Snowdrop Festival Part 2 28th February 2016

Danevale Park was a first for us in the Snowdrop Festival but it was not a first for Danevale Park. It first opened for snowdrops in 1951, and has opened every year since! In 2013 Mrs Gillespie was awarded The Diana Macnab Award for outstanding services to Scotland's Gardens.

 

 

 

Danevale Park is on the A713 two miles from Castle Douglas and one mile short of Crossmichael. The garden offers disabled access and visitors are welcome to bring their dogs.

 

 

Scotlands Gardens says of Danevale - The mature grounds have a wonderful display of snowdrops as well as aconites and many other wild flowers. Walks through the woods and alongside the River Dee, followed by an old fashioned afternoon tea in the house can make this a memorable day!  Well they were correct!

We parked, in what looked like the old stable yard, with it's cobbled floor.

 

 

We began by walking around the back of the house and across the lawn to a burn at the edge of the garden.

 

 

We then found the wall of what used to be a vast Walled Garden. Peeping through the gate, it now has a large area fenced off for chickens! Lots of interesting ferns and plants sprouting in the wall now though.

 

 

This part of the garden takes you to the River Dee, and on a sunny afternoon the water sparkled.

 

 

Well the snowdrops so far have been lovely... but then we reached the corner of the walled garden....

WOW!!   and WOW AGAIN!!    A sea of white, enough to take your breath away!

 

 

 

What a show of snowdrops! And amongst them are almost as many daffodil tips pushing through the ground. Another beautiful display later in the month for those who live here!

Continuing our wander through the woods, still next to the Dee, we saw huge old trees that have been here for hundreds of years, newer plantings that are continuing the tradition, along with other interesting features.

 

 

Wandering back towards the house we found more snowdrops under every tree and by every path.

 

 

The snowdrops at Danevale just left us speechless. How wonderful to live in a house with a display like this. I wonder when they were first planted?

As the pre-visit information said "an old fashioned afternoon tea in the house can make this a memorable day" Seeing the snowdrops had already made it memorable, but afternoon tea would just be the icing on the cake!

Tablecloths, real china cups and saucers, plates of cakes and scones and a delicious cup of tea were served with efficiency by very busy helpers. A fantastic end to a wonderful afternoon.

As we sat enjoying our afternoon tea we noticed a hand-written list about Danevale Open Days. It was a record of every open day they had organised, along with admission prices, details of the weather on each day and how much money had been raised for charity. A wonderful record and a very interesting read.

 

 

 Here are just a few examples of some of the entries.

 

 

 

The weather this year could not have been better, the snowdrops looked beautiful, the teas were reasonably priced, plant sales seemed to be going well - I wonder what the record for 2016 will say? Will have to go back just to see!