I sit next to a glamorous woman in a black chiffon dress on the 507 at Victoria heading for Lambeth Palace and we get talking, as one does! Three hours ago I was still potting on sunflowers in my garden in Brighton but now I am heading for the Poetry School. I mustn’t be late!
I learn that my travelling companion is a friend of the The Garden Museum and is off to the private view within minutes, she has invited me to join her as her guest.
I’m not dressed for the occasion and will only have twenty minutes even if I run to the Poetry School! But then I love that museum and I was going to visit it later in the summer anyway.
Iris is a happy optimistic person and suggests I stay for as long as I can. We are a little early so wait in a park nearby, where one or two others are trying to keep their balance as they change into their private view party shoes. I have a feeling this event is going to be fun!
Amazing … we are the very first visitors and within minutes I am sipping white wine, nibbling a canape, looking at a newly organised interior, the art work, installations, stained glass windows etc.
Iris has read all about the renovations and tells me about the tombs that were uncovered unexpectedly whilst carrying out the new work. The steps to the medieval tower are a new challenge but for me there’s simply not enough time!
The Garden Wall scheme is fun (an imaginative project to raise further funds) and we meet Joyce Grenfell’s nephew who has just donated a picture of his aunt for the project! What a fantastic woman she was, I’m sure she would have approved!
But now I really do have to run, I have a poem to read! But grab the details about being a friend of the museum and contributing to the wall!
A big thank you to Iris and I’ll be back again next week but hope we meet again.
The following information is taken from The Garden Museum’s Website
The Museum developed its collection over lthree decades and now has a number of historic garden tools, diaries, and catalogues which tell the story of the British garden from 1600 to the present day. The Museum’s photograph collection is one of the best records of the domestic garden, illustrating how it has been used and the changing fashions in design from the dawn of photography to the present day. The Museum also has a number of rare books, including a sixteenth century hortus siccus which once belonged to the botanist, Dr John Fothergill.
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