On Wednesday, 31st August, 33 members went on the sell-out trip to the World Garden at Lullingstone Castle, Eynesham, Kent. Conceived by plant hunter and botanist Tom Hart-Dyke when he spent 9 months as the unwilling guest of FARC guerrillas in the Darien Gap, between Panama and Colombia, in 2000, the two-acre garden, in a former walled kitchen garden, has over 8,000 species of plants in plots representing all the continents of the world, from the arid deserts of Mexico to lush jungle-like plants of Asia. Crammed into a relatively small space for the world, the garden and its associated themed outhouses are intriguing rather than spectacular but well worth the visit. The estate itself is also fascinating, the church having Saxon and Norman origins, with the tomb of Lullingstone's founder, Sir John Peche (pronounced “Peachey”), who built the manor House in 1497. It has been home to the same family ever since, for whom the World Garden produces income to help retain it.
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