Each year we organise a day trip by coach to a garden attraction. We have now confirmed our 2026 trip to Hever Castle & Gardens in Kent on a Friday (26 June).

Our package includes coach travel to/from the venue from Royal Square in the centre of Dedham, admission to the gardens and castle, a talk from award-winning writer Val Bourne, and a two-course hot lunch. Tickets will be available for purchase from early April and the cost to members is subsidised – another benefit of joining the Society.

We’ll visit during ‘Hever in Bloom’ when the gardens are at the height of their summer beauty and many of the Castle rooms will also be filled with floral arrangements.

Set in 125 acres of grounds, Hever’s award-winning gardens include the Pompeiian Wall and classical statuary of the Italian Garden, a giant topiary chess set, and over 5,000 rose bushes in the quintessential English Rose Garden. You can also enjoy the Long Border designed in the style of Gertrude Jekyll; the Loggia overlooking a 38-acre lake; the Pergola Walk with its cascades, fountains and grottoes featuring ferns and moisture loving plants; as well as the Blue Corner, Sunken and Tudor gardens.

There’s a 100-year-old yew maze to explore, a display of miniature model houses, and the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Military Museum. While we are there, the castle will be showing a new exhibition, Capturing a Queen: the Image of Anne Boleyn, which brings together the largest ever gathering of portraits believed to depict her, including a ground-breaking newly identified contemporary image unveiled for the first time. The exhibition is included with our admission to the castle.