We weren’t really sure what we expected to find at Alby. For me, the craft Centre part of the name was a bit of a put off, but I was wrong. We spent a very enjoyable hour or so pottering around the various artist workshops and galleries before heading out into the garden. We couldn’t quite believe our lucky with this October sunshine!
The gardens cost £2.50 each to enter, but it was well worth the money – the gardens were beautiful – very enjoyable to step through, even this late in the year. I can only begin to imagine how nice they must’ve been earlier in the season, when the well stocked borders were telling with colour.
If you decide to visit, see if you can spot all the outdoor artwork; the crocodile, rabbits, dragonfly and others. Also, if you are lucky, you may see some real life peacocks. Don’t forget to look up as we are reliably informed they like to today high up on the trees.
After our stroll, (well, run, in littley’s case) we deserved a nice lunch. We went into the tea room and located a very comfy little nook amongst the bookshelves, although we moved to a table when one became available, as this served us better to eat from.
And what a table! A large chalk board meant the littley and the adults were able to put our artistic skills to the test. Meanwhile, above or heads was an inverted pool table, dangling from the ceiling, balls and all!
And then the food!
We were really looking for a sandwich and a bit of cake, but we visited on a Sunday, so Sunday lunch was in full swing. We went for what we thought was the lighter options; jacket potatoes and a ploughmans, but we couldn’t’ve been more wrong. They were enormous! But really nice.
We were too full to have the intended cake, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so we bought some to take away for later. The cakes, which we are back at Waverley, were as fabulous as they were big; a lemon cake and, in particular, the cherry bakewell.
Definitely worth a return trip!