Highlights of Low Hall in Nidderdale, Yorkshire
Visiting Low Hall and meeting Pamela, the delightful 90-year-young owner this past August was an unexpected treat!
I was staying with my childhood best friend Jill (you'll get to meet her) who lives in nearby Pateley Bridge. Among many talents she is a wonderful artist and had been invited to sketch in the gardens of Low Hall with her art group during the time of my visit. Completely unaware that I had selected Low Hall as one of the special private gardens for your tour, Jill asked permission for me to tag along and photograph the gardens! What an incredible coincidence – and perfect opportunity to snap a few photos for you.
Yet what I enjoyed the most was meeting Pamela herself. This was her childhood home that she came back to live in in the late 1980s, redesigning the neglected and overgrown gardens from scratch. When I asked if we may visit via an email in January of this year she said; " I am very fit and healthy for my years, mostly due, I think to my passion for gardening. We must keep in touch nearer the time in case I am gone!!" As you can imagine she is quite the character and incredibly spritely for her age. She has a gardener on hand to help manage the grounds but she is very hands-on and really knows her plants.
This is not a perfect garden. There are a few tenacious weeds in the cracks of the paths. There are a few overgrown corners. But it is a garden I believe you will adore for its authenticity, its borrowed views, its setting (the private home is 17th century), the window into England as it used to be, and for its owner who will inspire you as she did me.
Anyway, here are a few of my favorite photos from that day (which was grey and drizzly).