kiftsgate was on my radar ‘to visit’ during our recent holiday in Winchester but Mr C thought he would rather visit as a day trip from home. Today (27th May) was that day. The journey was a little dull but the weather was perfect. We had lunch in the courtyard where we found a shaded table before entering the garden.

We are Historic Houses members so were able to visit the gardens for free as part of the membership. The lady who checked us in suggested we visit the upper gardens first before descending into the lower garden area and that is what we did

The pathway down to the lower garden is a little narrow and uneven and, from time to time, we had to step aside to let others pass by. At one point Mr C stepped aside to let a family past, he complimented the young girl (being carried by her father) on her Angel wings. A little bit of conversation ensued as the family passed by.

Then I heard the words, ‘I am Megan’ and I was transported back to the previous day when I was a Visitor Reception volunteer at Attingham Park. A young girl walked ahead of her parents right up to a fellow volunteer and said to him, ‘My name is Megan’, and as her parents caught up with her she said,, ‘Have you met my brother?’ A brief conversation ensued before the family left to enjoy their visit to Attingham Park.

Back to Kiftsgate, the words, ‘I am Megan’, caused me to look to see if there was a brother following. There was, so as the family passed me, much to their surprise I asked them if they had visited Attingham the day before. I explained that I was at visitor reception when they arrived and we had a brief conversation before we went on our different ways along the path.

Kiftsgate garden was well worth the wait and we had the perfect weather to enjoy it.

Much later, we dined on the patio enjoying the warm-but-welcome cooler temperature after the heatwave.

Luther Burbank

Walt Whitman

We enjoyed lunch and an afternoon walk around Winterbourne Gardens. For some reason the gate to the reservoir was closed leaving us slightly dissapointed.