Culcheth Open Gardens returns this weekend, with 14 gardens opening to visitors in support of St Rocco’s Hospice and Culcheth Methodist Church. It is a lovely local tradition, and considerably more wholesome than spending Saturday arguing with a garden centre trolley.
The gardens, including the Culcheth Methodist Church Community Garden, will be open on Saturday and Sunday. Visitors can expect impressive green spaces, plants for sale and refreshments, with each garden offering its own flavour rather than a relentless parade of identikit begonias.
Among those taking part is Devina Ramanah-Beck, whose garden on Culcheth Hall Drive was photographed by Dave Gillespie ahead of the event. Her favourite feature is the greenhouse, which allows the family to grow food in all weathers, although the huge Christmas tree at the back of the garden brings a welcome touch of winter magic.
Devina said she and her family found a new appreciation for gardening during the lockdowns. With after-school activities cancelled, they had more time outdoors and turned a pile of old pallets into raised vegetable boxes and a compost bin. They also began growing fruit and vegetables, using the harvest in dishes inspired by their Mauritian and Yorkshire heritage.
These days, gardening is no longer regarded as a chore in the Ramanah-Beck household. Devina spends around an hour a day in the garden, tending chillies, tomatoes, sweet peas and other crops. It is practical, sustainable and, frankly, more rewarding than paying supermarket prices for a handful of herbs packaged in enough plastic to upholster a shed.
Devina also spoke movingly about her sister Selina, who died from acute myeloid leukaemia in 2006 aged 22. She said the garden became a place of solace during lockdown, a time that brought both hardship and an opportunity for her family to slow down and spend time together.
That personal story gives the event an added importance. The money raised will support the much-needed work of St Rocco’s Hospice and Culcheth Methodist Church, helping them provide care and services for people across Warrington. Open gardens may sound gentle and genteel, but this one is doing genuinely useful work.
Tickets cost £5 in advance from Buds ‘n’ Shakes and Poyntons Florist Culcheth, or £6 on the day from any participating garden. One ticket covers both days, and under-16s go free. That is a pretty good bargain for two days of gardens, cake-adjacent refreshments and local fundraising with a purpose.