Barrow Open Gardens

Children planting at the Sashay into Spring event.

This is an annual event usually held over the last weekend in June where gardens around the village are open to the public.  All monies raised are given to the local charity, Rainbows Children’s Hospice.  The Open Gardens team hold various events throughout the year to raise funding; for the 2019 event it all began with a stall at the ‘Barrow Street Market’ on 8th July 2018, next it was ‘Autumn Watch’ and the ‘Scarecrow competition’ on 22nd September 2018, followed by ‘Winter Wonderland Stall’ at the village Christmas Market on 1st December 2018. The final event was ‘Sashaying into Spring’ and ‘Wind chime/Suncatcher Competition’ on 23rd March 2019.

Open Gardens 15th and 16th June 19:

For 2019 we wanted at least 20 gardens, of different styles and types from all corners of our lovely village to feature in a fantastic weekend.  Our programme boasted 22 hidden gardens, including 6 new openers plus one returning after a long break, 4 community gardened public spaces, 1 garden planted by children and 3 Parish Council spaces all linked by walks highlighting the village’s many jitties  tended by the community Footpaths Group. 

There was also a special exhibition celebrating the contribution that Openers past and present have made to the life of our village. Beautifully curated by Barrow Heritage Group it drew on a mix of personal memories and material gathered from back copies of Barrow Voice, our community magazine. The exhibition was accompanied by a display of artwork by Barrow artist Chris Bates, whose images are to be found illustrating many of the village publications.

It wasn’t the easiest of run ups to this year’s event as we watched the rain lash down on our poor gardens but the forecast did suggest the weather might manage to rally over the weekend.

Programme sales at the flower shop were going well but there was always a bit of a worry that people wouldn’t turn out , though we knew intrepid fellow gardeners from far and wide would, come what may! In the end though the rain stopped, the flowers rallied, the sun shone and the people came. It was fabulous! The gardens looked lovely, the plants amazing, and the cakes even more scrumptious than ever. The exhibition and art gallery were wonderful and of course there were Rainbows in the Roundhouse.

The rain did manage to make its presence felt on both afternoons but it didn’t dim our enthusiasm or diminish our achievements.

All of the visitors I spoke to had nothing but nice words to say about Barrow, the gardens and in particular people showing their gardens. They loved the variety of gardens, the plant stalls, the friendliness and the programme.

The amount raised in 2019 for Rainbows - £6,777 Fantastic
 

Lin Webb