My visit to RHS Wisley. Very photo heavy alert!

I've been so lucky with the weather this past week for both the coach trips.  It wasn't baking hot and, to start with, it felt quite cool, but I'd rather that than too hot any day.

We all got on the coach at the usual time and, yes, Pam and I sat together again, much to our delight.  She's very easy to chat to and very pleasant indeed.

The journey there, in contrast to Tuesday into London, was an absolute doddle.  No real hold ups at all until the lead off to the A3 and even then it was only the usual queue, nothing untoward.  

We were so early, we had to wait for a while before we could get in.  Thankfully, there were loos on the outside.

Wisley is considered the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society and one of the UK's most visited gardens.  It's now two hundred and forty acres in size, more than one can take in during one visit, I think.

The original sixty acre estate was given to the RHS is 1903.

This beautiful Arts and Crafts house is open to the public, I believe.  Something to remember for my next visit (which might be next week - more info later).

Once in, I had a quick nosey round the shop before finding the cafe area for my coffee and to eat what I had brought for breakfast.

Pam was already there, enjoying her tea and we decided to first locate where the cream tea was and then to part company.  We wanted to see different things and, as she said, moved at different paces anyway!

 I'm not sure how clear this map is going to be but maybe you could scroll in.
I first headed off towards the Pinetum and the Heather Landscape before walking through the woods by the River Wey and Seven Acres up to the incredible Glasshouse where I stayed for quite a long time.  Then I carried on to the Viewing Mount (not much in the way of views really),  through the Adventure Playground (lovely equipment, all natural wood with carvings plus a little 'beach' with clean sand and running water - the children were having an amazing time) and the Jubilee Arboretum.  I stopped at the Hilltop with the orchards and the pumpkin and vegetable patches, took a peek inside the World Food place, then through the Wellbeing Garden, the Cottage Garden, the Mixed Borders (stunning) and the Trials Gardens where there were lots of dahlias before heading back to the shop and the cafe.

I took lots of photos and I'll just post some below without comment.  I can't guarantee but I think they will be more or less in the right order.

Of course, being an RHS garden, there was plenty of really lovely art work scattered around.

The journey home was nowhere near as smooth as the journey there.  For a start, getting on to the M25 from the A3 was a disaster - half an hour plus to go a very short distance.  It's a daily thing too - poor, poor commuters, not to mention the people who live in the area.

Once on the M25, apart from static queues for which we never found the reason and the usual slow traffic at the Dartford crossing, it was OK and we weren't too late back.

So there you go - a snapshot of my visit to RHS Wisley.  Definitely a place to re-visit and if you ever get the chance to go, grab it.  Just take your own food with you!