Dorney Court Kitchen Garden is a delightful collective nursery, café, children’s play area and garden providing the perfect coffee and cake
destination for all the family to enjoy. Obviously the main attractions for us are
the three ride-on pedal tractors that our children use to explore the site,
keeping them amused and allowing our uninterrupted cappuccino supping!
The beautiful and recently restored Victorian kitchen garden
is accessed through the main nursery, and as you pass through the gap in the encircling
wall, you are immediately greeted by a clever and contemporary suspended steel
arched tunnel, supporting flowering wisteria and a pathway beneath bordered
with striking flowering alliums among other perennials.
The path leads you to a sunken garden, housing
the unusual, yet charming ‘Brussel Sprout’ fountain and pond, centrally
positioned within the symmetrically landscaped and planted beds traditionally
outlined with box. At this time of year the planting is just beginning to burst
into life, but from my previous and frequent summer visits I know the crowning display to be
outstanding.
The remainder of the garden provides further planting of standard
herbs and vegetables along with more unusual and exotic varieties all resourcefully
utilised for your culinary delight by the chefs in the café kitchen, a small lawn area and the headless-chicken
coop, aptly named by my children; you need to see the poultry to understand.
The entire garden delivers great inspiration for the amateur
horticulturist; most of the plants are available for purchase in the nursery,
and as I discovered whilst identifying Polygonatum × hybridum or
‘solomon’s seal’, the friendly and helpful nursery staff will happily answer
any questions and source your selected plant from their small and varied stock.
The wonderfully sheltered space the garden offers is also
cleverly utilised to host various events throughout the year and our visit on
this occasion involved a theatrical theme with the garden collaborating with
the Cambridge Travelling Theatre to provide a children’s workshop and
performance of Treasure Island . With a simple stage
area and the lawn providing a ‘bring your own blanket’ auditorium the players
staged the show to the delight of the children who all chorused together having
learnt the songs in the aforementioned workshop.
Captain Smelly’s affable performance was only marginally
eclipsed by the cameo performances from the very young audience participants Eva
and Daisy. Eva was so horrified and disgusted by her newly appointed pirate
name of ‘Evil’ Eva, that she spent her entire ‘moment of fame’ head-shaking in
an attempt to convince all and especially her parents that the descriptive adjective really wasn't befitting! Meanwhile ‘Dangerous’ Dais clearly hadn't read the script or
indeed realised she was actually participating in the show, and her dumbfounded
expression pertinently translated into a face of terror to abhor, priceless!
With the sun shining, this is a delightful way to spend an
afternoon and early evening, and having already experienced the Roald Dahl
delights of James and Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox as performed by Illyria at Cliveden and Greys Court respectively we will
certainly be back here for The Mikado in August.
More of the same please DCKG.
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