I have seen lots of photos on social media recently taken by friends enjoying the autumn colours.  We also appreciated the vivid reds of acer trees, and the golden orange of horse chestnut and beech trees which were glowing in the autumn sunshine when we visited Batsford Arboretum and Hidcote Gardens during the last fortnight.  All visits have to be pre-booked this year, and we have been incredibly fortunate that the times we chose were beautiful sunny afternoons with golden sunshine, blue skies and fascinating cloud formations.  

But it was a different experience from ever before at Hidcote.  In the first place, we had to arrive within a half hour window, and we were told to follow the one-way system around the garden.  Hidcote is famously made up of lots of different themed planting areas or ‘rooms’.  As we entered the first part of the gardens (the maple garden and the white garden), we were unable to trace and re-trace our steps between the different walkways of the old garden, and some areas were completely roped off so that we couldn’t see them at all.

We then came to a parting of the ways, where we had the choice to go on a longer route or a shorter route without steps, which specified it was suitable for those with pushchairs, wheelchairs or limited mobility.  So we followed the longer route which took us round the outer reaches of the garden, at times along the perimeter fence, through the less cultivated orchards, past the compost heaps and round through the cathedral-like beech grove into the kitchen garden.  As we passed small cut-throughs in the hedge back into the central ‘rooms’ of the gardens, we were prevented from walking through those gaps by ropes and up-turned logs which had a no entry sign painted on them.  We certainly saw parts of the garden which I had never seen before, and there was joy and delight to be found in the different paths and views which I unexpectedly stumbled upon.   But I must confess to feeling slightly short-changed in my visit because I was missing all my favourite and most frequently visited areas in the centre of the gardens.

As we came past the shop by the entrance, I shared with my husband the sense that we had missed out on the best part of the garden, best because of its familiarity and my long-standing memories of taking children, parents and friends there over the years.  “Let’s go round again”, said my husband, “and see if we can have another go”.  So we started out on a second circuit, and when we came to the parting of the ways, this time we took the shorter route. Imagine my delight when this path brought us into the familiar landmarks of the red garden, the pond, the lime bower and the pleached hornbeams on stilts.

Our visit to Hidcote could be an allegory for 2020.  Because of the pandemic, I have not been able to tread the familiar routes and follow my favourite patterns of activities through the year.  But I take comfort from the hope that we will have another chance to go round again and next time revisit the parts of life which we missed during this year.  Maybe they will be more precious to us because we will no longer take them for granted.  And we will have experienced other views of life which we wouldn’t have seen if Covid-19 hadn’t impacted so extraordinarily on our existence. 

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 28^th October 2020   sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk