Remaining faithful to the original Elizabethan layout, mellow walls provide the framework for the formal East Front and West Gardens. Beyond the West Gardens begin the lovingly restored Wild Gardens. Over the generations, most recently by Antony and Victoria Jarvis and Claire and James Birch, the gardens at Doddington have been restored, cared for, nurtured and developed to their fullest potential.

A spectacular pageant of spring bulbs begins in early February with wonderful Snowdrops and Crocus Thomasianus, continuing through March and early April with drifts of Lent Lilies and our unique collection of heritage Daffodils, Aconites and Snake Head Fritillaries until May when our famous Irises steal the show in the West Garden. There are also winter-flowering and scented shrubs, Rhododendron, and an underlying structure is given by topiary and some wonderful trees – the ancient, contorted Sweet Chestnuts that overlook the croquet lawn are still productive.

Meandering paths lead you to our Temple of the Winds built by Antony Jarvis in memory of his parents, a turf maze that he made in the 1980s, and if you look hard you may find the ‘dinosaur’s egg’ (a large boulder that he put in the branches of a field maple tree to surprise the grandchildren).

Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the formerly neglected two-acre Walled Kitchen Garden was restored to its former productive glory in 2007. Just a stone’s throw from the Hall, the Kitchen Garden now provides an abundance of fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs which take centre stage on the Café and Restaurant menus and are regularly for sale in our Farm Shop.

I was awoken by the sound of crockery crashing to the floor in the corridor outside the room. I dismissed that idea and decided the staff were being noisy tidying up the crockery trolley I had seen on the landing the previous evening. I went back to sleep and the next sound I heard was the 7 O’Clock chime of the Cathedral’s hour bell.

When we arrived for breakfast in the Garden room and found it empty we made our way to reception to ask where breakfast was being served and we were told it was being served on the first floor just around the corner from our room. The breakfast room was rather chaotic because one member of staff had phoned in sick. We sat down at a table and found that the breakfast buffet was far from complete. One of the missing items was orange juice so Mr C asked the waiter for some. The waiter promptly brought a fresh supply only for Mr C to find there were no glasses to put it in! Whilst chatting to one of the breakfast staff I found out the reason for the loud early morning crash of crockery. When they tried to move the trolley loaded with crockery in order to lay the breakfast tables, the leg fell off and the pots fell to the floor…

We managed to get through breakfast in plenty of time to attend the Easter Morning ‘Sung Eucharist’ service in the Cathedral and as we left our chaotic breakfast experience, the sound of the Cathedral bells could be heard, heralding the Easter Morning service. Peace was restored.

The service was lovely and at times quite moving. At the end of the service, as the procession walked up the central isle we noticed that all the young choristers were holding a chocolate Easter bunny and as we turned to leave the Cathedral we were struck by the sight of both front doors of the Cathedral opened wide. As I left I shook hands with the Bishop and walked out into brilliant sunshine which was a welcome contrast to the cloudy weather of the past couple of days.

We made our way to Doddington Hall and Gardens for lunch.  Because it was a bank holiday weekend, the cafe was full so we picked up lunch from the farm shop and ate outdoors in a picnic area. After lunch we did a tour of the grounds and hall and also the nearby St Peter’s Church, all of which was very nice.

On returning to the hotel we found that the faulty light bulbs that we had reported in the morning had still not been fixed! After the case of the missing towels the previous day I was quite adamant that they would be fixed so I reported them again before we left for a brief walk in the Cathedral quarter, enjoying seeing the Cathedral in the sunshine. When we returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner the bulbs had been replaced

We did not make the best choice of venue for an evening meal but that was rectified by a nightcap in the Wig & Mitre