If I Get A Second Chance At Life, I"ll Be A Gardener Again

Gardener and writer Tamsin Westhorpe

- Tamsin Westhorpe

Tamsin Westhorpe has worked in horticulture since the age of 16. She spent a year training in a plantsman’s garden before going on to study at Sparsholt College in Winchester, and her subsequent career has seen her working variously as a greenkeeper, parks gardener, horticultural lecturer, writer and magazine editor. She now looks after Stockton Bury Gardens in rural Herefordshire as well as writing and lecturing. We put on our coats and went to tour the gardens...

WHAT DOES THE COUNTRYSIDE DO FOR YOU? 

I thrive on the beauty – whatever the season. I feel passionate about protecting this pocket of Herefordshire. Stockton Bury has been in my family for five generations, so we know so much about the soil, weather and growing conditions. I feel responsible for my heritage and great respect for the hard work my relatives have put into this land.

WHERE DOES YOUR INTEREST IN GARDENING STEM FROM? 

My uncle, Raymond Treasure, and his partner, Gordon Fenn, have created Stockton Bury Gardens over the past 35 years – so I have grown up with the garden. I’m never happier than when I’m in a garden, so it made sense to actually work in one.

HAVE YOU ALWAYS LOVED COUNTRY LIFE? 

My parents worked at a boarding school in Surrey, so during term times my sisters and I lived within the confines of the school. In the holidays we would head to Stockton Bury to stay with our farming grandparents. Aida, my Norwegian Fjord pony, and I would set off each day to explore country lanes and bridle ways. I also remember harvest teas and apple picking.