“All I know is you put the hairy end of the plant in the garden”
Two segments from the programme: Mrs Barnes who tended a graveyard garden in Castleton, Derbyshire and Mr & Mrs Harrison, torch-bearers to Capability Brown, at the majestic Brocklesby Park in North Lincolnshire.
Clip taken from The Front Garden, originally broadcast on BBC Two, Tuesday 25 December, 1979.
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but when I first came to the cottage
there was no Garden at the front and I
love gardening so one day I saw the
Vicor going past and popped out and I
said would you give me permission to
tidy the the corner of the churchyard
and he said oh we’d be most grateful
anything you want just do it it’ll be
all right so I went out and I had a look
and it was
chaotic then I had to start clearing the
r FH first I humped stones and two
buckets and then I went for the weeds
with a TR a rake with a broken handle
and my two hands I wanted it to be
herbaceous and I planted it out started
making the surround to it the shape of
it and there were awful snags there
there were Iceberg rocks with the tips
coming out I couldn’t move for anything
so I took the Garden Round it so all the
curves are not
or my own
Artistry I also take in my stride 18
Graves and one Monument I should say
easily a quarter of those have known to
care for them and I found it sad so I
take them in with me as well the village
were very curious and good humored what
you doing are you digging Graves no oh
did you want one not yet you know and
thus it went on well I’m not in the
habit of repeating compliments but when
the garden was done the vicer came
across and he said Mrs Barnes I’ve seen
a Miracle Grow before my eyes and you
know really I had the heart to say it’s
not a miracle it was love determination
and very hard work which I enjoyed every
moment of oh we feel marvelous about it
two ordinary working people being
allowed to live in in a place like this
we think it’s absolutely mad we still
can’t believe it we still can’t believe
it Mr and Mrs Harrison’s Castle isolated
no gas no electricity is on the edge of
brocklesby Park a great estate in a
remote corner of North
Lincolnshire it is in fact the gate
house they rent it well it’s one of
capability Brown’s
fols we saw it empty and it had been
empty for quite a while and we just
thought on the off chance that we would
uh see if they would let us live here
and uh that was it eight years this
October when we got the
keys
semic Gardens were nonexistent no at all
non-existent I’m an informal person and
so the garden’s
informal I mean I’d know nothing at all
about gardening all I know is you put
the Airy end of the plant in the garden
and hope for the best water now
again I don’t like things in straight
lines I just love to see things look
nice and neat and tidy and
happy it’s a long while ago since I left
school now and on my school report it
said uh neat tidy conscientious worker
with artistic ability and I think that’s
about sums it up
I think capability Brown would have
shook our
hand I really do I think this
building we we’ve Tre it with love and
respect that it deserves when he
fashioned it and I think that we would
be delighted well we think we’ve
achieved something we’ve really achieved
something but building as it was and
surrounded with Nal weeds and everything
yeah even the inside we put it right
would you ever think of starting again
somewhere else oh dear me oh where could
you find even a let alone better as good
as this I can never get enough of the
place never I mean who else could be
given the chance to live in a place like
this and all this beautiful area people
always seem as though they’re looking
for something and really it’s at the end
of the
nose I found it it’s
[Music]
fabulous
37 Comments
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I understand that confidence and being content on your own is key, however I can't seem to shake off the feeling of failure and being unable to find and attract a woman that I want. Being on my own for so long, I can't see how it can be beneficial for anyone to be this way for this long and not have companionship. I don't mind being on my own, as I said I've travelled a ton, I've been to almost 70 countries now and the vast majority of that on my own.
Very Beatrice Potter.
1979: Amateur GARDENERS' EXTRAORDINAIRE | The Front Garden | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive 12.4.24 in my neighborhood its a case of that looks nice and……you guessed the rest………… "corme look at my glorious gubbins." do we didn't. went t't pub instead.
Lovely ladies who came from a generation who just rolled up their sleeves and got on with it. I just hope these gardens are in the same beautiful state as when they left them.
Seeing the smiley older couple I thought I was watching 'Little Britain' for a second.
The word Paradise comes from the Persian word pairidaezas which means 'Walled Garden'. The notion of Paradise as a garden predates Islam, Judaism, Christianity and even the Garden of Eden. It stems from the Sumerian period 4000BC in Mesopotamia. Shade and water are two important elements of paradise.
You put the hairy end of the plant in the garden and hope for the best
I wonder what it looks like today the Uk graveyards are forgotten places, cremation and scattered this is the way
I love Mrs Barnes creating a beautiful garden in the churchyard, I hope she’s at rest there too and it’s just as lovely as when she tended it.
The couple reminded me of an old information film from the 70s , a couple sitting on the beach,wife with big hat and sunglasses, husband with knotted hanky on head and string vest 😅 “learn to swim young man,learn to swim” 😂
I love the joy they all got from bringing life and colour and beauty into forgotten places.
Well this gatehouse castle looks pretty unloved today, they mow the lawn i guess this couple were a one off. Rip
"People's always seem as though they're looking for something, and really it's at the end of the nose."
I remember my mother gardening in a black velvet skirt and heels
What country was this?
I’ve seen meticulously accurate BBC dramas set in 1970s England and it looked nothing like this place, wherever it is.
Absolutely adorable🙏🌟
Where's all the 3rd world people that call themselves british at 🤔
She was a very kind woman.
Her little cottage looks very much the same today. Even down to the large basket on the wall. The whole place is a bit of a picture postcard touristy place now.
Iceberg rocks.. what a lovely phrase
What charming elegantly these ladies were. The gardens, landscape, cottages, churches buildings erc are are beautifull! Maintaining that beauty remains in this very beautiful part of beautiful Derbyshire!
Excellent and lovely to see so many traditional plants and shrubs. I might have to work at the other end of the coach house garden though to get some peace and quiet 😅
…has the world really changed for the better? What a different time…
humped two buckets of stones….keef and mick mustve been kalied
She says it was one of Capability Brown's folies but having a look it seems it was actually built in 1815 by Jeffry Wyatville. The name of it is Newsham Lodge.
What I've typed above is from 5 minutes research so I would be grateful if anyone could add further info or even correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.
I bet the three people in the video are dead now.
Beautiful photography; shooting under bright sunny conditions can be a nightmare for cinematographers but this looks soft and balanced in its exposure without any apparent fill lighting, some shots benefit from being slightly overcast but the results are really impressive. I would love to know who the cameraman was.
Both lovely!
nice to feel the vibe of England from lovely old lady with both sense of humor and skill of gardening.
Love it love it love it ! Make the BBC great again – we want ordinary people talking about their ordinary lives. Not all this celebratory worship, or any of the woke stuff and diversity push. Just normal everyday people will do please.🙏
A portal on a lost world, complete with birdsong…all gone.
It's interesting that what they describe as an "informal garden" is far more regimented than 99% of gardens 45 years later.
People will tell you that this kind if england never existed
She gets on the ladder and climbs over the wall 😅 that's the best bit her little short cut
This was the Gt. Britain that I grew up in.
I do hope that someone is keeping her grave well.
This was in the days when gardens were for plants
Simply a treasure to behold, may God bless them all. 🙏
Such a lovely voice, people just dont sound like that these days